Deliciously Delhi

Well.. Well..

You missed Salim Bhai`s variety of Kebabs ( especially Kakori ones).

Salim Bhai`s Corner is a very small joint at Khan Market (behind India Gate Delhi) where one has to eat street standing.

People stepping out of the neighbouring hi-fi joints are taken aback with the floating aroma of Salim Bhai`s roadside Kebabs...

``#57 Yogiraj: I was waiting for your kind of reply quite a while ago.
That is one reason why I started off with the two rupee roti. But
do not put down the appreciation of food and compare it to lack of food.
To the hungry man, a cup of Dal is more precious and delicious than any rich man’s Caviar.``

Ras,


Thanks for the response.

When hungry you become angry or desparate. Seen that. Never faced it in my tummy. So
no. I am not putting you down. I am living proof of rich man`s caviar. Very unfortunate but true, trust me on this one.

Sirjee,

I am inviting you to a very small people`s party. Not 80 rupees coffee party. Very small Hindoo/Muslim, very small Indian/Pakistani party. Hunger (You put it down at two rupees) does not change a (Wo)men here. They will still share. What ever they have. I am inviting to you to that party when you come next time.

Come and visit Mumbai. The taste will of course horrible. And yes you will smell hing. Even some pakistani muslim here use it here.

I do not know what 5 start hotels in Mumbai will offer you now. Heck Google is there to find out. Don`t you think so? Else Chowk is always there. I do not know far too many non-veg,... what do you say deli... in Mumbai. I, now, know only very small joints. They are dirty, have no ambiance (none).

Have you ever eaten in such places ever?. I do now. very rarely. But I do. Come to a very different Mumbai, where real life lives.

If interested, I could send you a list. No URL, there is none. You could visit, verify, and then eat without me being involved.

...........give me seekh kabab, tikka boti, fresh naan and karahi ghost from landikotal ............

.... and you can keep the rest .........

........ nihari is nothing but plain old baray gosht ka salan kicked up a notch with yet more shan masala and then drowned in a pao of desi ghee - the bong or mikh is nothing but sheer drama ............

...... and what the heck is so great about haleem .... what is it?...... motley grains and pulses with some garbage meat thrown in to brew a witchy concoction that has the texture of paste used to make kites (layvee)........... you can try to spruce up the insipid taste with ginger and hot green peppers, but it still pretty bad ........... and shan puts it all in one box for you ..........

............i never realized what was wrong with the 90 million biharis untill i had bihari kebab !......... cheap skirt meat drowned in six alarm spices that set your mouth on fire and explains the fire extinguishers in bihari toilets.............

......... there are folks who make a big deal about the fish from mozang or the hasanabdal ........ it really doesn`t matter that a fish hasn`t been seen in that little stream in hasanabdal since the late sixties, because regarldess of what it is, or where it comes from, it all tastes the same .......... battered in lahori fish masala (by shan, of course) it is deep fried untill it tastes like chicken .......... now compare it to medallions of lightly seared fatty tuna served with soy, wasabi and thinly sliced ginger - now, that is fish !........

....... rasam - nothing but dishwater mixed in with some spices and plain old dal .......... somthing you would serve to prisoners ......... dosa, idlee, vindaloo, - all same, same ....

......... a fish story ..... so this friend of mine, a horrible hindoo from some place down south who claims to be a yemini by descent, invites me over to his house for a kingfish fry and some 18 year old macallan ............ ``what the heck is kingfish``...... ``oh, it is a delicacy where i come from - it is a big fish ``..... ``how big?`` .......``ver very big``...... `` as big as tuna?``.........``how big is tuna?``...... ``bigger than smelt?``............ ``definitely !``............. in any case, i figure like all indians the guy has a fish story to tell but the macallan is too good to turn down ............ so we show up at his house and there they are - a bunch of indian code coolies in brand new white sneakers and their handlers in birkenstock loafers dancing around the deep frier in the garage, drinking red label and beer ........... and there is the fish - big steaks sitting in a tub soaking in what suspiciously looks like shan`s lahori fish masala ........... ``try try, it ees very very good``, a linux type says as he hands me an oily brown piece ..........``tastes like chicken, and stop shaking your head``, i want to say, but i don`t want to offend the host, who is a decent sort ............ a little later we sneak down to the basement while the janta is gorging on kingfish and guzzling budweiser .......... as we sit sipping the macallan and munching on pretzels, he says, `` i wish we had some kebabs, you know the ones with the big hole through them, that just melt in your mouth``........... ``and some lamb tikka, lamb, not goat with one piece of fat on each seekh``...........``and some fresh naan``................i rest my case - there are some good indians ...........

