Kabul Eats: Sufi

You can not go to Kabul and come back without eating at/from Sufi. Sufi will find you. Any gracious host in Kabul will make sure that Sufi is one of your first food destinations in Kabul. Sufi also offers catering services around the city so you're bound to run into a Sufi meal at some point in Kabul.

Sufi is located in the Karte Parwan area - which is about 30 minutes away from the central districts of Shar Nau and Wazir Akbar Khan. As with L'Atmosphere, the road to Sufi is long and broken. You will have skip  across a ditch to step into the premises.

The perilous road to great food

Sufi serves authentic Afghan food and culture. There is an art gallery and crafts store on the premises.  There is also live music on some nights. Call them in advance to find out when the shows are. It might also be a good idea to order the food in advance if you are familiar with the menu. We were a group of about 20 odd people and our host had pre-ordered the food knowing that the food takes a while to get to the table.

Hot, clear,chewy soup

The Afghans are very creative with their soups. This soup had a base of chicken stock with diced carrots and potatoes, lots of herbs and whole wheat kernels. The wheat kernels were cooked to perfection - giving them just enough time to dance around on your palate. However, it was the smoky, dried lemon flavor in the soup that excited my taste buds the most. So perfect for a cool Kabul evening!

Hot mess mantu

Dumplings - soft and chewy - stuffed with mutton, chicken and vegetables and stopped off with a lentil sauce and yogurt. The Afghan 'Mantu' deserves as much attention as it's Chinese, Central Asian and Nepalese cousins - it is absolutely delicious! The mantu at Sufi is perfectly crafted but the yogurt sauce was a little too sharp for my taste.

Kabuli pulao (again) with dried fruits this time

You can't go wrong with meat and potatoes

I have admit, I have  been really spoilt when it comes to Afghan food -so I'm going to say that Sufi is worth visiting but may not be the best Afghan food you will eat. The chicken and lamb kebabs you can just keep on eating without any remorse. There is no need for any naan to go with it. However, the fresh juices here are superstars! No sugar, no ice - just pure fruits blended and chilled to perfection. Try the peach and/or anar.

Peach burst!

Sufi is fantastic caterer too as we learnt. They came to the office and set up in 10 minutes flat!

Kabuli pulao (again)

Burani - roasted eggplant with tomatoes and yogurt

Spinach

Chicken Korma

Mutton Korma

Sufi is a safe bet. You should visit it for the art gallery and the live music. A meal with drinks and dessert will cost you no more than USD 15. However, you MUST drink the fruit juices! There is better, cheaper Afghan food out there in Kabul. Keep watching this space for more  of Kabul Eats!

This blog was written as part of the FES Af-Pak Journalism Exchange Fellowship 2012

Kabul Eats: L'Atmosphere

Kabul, like Karachi, has only one kind of nightlife – a foodie kind of nightlife. But it can be a little bit more risqué/fun that Karachi. While Karachi asks you to bring your own, Kabul serves its own.  Kabul has a decent variety of cuisines being served across the city. Thai, Chinese, Indian, Croatian, Middle Eastern and many more. The next few blog entries will showcase some of Kabul’s best eateries. Here’s the first in my ‘Kabul Eats’ series.

 If you look up any travel guide to Kabul, you are bound to come across the name L’Atmosphere - a French restaurant/bar catering mainly to the expat community but locals are served too (there are places where locals are denied entry. Colonial much?). L’Atmosphere has three dining areas – an outdoor area, the bar/pub area with sofas and bar stools and a more formal dining area with tables and chairs.

It is located in the Qalla-e-Fatullah area, about 10 minutes away from the central district of Shar Nau. Don’t let the road to L’Atmo intimidate you – it is under construction and basically a mess right now (think Shireen Jinnah colony or Sohrab Goth 10 years ago). However, no road is too hard for a taxi to get to. Security is a bit more relaxed here – the guards will check your bags and ask a couple of ‘friendly’ questions but cameras are allowed and you will not be asked for identification.

