Islamabad:With a fall in temperature, demand of most favourite traditional ‘halwa puri’ has increased manifold and shops all around the country including twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi were seen crowded especially on weekends.
Winter brings many flavours with it ,men, women and youngsters visiting these shops to hit the cold with soft puffy ‘puri’ with soft silky texture ‘sooji halwa’ and ‘aloo bhaji’ which is favourite dish of everyone but it becomes more popular in the winter season.
According to sellers, with cold mornings, apart from other winter special food sales, the demand of traditional breakfast on rise. A customer Ali Iftikhar said, ‘puri’ and ‘channay’ are considered a full meal and had for lunch and dinner in several parts of Pakistan.
However, Punjabis have the unique distinction of promoting this dish to a breakfast favourite. “Winter weekends cannot be completed unless they welcome relatives and friends in our guest rooms and present them special breakfast of ‘halwa puri’,” said a resident of Lahore, while buying ‘halwa puri’ for his family.
“With the start of winter season many sweet shops are making various ‘halwas’ and a few have become popular for their special breakfasts among residents,” said Saud Javed. “Our most sold items throughout winter are traditional ‘halwa’,” said a shopkeeper.
“During the winters, demand for other sweet items declines as compared to these specialties,” he added. "I am health conscious but in winter mornings it becomes difficult for me to avoid having hot ‘halwas’ with crispy ‘puris’ another customer Ahmad Mukhtar said.
“It is routine for me to take special breakfast of ‘halwa puri’ home at least two times a week,” said Qasim Malik. Zain Irsalan said that oily ‘halwas’ are not harmful for children as it keeps them warm during winters.
‘puris’, a staple bread-substitute for foodies across the Punjab cities, are made from fine wheat flour and rich ghee. Seller said that the recipe of the ‘channay’ was a business secret which never make like the same taste at home like the way shopkeepers cooked.
“We use only white chickpeas and fewer spices,” he said adding pickles and additional spices can be added at the customer’s request. A online retailer said, many restaurants and homemade food delivery orders are offering special breakfast to citizens during the winter season which makes their routine life easy.