p.s. the karahi gosht from landi kotal is lamb (not phaydu with the tail, but the real sheep with the big fat chaki) cooked in a karahi with just salt and pepper and maybe a tomato or two .........no red pepper, no shan, no garam masala ...........

#63 Sridhar ``It is of course not as urbane as Bombay but it has its own charm``
Urbane as Mumbai? Actually Dactar saab Delhi is not the same hicksville as it was 20 years ago, especially in terms of arts and culture. It is a much more happening place than it used to be, plus sorry to inject a note of commercialism, but there is more money being pumped in here. In fact the next time you are in Delhi make a trip to the India Habitat Center`s arts gallery.

Something that I always wanted to know. It may be a little “naughty” but do they make as good “kapporay” as they do in Karachi, in the Jama Masjid area?

What about brain masala or Gurday?

My cholesterol level has never gone down since those naughty nights in Karachi.

I doubt that nihari in Delhi is authentic. Considering that all cows have been sequestered in air-conditioned Cow Asharams around Delhi.

Ras, I also love desi food. My position is different than hamidm and mantolives.. they seem to hate desi food by default where as I love desi food as long as it is authentic and not Baluchi`s or Jackson Heights variety

#63 rsridar: no slum competitions here please, we are Desis.....

#62 Veeresh: Tea did taste a little different in India, especially at the Dhabas. But since
I happen to be a tea addict, the choice between any tea and no tea, is not a choice at all.
I am not a “Pukki Huwi Chai” fan but my Indian hosts did change their standards for me.
But I am glad that tea is equally appreciated on both sides of the border.

# 61: Anything beyond Fish and Chips? English food is torture. Kidney Pie anyone?

#60: Try Shalimar in San Francisco or Tumerik in Mountain View for great Pakistani and Indian Food.

#59 Jang: Spicy Kababs after a cold one and Heaven can Wait….

# 58 Kaurasach: Kashmiri food can be divine…
Try Shalimar in San Francisco or Tumerik in Mountain View for great Pakistani and Indian Food.

#57 Yogiraj: I was waiting for your kind of reply quite a while ago.
That is one reason why I started off with the two rupee roti. But
do not put down the appreciation of food and compare it to lack of food.
To the hungry man, a cup of Dal is more precious and delicious than any rich man’s Caviar.

#56 John Galt: I do not agree with you, Mantolives or hamidm. I love Desi food period.

#55: The best English food is that that has originated from outside England.

#54 Ansari: Try Ghaffar’s at Riaz Masjid. My childhood favorite.

#51, 52,53: Manto: When was the last time you visited Delhi? If you do, go to NOIDA.
I know what Veeresh is trying to say. Actually Lahore is clean like Jaipur but Mughal
History and Mughlai food is what Lahore and Delhi have in common.

#51 Veeresh: I hope to be back soon. Kabab’s yes, Jalebi’s maybe…
Next time you are in Lahore, try the Mei Kong for Chinese….
I repeat from my earlier reply to Manto: Delhi and Lahore
are similar in Mughal History and Mughlai food….

#49 & #50: It is a matter of the taste you grow up with. I cannot appreciate Idli or Sambar, but gol guppas are great....

#47 rsridhar: Try Shalimar in San Francisco or Tumerik in Mountain View for great Pakistani and Indian Food.

#45 & 46: Dum Pukth and tonic?

#44 nazarhayatkhan: Toynbee “Kam Bakht”

#43 Mantolives: Desi food rules. Pepper Steak in Lahore?