We opted to sit in the bar area which was by far the most popular part of the restaurant – occupied mostly by American and European expats. The menu is surprisingly extensive – with crepes, pizzas, pastas, salads, soups, steaks and desserts. Alcohol is not ‘on the menu’ but it is available – beer, whiskey, rum, vodka and wine.

When dining in Kabul, place your order quickly. The food takes a while to arrive, about 20-25 minutes for the soups and salads and even. We ordered a bunch of starters – fried camembert with cherry jam, chicken salad and French onion soup.

The chicken salad was loaded with a spicy chicken chunks on a bed of ice-berg lettuce, cucumbers and onion and no dressing. Luckily, the chicken was not over-cooked and the vegetables were fresh and crunchy so you don’t really miss out on flavor.

The French onion soup was perfect for the cold Kabul evening. I would have liked a more bodied soup though.

The fried Camembert was a quick reminder that we were in fact still in Kabul. No complaints about the cheese but the sweet, bottled cherry jam gave it all away. The hot cheese on bread still works though.

The Nordic  crepes were STUFFED with lots and lots of salmon – a real treat in a landlocked Afghanistan. The crepe itself was light and soft. My company could not wait until I took a picture, hence, half a crepe only in the picture

. 

Pizza has got to be the world’s favorite comfort food. No matter where you come from and where you are eating, pizza is bound to make you feel at home. L’Atmosphere has a range of pizzas – easily categorized by the toppings/meat on them – chicken, beef, cheese and so on. We ordered the chicken. The pizza was fairly large – to be easily shared between two as a main.

After a really ambitious ‘Western meal’ we ended our indulgence with a chocolate crepe and ice-cream.

The entire meal along with drinks  (including alcoholic ones) cost about  $150 for the four of us. Remember, expat dining in Kabul is expensive as it is limited and exclusive. L'Atmosphere is where the well-heeled expats come to play so you know what to expect.

And a very big thank you to Kabul's finest violin teacher - my friend William Harvey for taking me to L'Atmo (because real expats call it L'Atmo)

AND the biggest thank you of all to the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Pakistan and Afghanistan for letting me bring Kabul that much closer to Karachi - as part of the Af-Pak Journalism Fellowship Exchange Program - Understanding the Neighbour. 

Kuala Lumpur Eats: Kembali Kitchen

I think very few countries in the world can boast the kind of culinary variety that Malaysia enjoys - not just in it's home grown cuisine but also the influences it enjoys from China, India, Middle East and  South-East Asian neighbours. Authentic Malay cuisine might be a little bit jarring to Pakistani tastebuds - with extensive use of shrimps and anchovies both as ingredients and condiments. One needs at least 2 weeks in Malaysia    (3 meals or more per day) to begin to understand Malaysian food. However, hotel food is usually considered a no-go area for me, for anything other than breakfast. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the traditional Malay dinner served at a hotel restaurant ....

This time round in Kuala Lumpur, I stayed at a very new hotel (just 2 months since it opened) - the Best Western Premier at Dua Sentral.  Located about 10 minutes from Sentral station - the transport hub of the city - it's close enough to the central district but still quiet enough to get some down time. They have big spacious rooms with big windows and great views - my standard double room was actually good for four people! 

The view from Best Western Premier 

The Kembali Kitchen is the hotel's signature restaurant and do they know how to give your a crash course in Malay cuisine! Great place to begin your 'jalan jalan cari makan' (let's go look for food) trail in Malaysia. We had a special 4 course traditional Malay dinner served - starters, soup, mains and dessert.

Starters included kerabu (coconut chilli picked fish salad), fried tofu with chilli sauce and rojak (vegetable and egg salad with peanut sauce). The tangy kerabu meets the spicy tofu meets the sweet rojak for a circus of flavors in your mouth.

Fewer things feel better than a big, steaming bowl of 'sup ekor' on a cold rainy day. Ox tail soup is a staple and a delicacy. The ingredients are oxtail (obviously) cumin seeds, anise seeds, corriander seeds, onions and potatoes - simple, hearty flavors. The soup is usually served with thick pieces of bread and garnished with spring onions.

