The rock and roll revolution

By Qasim A. Moini

WITH emphasis on quality and taste and a stroke of luck, street food favoured by working class stiffs and other assorted punters can be transformed into a red-hot marketable commodity that literally flies off the shelves. Perhaps no better example of this maxim successfully translated into hard cash and across the board popularity exists in the local food milieu than that of the kebab roll.

If my amateur food history of Karachi is correct, kebab rolls have only caught on in the metropolis over the last decade or so. An offshoot of the relatively more elaborate kebab paratha, kebab rolls have given the fast food treatment to barbequed meat dishes that are so eagerly devoured by Muslims across the subcontinent.

Employing the most basic of definitions, the kebab roll is basically a few pieces of barbequed beef/chicken wrapped in a crispy paratha garnished with a condiment (usually mint chutney), onions and a bit of parsley. But basic just doesn’t cut it in the land of the pure and now, the citizens of Karachi have a wide variety of rolls to choose from, where once upon a time the choice was limited to chicken or beef.

All across the metropolis, the humble roll that was once the staple of students and office workers, is now sold from joints located in chic parts of town, where the moneyed line up in expensive vehicles to be served up juicy, crispy rolls that have become something of an addiction, especially amongst the youth. But first, a bit of history.

My first encounter with the kebab roll occurred about 12 years ago. The owner of a general store in my North Nazimabad neighbourhood had started a side business by selling hot snacks such as bun kebabs, French fries etc., to supplement his sales. One fine day I saw a sign outside the store advertising ‘tacos.’ For those who might not be aware, the taco is an amazingly delicious Mexican speciality consisting of ground beef or other fillings served in a hard or soft maize shell.

Now having tried and thoroughly enjoyed tacos in lands far, far away, I eagerly jumped at the opportunity of savouring the delight in my own neighbourhood! So without wasting much time I placed my order. The old gentleman who used to run the shop took an eternity to prepare my ‘taco,’ and, to my utter shock, when I reached home and unwrapped the ‘taco,’ I discovered a mashed up Shami kebab wrapped in a roti.

I was crestfallen, not to mention the fact I got an earful at home for spending Rs40 (a small fortune 12 years ago) on the false taco, as it was rightly pointed out that I could have had a kebab served up in a roti at home for much less and tasting much better. But this was my first brush with the proto-kebab roll.

A couple of years later, working at a radio station behind the Civic Centre, I encountered the next level in the evolutionary journey of the kebab roll. For lunch, some of the punters and I would head off to a small eatery located next to the former DC office. Here, the Pakhtun proprietors of the joint would serve up bare bones versions of the kebab roll. For those of us on a budget, for around Rs50 we could down two kebab rolls and a cold drink, which, admittedly was insufficient for a bunch of hyperactive males, but did the job till more filling sustenance could be had at home.

Today, as indicated above, circumstances have changed. Though the number of joints selling kebab rolls has proliferated considerably throughout the city, a few places in Defence have made a name for themselves among lovers of the spicy delights. The situation is such that if one (quite foolhardily!) was to drive to the Khadda Market area of the DHA on any given night, he or she would find the place chock-a-block with vehicles lining up like lemmings in search of mouth-watering kebab rolls.

For the sake of this column, a colleague and I made the pilgrimage to the aforementioned kebab roll hot spot, but in late afternoon to avoid the maddening crowds.

This congested corner of Defence is crammed with different eateries and frankly, I find it incredibly claustrophobic. But out of all the eateries, we singled out two which had, over the past few years, made a name for themselves selling quality kebab rolls. One claims their fare is quite hot and a tad spicy, while the other is, peculiarly, named after an apple.

At one joint, the list of rolls – varieties of beef and chicken rolls but with condiments such as mayonnaise, garlic, cheese, ketchup etc – was seemingly endless, while the other joint had a tiny list, comparatively. One joint caters primarily to drive-in diners, and when the waiter asked us where our vehicle was, I sheepishly pointed to the 110cc clunker parked by the side. He took one look at the motorcycle and disappeared.

However, our supposedly lowly position on the food chain didn’t affect our order, as the rolls were simply superb. My chicken garlic mayo roll was marvellous, with the meat tender and succulent, wrapped in a warm, crisp paratha, the mayonnaise oozing out.

Before bringing out the order, the waiter had revealed to us that one of the secret ingredients of the rolls is tetra-pack milk. Considering the creamy contents of the roll, he might have actually been telling the truth. My friend’s beef cheese roll was equally delicious, dipped in tangy chutney.The other joint has a seating facility, but the service is comparatively slack. This time I opted for a beef roll, but was told they were all out of beef. They didn’t even have the variety of chicken roll I ordered, which put a damper on the experience. But truth be told, the rolls were okay.