#42 hamidm2: Shan rules!

#41 rsridhar: who cares about ambiance?
Try Shalimar in San Francisco or Tumerik in Mountain View for great Pakistani and Indian Food.

#40 dost-mittar: Burns Road is very much like the Jama Masjid area in Delhi minus the Masjid. I am not usually a jalebi fan and like Bengali sweets the best. But hot jalebis
are difficult to turn down.

#39 madpolkadot: Gulab Jamuns are a family favorite.

#38 vivek: I think that the French exaggerate about their food.

#37 FV: Too bad about the drinking part. Several great Thai here places in Northern California. Thanks for the description of kakori kebabs AND sharing the trip with me
via email. I have developed a certain fondness for India after this trip. It is not just the food but I got a chance to meet some wonderful people.

#36 hamidmtoo: What is wrong with Shan masala? Do you know how we spent our college days without it? After a couple of tall “rooh afzas” ones and the smoke from “miniature hookahs”, tears of longing for a decent spicy tikka or kabab/roti were not rare.
Nearest desi restaurant was 25 miles and I did not have a car.

#35 Subroto: Thanks. Any friend of KS is alright with me…

ali_1 & HP thanks for the info. At least friend arjun_m is actually trying
to express his views on an article which had no mention of Kashmir in it.
There is hope for us after all…

re:#52 by Mantolives
Manto mian,
why don`t u post a link to the report about Delhi being the biggest slum in future and i will believe you?
I think u are just biased. I can`t compare New Delhi to Lahore because i have not visited the latter. But there is a lot more to Delhi than the Golf Links. It is of course not as urbane as Bombay but it has its own charm. I miss that city quite a lot.
Sridhar

Ras, just another question which a lurker friend at chowk who is also a Muslim with plenty of family all over the world jas a view on and also asked me to place here - and that is:- did you find any differences in the way tea is made/served/drunk/appreciated etc . . . between your Indian family/friends and Pakistani family/friends?

One reason for this question is that at a lot of wayside eateries, especially in the rural areas, the ``milk`` used to colour the tea is often not really milk. It could be the local euivalent of non-dairy corn/grain based creamer OR worse it could be reconstituted with urea. This has changed the way tea tastes in much of ``public`` India.

Just curious, thanks.

Yasser:- please forgive me, I did not know LaHore was trying to be Delhi again, I thought it was right there with Singapore. Never mind, I am told that Singapore Airlines SIN-ATQ flight is going to accept economy class passengers from Lahore again, very soon, but they will have to do the Amritsar-Lahore leg by a Tata-Daewoo bus.

jang, I will take yours and Farzana`s word about English cuisine, though I did not know that such a bird existed,discounting the fish and chips. Italian and French use too much cheese.The gripe I have with most of the european cuisines is that they are not very filling.A full course meal in Spanish and Romanian are more like breakfast. Greek is another matter.
Talking about desi cuisine, i assume it cannot be appreciated after a certain age; and I fully agree that pakistani non veg places are much better than indian places also for vegetarian dishes like chhole etc. Probably the indian places cater more towards the goras,once a turkish friend accompanied us to a pakistani restaurant, and he was unable to walk for about half an hour after he finished the meal. Talking about vegetarian food, excepting South Indian,I have never had better food in any restaurant than what is cooked at home. Vegetarian food doesnt lend that well to excess of oil and fat.

kaurasach #58,
Agreed 100% with you, Indian restaurants in USA are pretty bad in quality. No way comparable to India.

Manto, are you trying to immitate Jinnah by dispising indian food?
FV, i dont recall the names of bandra thi eateries, one i remember was 4 tables, run by a Mac who would pretty much make food to order and bring you the beer from across the street. I liky Lucky on the main road as well. Lings Pvillion is shunned by many (esp Jains)since it serves beef and pork.

Since its a holiday today, i shall attempt to make Creme Brulee.