That's me getting up close and personal with some rich 'nasi tomato' or tomato rice. That's rice cooked in a tomato broth and garnished with cashew nuts. This is not a daily dish, mostly reserved for Eid or wedding celebrations at home. 

And that is the main event - the full rainbow of Malaysian curries! From the top that's ayam masak merah (red chicken).  Mutton korma on the right (not be confused with Pakistani korma) is a stew of meat and vegetables including potatoes and green beans. The dark, deep brown curry is beef rendang - one of my all time favorite Malaysian food - a rich, heavily spiced, coconut based curry. Between the beef rendang is the ever popular shrimp curry. To offset the rich, spicy curries there's some steamed vegetables in the center - cauliflower, broccoli and carrots. So rich and colorful, such a pleasure to just look at even!

Red beans and black glutinous rice come together to make one of the most comforting desserts you could indulge in. A sticky, sweet warm soup that you are sure to finish, no matter how much you are served. And with a healthy yet filling dessert like this who needs a main course?

The Kembali Kitchen at Best Western Premier Dua Sentral is not your average hotel-breakfast-serving-room. It is a restaurant and destination in its own right. Do check it out if you happen to be in KL.

For more on my KL experience - go here. 

The Big Life in Bara Gali, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I arrived in Bara Gali – the summer campus of the University of Peshawar.   Located some 30 minutes further up from Nathia Gali  - lots of pine trees, lots of monkeys – but still a startling change from the overly commercial Nathia Gali experience. 

I arrived there with a group of young journalists from all over Pakistan ( and eventually joined by another group from Afghanistan) for an Af-Pak Journalist Exchange Fellowship organized by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.  I have to admit, this stands out as one of the most  ‘unique’ travel and food experiences I have had so far – that too in Pakistan!

The view from what was the bar  during the British era in Bara Gali

This was the our usual 'hang-out' area. Between sessions, during tea and meal breaks, some of you would sit under the cool shade of the trees. It was just so heartening to watch the wide open spaces and fresh clean air - a rarity in Karachi.

One of the buildings on campus

The summer campus was once a British military camp, so needless to say, our accommodation was basic but sufficient and in retrospect, rather charming too. They were cottages from the British era, with 3 - 4 of us to a cottage. We were promptly given a torch each to find our way.The kitchen was no different. Good, strong, clean old fashioned kitchen with only the basics. Freshly baked naans were the first accompaniment to the cold mountain air.

Fried chicken and tomatoes getting prepped

High pressure situation for the Kabuli pulau

Naan at work

A laptop to keep tab?

From the minute we arrived to the time we left – there was food, food, food  - five to six meals a day. This is not an exaggeration. Breakfast, tea, lunch, tea, dinner is how the day was organized. There was a loud gong sounded off at every meal time and we had to get up from whatever we were doing and make ourselves available in the dining room. 

The ingredients in almost every recipe remained the same but the cook kept playing with our taste buds. Kabuli pulau was an absolute staple – at least once a  day – well greased with slivered carrots, raisins and big hunks of beef. The sweetness of the raisins was a refreshing blend with the beef and the rest of the meat heavy menu. There was always chicken, beef and vegetables on the menu, sometimes mutton too.

Russian salad, KPK style

Succulent, sexy namkeen gosht

Kabuli Palau

Fried chicken, KPK style

The chef had perfected a few basic recipes that seemed to work well with all kinds of meat and vegetables – one was a tomato based mix for curries and stews, a red chilli flakes based marinade for fried meats and a salt and garlic mix for the ‘namkeen’ gosht.  The food was not as complex as we have made it to be in big cities. Basic flavors, well cooked and served fresh is all you need for a good dish.

Bara Gali – how do I explain this? For a complete city slicker like me, I felt like I was in some kind of reality TV prank, sent there by my mother to teach me a lesson. Lots of walking at a height of 7597 ft, cold water, unreliable power supply, no internet, rare phone signals – it was a whole new world for me. Add to that a new laptop with NO music and no iPod. Yikes! But those 5 nights in Bara Gali really made me realize the importance of how we were really meant to live – free from wants and luxuries but with the bare necessities and most importantly, good, honest people.

