Kartarpura – a favourite food joint for ‘sehri’

Rawalpindi : Outdoor tradition to go for ‘sehri ‘is gaining popularity as people especially visit Kartarpura, a food street in Rawalpindi, along with family and friends for eating a variety of foods like ‘sree paye’, ‘nihari’, ‘maghaz’, ‘cholley’ and ‘lassi’.

The staff at the two-kilometre long food street starts setting up tables for ‘sehri’ soon after dealing with ‘iIftar’ crowd, besides giving final touches to traditional food items especially ‘sree paye’ and ‘nihari’, which require hours to cook.

People start arriving right after midnight and you will not be able to find a place to sit after 01:00 a.m., said Tahir Iqbal, owner of a ‘sree paye’ and ‘nihari’ shop.

He said all items at his restaurant were regularly sold out well before the time for ‘sehri’ because people also place takeout orders.

“We also offer special ‘naans’ in Ramazan including ‘kulcha’, mince filled ‘naan’, chicken ‘naan’ and traditional ‘roghani naan’ for ‘sehri’, he said.

“Goat ‘sree paye’ is another popular dish,” he said adding that it is cooked on a slow flame with spices.

Ours is a traditional recipe which they don’t share. He said that it also tastes better because of the selection of spices they use. “We also cook it on a slow flame and it takes a whole day to prepare ‘nihari’ and ‘sree paye’.

During Ramazan, tea shops are usually replaced with ‘lassi’ shops with milkmen busy preparing curd for lassi in their makeshift shops.

After having warm and oil laden food like ‘nihari’, people like having at least two or three glasses of sweet and ‘namkeen lassi’.

Most people believe that having ‘lassi’ for ‘sehri’ eliminates thirst for the day, said Mohammad Afzal, a visitor at the Kartarpura Food Street.

It took me two hours to get a table, be served and to be done with my food because of the huge crowd on the weekend, he said.

Unlike other places where waiters offer tables, customers at the food street have to grab a table for themselves as the street is always packed, even more so during Ramazan.

This food street does not have a parking, and customers have to park out in the streets or in the adjacent Kohati Bazaar. But it is all worth it because the food is so good here.

The chefs are familiar with the tastes people prefer in the area. While other markets may offer better seating, it’s all about food in the Kartarpura food market, said a visitor, Numan.