Mumbai Trishna is really classy. The mutant prawns they serve are truely awsome..never seen a 1 lb libe prawn anywhere. Ravas with salt-n-pepper and butter in trishna has NO SHAN or BEDEKAR or MTR or other masals i swear. And when i get 2 drinks of any kind + food, i dont have any further expectations about any friday...cest la vie.

English food is not bad, e.g. bread an butter with a pint in london is never bad. French food rocks ..except Champage.. its hight of marketing. Foul testing carbonated wine hyped-up. Give me a nice Toddy any day.

American or gora sikhs at the gurudwara would pile all the dishes together and mix and eat the `gutava`. They would put raita, daal, kheer, pilaaf, jalebi, sabzi....mix it and after uttering Waheguru, dig in with all fervor.

Our Kashmiri Pandit friends made excellent bakra and fish dishes.

The aim of 99.99% Indian restaurants in US is to make money. They are not there to churn out delicacies or take pride in their dishes....at least in my city. Most of the restaurant owners are former dish washers who pooled money to open a restaurant. After 6 mos, they drive Hummers that they bought with cash.

Ras Siddiqui

Next time you come, come not as muslim or hindu.

Next time you come, remember your host can only give you what they have.

Next time you come, come and visit Balasaheb`s area called Mumbai. Come and share what is Sonia place as Mumbai. Next time you come, come and share what was Jinha`s place as Mumbai. Which FV will never know even in her dreams. She knows what oppulence is.

Then you will find what FV will never give you. Bhook. And then a tookda. Yes Ferz who will never know Patuadi played for Haid... Not only that, the woman never will in her dream will say I am sorry, I did not know. I just shoot my mouth off as usual. Saying sorry.... well it is so much honesty.. Is there any school in Pakistan it is taught? None in India will teach FV.

Then you will get what food is eaten in place called Hiduo/Paki/stan. We share. We`ll share. Not fillling. Never tasty. Spice is too costly. Cant afford.

Do not flaunt your pocket. Never be Ferz in your life. I do not like liers.

My food will never taste good. It will be simply .... Better

Indian food != north indian / punjabi food.
All this masala ladden north indian dishes make me sick. I recently moved to Jackson Heights thinking that although the area is filthy, at least I will get to eat good, wholesome, desi food there. BIG MISTAKE ! I agree 100% with hamidm as far as the so called ``indian cuisine`` as available in places like Kabab King, Baluchis and Haandi is concerned. I guess the definition of good indian food outside india is chunk of meat slapped with a grease, masala and then some. If you eat it once in a while, it tastes pretty good but if you eat it everyday, you will end up dead by 40. Unfortunately, real indian food is not available in the run of the mill indian eateries at least in New York. I have been looking for stuff like Porial, Chettinad Chicken, Bakarwadi and Pooran Poli all over the city in vain.

Subroto, Farzana se daant khane ke baad bhi u are not behaving?
Farzana, what is English cuisine?

What is patriotism but the love of the good things we ate in our childhood? - Lin Yutang

PS:

It is strange why this careful old wealth of Lahore still has better cars, better houses, better roads, better gyms and better life styles than the newly IT Rich Indians ...

I hear there is only one decent locality in Delhi called Golflinks ... which apparently compares to Allama Iqbal Town... perhaps the worst middle class locality of lahore.

Ras....

I suggest you read what Veeresh is saying closely...

According to a report... Delhi will be biggest slum known to man in another 10 years...
I take strong exception to your comment that a lively, developed and planned city like Lahore can have any thing in common with that Delhi of theirs...

Let us not make comparisons where there can`t ever be any.

Ras/30- well I guess the jalebis will have to wait for weight to come down, and the kababs will have to wait for someone to come down.

On the subject of Dilli being like Lahore, I beg to offer that this is a misconception going back centuries which is not valid anymore. I also don`t want to start any more Singapore comarisions.

Lahore is like any other vibrant Punjabi city in India especially on GT Road. Maybe Patiala. It is obvious that the last few decades have given the Indian Punjabi cities a newer class of people with greater disposable incomes while Lahore still gives off the aura of old wealth being in charge and spending carefully.