Sunset at Bara Gali....

....from where we had tea every day.....

  I now cherish the friendships made in those ‘difficult’ days – stories of cold showers shared over steaming kahva while watching folk musicians sing and dance. Bara Gali may be an acquired taste but it is one of those  must have experiences if you are an aspiring 'traveller.'

The Night Life - musicians from Peshawar

Thanks to the University of Peshawar for looking after me and teaching me a lesson J It was an experience and a half. Setting off for Islamabad was almost bittersweet. Thanks for the memories, Bara Gali!

Singapore Eats: Renn Thai

If you are a 'real' traveler and not just a tourist, you must indulge in the local cuisine of your destination. Singapore is a great place for a foodie, a close second to Malaysia. But the debate between which one of the 'causeway cousins' has better food will probably never end. Coming from anywhere other than Malaysia, the variety of food in Singapore is truly mind-boggling. The term 'Asian cuisine' takes on mammoth proportions - Peranakan, mainland Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, Vietnamese, South Indian - I could just go on and on but you get the drift. There will be lots of Singapore entries on the blog. We'll start with something more upscale and touristy in the Clark Quay quarter.

Clark Quay is a nightlife hotspot - lots of bars, clubs, restaurants, characters - the whole rainbow. The restaurants are of course pricier than your average Singapore food prices. Our first night in town, my friends and I probably wanted to feel more special than the average weekend so we opted for a fancy Thai place on Clark Quay - Renn Thai. 

Here we have the wonderful honey glazed chicken with fried garlic. The chicken was thinly sliced and fried crisp and the garlic beautifully golden fried. The chicken was flavored with a basic soya sauce marinade it seemed, with a generous drizzle of honey. The strong taste of the garlic and the sweetness of  the honey should have been a good balance but honey was a bit over powering. But nothing some Thai chilli sauce couldn't balance out. The dish works perfectly on its own and with steamed white rice as well. But check this, this meal with white rice and a drink set me back by SGD 50. Bit much if you ask me. Good food but the place is obviously aimed at the tourist dollar. Or perhaps abusing the tourist dollar.

Kathmandu Eats: Belle Momo

The city of Kathmandu is an acquired taste. It is poor and cold. But there is a positvity and warmth about the people of the city that is infectious - they have the best, biggest smiles in the world.

Kids posing for me at The Botanic Gardens outside Kathmandu

Traditional Nepali food is largely familiar to the Pakistani/South Asian palate. The basics are 'daal- bhat' i.e. dal chawal - everything else is an add on - vegetables, chicken curry, chutney, poppadums. But if you must eat one 'local' dish in Kathmandu, it must be the delicate 'momo'  Momo is a type of dumpling native to Tibet and Nepal. Momos are made of a simple white flour and water dough - and a variety of stuffings - chicken, lamb, cheese, mushrooms and even yak!!

What you see above are fresh mushroom and cheese momos at Kathmandu's best momo joint - Belle Momo @Cafereena on Darbar Marg. This is an upscale part of the city where all the cool kids on bikes like to hang out. My friend Abhishek and I opted for the indoor seating as we couldn't really handle the cold or the kids chattering. The 'red' sauce is pure heat - fried chillis in oil. Be careful only to just dip a bit of your momo into the sauce, because the combined heat will cause some discomfort. But then again, it makes complete sense in Kathmandu in December. The signature yellow Nepali chutney allows is interesting at best.

The momos are just chewy enough to let you think over the savoury dough and let the stuffing melt in your mouth - I think if it melted any faster, you couldn't taste it! A set of six vegetarian momos only cost about NPR 100 or PKR 120 - pretty good deal!  A set meal of of mushroom soup, 6 momos, fries and tea/coffee will set you back by NPR 250. The outdoor seating area of Cafereena overlooks the bustling Darbar Marg - you'll often see 'VIP movements' and wedding bands. But we warned, the fireplace in the middle of the dining area will do NOTHING for the cold - dress warm, very warm. Needlesss to say, I went back to Cafereena more than once on my last trip to the city. 