Think carefully:- how much Punjabi did you hear spoken in the backlanes of Old Delhi? Not much, I would hazard a guess unless you actually took the trouble to go seeking Punjabi speakers. And I shall like to state here that till 15-20 years ago, Punjabi was the down-to-earth language in old Delhi used by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.

However, on to food again, and if you have not ``eaten`` the famous ``Chinese food`` of Delhi then you need to sweet-corn-chicken hot-and-sour mixed-fried-rice with chicken-manchurian and mixed-veg-sweet-and-sour yourself rapidly with tinned-litchee-in-ice-cream. Or go for American-Chop-Suey.

I long held this polite belief that if you want to eat tasty meat dishes in US, go to Pakistani, Afghani restaurants. And for tasty veggie dishes, go to Indian. Let me cast off this politeness and say it out loud: unless you go to some really top notch indian restaurant, even the Indian veggie dishes are below par compared to Pakistani veggie dishes.

Just the other day, due to a matter of convenience, i ended up going to an Indian ``Punjab Dhaba``. Keeping the above mentioned rule of thumb in mind, I ordered cholay with naan. One `burki` and I could tell that cholay in ANY pakistani restaurant were a 100 times tastier than the ones that were in front of me. Not to mention that the roti was small, thin, with hot air pressed out, and cut in pieces - compared to the gigantic fluffy right from the oven roti you get in Pakistani restaurants.

Re: # 48

Copper Chimney is alive and well. And three cheers for Malabar/Konkan cuisine - no Shan masala Hamidm but you`ll have to eat it to believe it. Think Thai - kind of.

Punjabi sambar brought the Madras Cafe in Green Park on Sunday mornings to mind when all the roly poly aunties, uncles and their offspring would descend on it clutching baltis to carry away the sambar. You think I`m kidding but I`m not - they take it away in baltis because they drink it!

What`s next? Ketchup on your idli? Oh, wait, they already do that! Jam on your dosa? Nah, they do that too. :)

re: Roomaley roti
Anybody ever eaten in a place called Copper Chimney in Bombay (or Mumbai as they call it now). The food was delicious and roomaley roti was really good. This was many years ago. I do not know how it is now.
Sridhar

re:#42 by hamidm2
You are right about the taste!
Right now, most Subcontinental cuisine basically means North Indian cuisine! And that usuallly again means Punjabi cuisine. I grew up in Delhi and learnt how to make most Punjabi dishes (along with south indian dishes) when i started out as a bachelor in US (Veggie items were uncommon 12 years ago, so i was forced to learn to cook!). The base is the same. That is why it tastes the same. Most North Indian restauratnts would add garam masala to sambhar also! So, now even the Sambhar tastes like anyother Punjabi dish.
A genuine subcontinental cuisine should include something from each region. Each region has special flavor and taste. Kerala dishes for eg are totally different from any North Indian dishes but one hardly gets to eat that kind of stuff in US.
Sridhar

Subroto Re: # 45

Thanks. So `Dum Pukht` is Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah`s creation.

In fact, this `slow heat to cook within own juices` is my favourite as well. Especially, the vegetables come out farm fresh.

When there were Bars in military messes here, they did a social service as well. They taught beginners the etiquette & manners of drinking - and it seeped through to the society. (Now the people look at the bottle as an enemy & wish to gulp it down in shortest possible time)

Those good old Bar men had to make their jokes a litle more funny and a little less dirty - Now they had sane Coke drinkers as the audience.

nhk

#44 Nazar sahib aap kay liye history lesson:
According to legend Dum Pukht cuisine was discovered when Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah decreed that the builders of the Bara Imam Bara Mosque should have access to food day and night. Street cooks assembled giant pots, filled them with rice, meat, vegetables and spices and placed them on gently simmering fires. The lids were sealed with dough and topped with hot coals to slow-cook the food and keep it warm around the clock. When the Nawab tasted the food during an inspection, he was most impressed and ordered his chefs to refine the cooking technique in the royal kitchens. ``Dum Pukht``, means `to breathe` and `to cook`. The cuisine owes its excellence to the fact that the food, sealed in a dish and slow-cooked in its own juices, retains all its natural aromas and flavours.

Btw Mess food say yaad aaya..old memories of the mess cook Fernandes..each recipe began with ``first pour 2 pegs of rum into the cook``..souffle to die for. Actually 20 years back when I was still an army brat some of the cooks in obscure cantonments were masters in their own rights.

#37 Farzana ``Subroto: Can`t you talk about anything else but food? ;) `` You mean there are other things to talk about? Ever had Parsi food in an obscure resturant in Khandala? Dragged my wife on a 6 km trek to just eat there. Then there is the establishment run by the Gandhi sisters in Mahabaleshwar..yOMmm. Any comments on Konkani seafood cooking?
As I mentioned before I had plans to stop interacting on this website but the scent of this article has reeled me in.

I say Hamidm old chap I can recall an establishment in the hill station of Kausali where the cook specialised in continental cooking on a wood fired oven, absolutely smashing I say.

Yummmmmm

FV`s mention of `Dum Pukht` reminded me of a certain Badaam Khan, our batman at Peshawar Mess.

He used to tell us his travels with the Historian Toynbee when he was in these areas.

Badaam Khan used to cook food for him. He told us his Recipies of `Chicken a la King` and `Chicken a la Kiev`.

He had book of Toynbee with his and Toynbee`s picture where Toynbee had good wards for Badaam Khan.

Whosoever chose this name `Dum Pukht` chose a very electrifying, delicious and dramatic name. How is Dum Pukht cooked? Anyone...

nhk

There are subtle differences... for example Indians are rather liberal in their usage of ``Masala`` and ``Spices``.... from the looks of it...

But generally I agree with Hamidm... that is why I don`t understand why people waste money on ``Subcontinental cuisine``...

rsridhar,

.... i agree with you ....... but regardless of whether it is indian or pakistani, sub-continental cusine is horrible because the spices are so overpowering ........... i am serious whan i say that a blind man wouldn`t notice the difference .......

.......... just last night i was ranting and raving about the tori (squash) gosht mrs hamidm had cooked up ( i must admit that i did stop by the bar for a couple of gin and tonics) ....... it is not often that she whips up a vegetable dish (or any dish for that matter), but everyone thinks she is a great cook ............. anyway, to cut a long story short, it turned out that i was eating baingan (egg plant) gosht !........... needless to say, mrs hamidm instead of being pleased by my compliments was quite upset and friday night, for which i had great expectations, turned out to be quite uneventful .............

.......... last week i ended up for lunch at the buffet at an indian buffet in manhattan with a bunch of white guys who kept on asking me for recommendations ......... i told them, ``guys, it doesn`t really matter, the texture might be the different, but it all tastes the same`` ............ ``rasam, dal, paneer saag, idlee, dosa, tandoori chicken - all same same, all very very good, no``, ( as i shook my head sideways for authencity) ......... shan is the great equalizer ...........

re:#36 by hamidm2
``Indian cuisine`` is a brand name that is recognized in UK, USA. Bangladeshis who are into the restaurant business in UK are forced to call the food Indian Cuisine. That is what sells. Actually, there is nothing like a Pakistani or Bangladeshi cuisine. Try selling that anywhere outside of these countries and you will know what i mean.
Many years ago, i used to frequent Jackson Heights (New York) with my Pakistani friend (both doing Residency together). Invariably, my friend would refuse my invitation to go into an Indian restaurant. We would end up going to a Pak restaurant. Food was always good but the ambience was poor and one felt like one was sitting in a Dhabha. I, of course, did not mind but it is not a place you would think of bringing your girl friend, if u know what i mean.
Some months ago i visited San Francisco for a conference. The nearest Indian restaurant that i checked out was atrociously costly for my taste. Nearer to heart was a Pak restaurant which was about 40% cheaper. Food was equally good. Again, the atmosphere and ambience of the place was below par and the crowd was a different kind of crowd. I saw mostly Pakistanis, few Amerincans while the Indian restaurant was frequented by many Americans regularly. Pakistanis feel that their pride is hurt when they call the subcontinental cuisine ``Indian Cuisine`` but that is what sells in US, UK and other places outside the subcontinent.
Sridhar

Ras:

While in Karachi at ``Bun`s`` Street, I too felt like I was at the Urdu Bazaar `eatries` near Jama Masjid. I suspect that Nihari you had was made of beef; you see, Burra meat is often a code-word for beef in that area of Delhi.