Momos are more fast-food than delicacy in Nepal. They are available at roadsides and speciality cafes alike. They are cheap, filling and warm you up - very, very necessary when travelling on a budget. 

Special thanks to Abhishek Shah for introducing me to the best momos in the world!

psst...let's get out here and get some momos

Kuala Lumpur Eats: Jalan Alor

Kuala Lumpur is a popular holiday destination for Pakistanis. And pretty much my favorite city in the whole world, followed closely by New Orleans and Cairo. Malaysia, in general, and Kuala Lumpur particularly is a food lover's paradise. Few cities can replicate the variety, verve and the very culture of eating out the way Kuala Lumpur can. Food is cheap, delicious and aplenty! Name the food and you'll get it....

If you've been to KL, you've been to Jalan Bukit Bintang - the main artery of the tourist hotspot of the city. Bukit Bintang is lined with hotels, malls, restaurants and cafes. But right behind the BB road is the glorious Jalan Alor.

But this post is dedicated to the famous/infamous dried chilli chicken on Jalan Alor. It is a bit hard to name stalls on Jalan Alor, unless you can read Chinese - but surely you can ask around. Here's what it looks like:

Can you find the the bits of crisp, tender boneless chicken in the blazing red of the fried chilli? This chicken is unbelievably hot - like fire in your mouth. Perhaps, this is what created the fire breathing dragons of the Orient. The chicken is deep fried in some kind of batter and then re-fried with the chilli. The chicken retains its juiciness and surpisingly you can still taste the chicken with all the chilli! We ordered a side of slivered potatoes cooked in the same style. The potatoes are served with less chilli but it really doesn't help put out the fire in your mouth. Order some greens and tofu and plain rice to put out the fire.

My mother would not touch this dish with a ten-foot pole but as a true desi I loved it! However, you MUST visit Jalan Alor if you're in KL - try the dried chilli chicken at your own risk. It is advised to follow up the fiery meal with ice-cream to avoid unpleasantness morning after. This could be a walk of shame for those with a weak palate and stomach.

Must Have Meat in Cairo

Some of the richest, most delicious food I have experienced was in Cairo. Heavy helpings of meat, lots of bread and even more starters to go with it - hummus, baba ganoush and turshi (pickled vegetables). And lots and lots of ful beans!

The best food you can find in Cairo is the Maidan-el-Hussein and the adjoining Khan-el-Khalili bazaar. Although the bazaar food is bound to be a little bit more expensive and dodgy. Maidan-el-Hussein is home to the shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) - son of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The areas around it include lots of traditional Egyptian restaurants. I visited the area with my friend Muhammad Sheleep, a local journalist and Mazin Al-Yasery, an Iraqi journalist. Exhausted after our excursion to the pyramids of Giza, we arrived at el-Hussein square. Dusty, hungry and tired. Head for the restaurant on the far left as you enter through the gates of el-Hussein to find all the food heavenly food described below.

Starting with the starters of course - with servings big enough to be mains! That's hummus, baba ganoush, greens and the 'orange' sticks are turshi (pickled vegetables). And a pile of bread. The hummus was actually lighter and less' thick' than we get in restaurants here in Karachi. However, the turshi is a bit of an acquired taste. Try not to fill up with the starters, because coming up is.....

Glorious, hot, moist, steaming meat on a bed of greens. All made of lamb meat, mind you. It's lamb or nothing when it comes to meat in Egypt. And I won't contest that because this food was fine! The names were familiar but a little mixed up. The 'kofta' was what we call a seekh kabab here. The 'kabab' was lamb chops. The 'resh' was what we call 'boti'. All the meat was very lightly spiced but very tasty. I think it was more about how it was cooked as opposed to the ingredients. Fresh, simple ingredients made for a fantastic meal. Loved by locals and tourists alike.....

Make sure to follow up this gorgeous meal with mint tea and lots of walking around in the bazaar. Egypt is delicious! Thanks Mom for helping me blend in with Egypt!