And while walking from Jama Masjid to Ghantawallah, you missed the jalebiwallah at the nukkad of Dariba and Chandni Chowk. That literal hole in the wall does more business with jalebis alone than most halwais do with their entire selection. And this is from someone who normally doesn`t even like jalebis.

Talking of food, I just came back from Halifax, Nova Scotia. It has some incomparable choice in sea food if any of you happens to go that way.

I think food is one of those unquenched passions in our life that creates a divide unlike any other ;) Sticky gulab jamuns to one are melt in your mouth meeti delicacies to another!

FV #37,
English food -- really !!
My opinion French food is great, and we Indians exagerate about our food.

stuka: Punjabi cuisine is sophisticated?

[Do you also put Thums Up in black label scotch? Hahaha!!]

I don`t, because I don`t drink...scotch. But, honest, if orange juice can be added to vodka, what`s the problem? Anyway, most alcohol is karva, and drinking overly-sweet sherry is so declasse. Btw, I do add Thums Up to vanilla ice-cream and pour dal over meetha chawal :)

Agree with you about Bade Miyan`s standards now...

Jang:

China Garden is quite the pits (unless you like aloo-bhindi with ajinomoto), but Kamling is really good. Ling`s Pavilion is a bit too pricey (hello, where are those who talk of Rs. 80 cups of coffee?). Golden Dragon has pretty much retained a certain standard, but it is at the Taj. China Gate in Bandra does have some nice stuff and Sampan at Holiday Inn has a superb fish in black bean sauce and their toffee dessert is simply great.

And what did you mean by little hole Thai places in bandra? They are pretty decent....Thai Palate, Thai Ban, Thai Connection...

Ras:

You asked about kakori kebabs. They were invented by the master chefs of the ageing nawabs so that the toothless lords did not have to worry about chewing. They must turn out just right...hollow cylinders, they truly melt in the mouth. The consistency has got to be smooth, any unseemly shreds and it is a disaster. The trick is in the marination. This is true sophisticated cuisine and am afraid the better ones would be available at the slightly high-end restaurants. I know Dum Pukht was excellent, so is Copper Chimney (with surly waiters).

- - -

Mumbai does have some interesting Parsi food (though I agree that Pune is better on this count...). Britannia still rules, so do A-1 near Grant Road station and Paradise. Jimmy Boy`s has a proper `Lagan-nu-bhonu` (wedding) spread, and you can eat it without making a disaster of your life or participating in anyone else`s disaster!

Parsi patra ni macchee, berry pulao, dhansak (this has to be really good) and lagan nu custard (a bit eggy), downed with Duke`s Raspberry (this is the only fizzy drink I dig) is so heavenly...

- - -

And who said Indian non-veg food is nothing great? Gosh, the variety we have! From Kashmiri flavours to robust Punjabi to UP to Bengali to the West Coast to S. Indian (Chettinad and Keralite) to the N.East, each region is so different.

Same goes for vegetarian...except that Muslims and Parsis are pretty bad at it. The miyans terat all vegggies like meat and dunk them in masalas and the parsis find the easy way out and add eggs to everything.

- - -

And yes, I must say that the frontier-type cuisine in Pakistan is incomparable; they also treat meat with more respect than Indians, a bit far too much respect, which is why it is rarely well-done. (I had to send back my order at Bundu Khan`s twice; I should have just told them I was toothless royalty...)

- - -

Am I the only one who likes English food???? Is it wrong?

Subroto: Can`t you talk about anything else but food? ;)

eating like a crow ..........

......... first and foremost i have to go on record once again and say that i am against all this cross-border footsie between pakis and horrible hindoos of dubious origin ......... look, if your relatives were foolish enough to stay behind in 47 instead of following musharraf, then they deserve to eat nihari made out of chicken feet and fish marrow ......... i know some indians like stuka and dost have also crossed over to god`s side of the border to eat kebabs and drink lassi, but two wrongs don`t make a right ..............untill and unless the kashmir issue is resolved all good pakis should refrain from cozying up to banias, khatris, arains, rajputs and other assorted lower caste people even if some of them are their relatives ..........

......... having said that, indian cuisine, wheter northern or southern, is simply horrible - regardless of what you call the dish it all tastes the same ........... chicken tikka with shan masala is not a whole lot different than seekh kebab with shan masala ............ mutter keema is the same as aloo keema and anyone who says that they can tell the difference betwwen bombay biryani and sindhi buryani is either a big fat lier or on shan`s payroll ............ if you blindfold an unsuspecting white man and feed him ten different dishes from palak paneer to bihari kebabs, the reaction will be the same - teary eyes, profuse sweating followed by violent cursing and retching ......... and don`t tell me, ``but we don`t use shan masala``........ anyone who says that is a lier and a hypocrite - everyone, including jehangir the kebab-maker on kashmir road, phaja the paye-maker in heera mandi, the fish-maker at mozang and my sister the home-maker in islamabad uses shan`s masalas ........... and even if they use natioinal or some other brand from the wrong side of the border, it doesn`t matter - it all tastes the same ........... there is no such thing as indian cuisine............ in the end it all the same - something fried, grilled, boiled or roasted with the same old masala by shan or others of his ilk ..........

......... i will take real food like cassoulet au confit and goose foie gras followed by compote de pommes - beats the heck out of sticky gulab jamuns or whatever it is that passes for desert in delhi .......

........ and please, no snide comments about crows and storks ........... there is no need to eat like a crow simply because you look like one !

Also Ras, Sadia Dehlvi was the first person in India to receive a talaq or divorce electronically (or so she claimed). But the divorce was by mutual consent and hubby was from Pakistan. She is a writer and a big favourite of Kushwant Singh.

Gurujee actually we had some really good beef curry at my boarding school in Pune and shortage was never a problem. I hear the school still carries on with the smae proud tradition. And all college students in Delhi really knew those delicious one rupee kebabs they were eating were really buffallo in origin. And strangely once upon a time the only place to get good pork was from Aligarh Dairy.

Good writeup on Avadhi food ->
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030713/spectrum/main2.htm
And a column by one of my favourite cartoonist -> http://www.indiatoday.com/webexclusive/columns/ravi/20000602.html

Aur aap bhi kya yaad karogay
2 cups minced mutton/lamb
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tsp salt
¼ tsp powdered black pepper
2 tbsp chopped green coriander
chopped green chillies to taste
2 tbsp chopped raw papaya
4 cloves
1 black cardamom – seeds
1/8 tsp powdered cinnamon
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 blade mace
¼ tsp grated nutmeg
2 cups onions - sliced thin, and browned crisp in ½ cup ghee
¼ cup bhuna chana - powdered
1 egg
ghee for brushing
some chaat masala - onion rings and lemon wedges for garnish

Mix all ingredients except ghee and garnishes to marinate for about 4 hours, then grind to form a smooth, thick paste.

Knead this mixture well and mix in the roasted gram and the egg.

Cover and refrigerate for another hour.

About 25 minutes before serving, shape the meat around the skewers and place the kababs on to a grill over a drip tray, or in a pre-heated oven (also on a drip tray).

If cooking them over a charcoal grill, you will have to keep rotating them so that they brown and cook evenly. They should take 15-20 minutes to cook.

Brush with ghee and cook another 2 minutes. Serve garnished with chaat masala onions and the lemon and serve with green chutney.

Regards,
#26

#32 HP, I agree, but I find his one liners in response to romair quite funny at times.

#31
Good Catch Ali,

You forgot to mention that despite his H1B visa status, the US government accorded him TOP LEVEL security clearance because he had already killed his parents to complete the Security clearance form. Unfortunately, this creature does not know the form number for security clearance.
I have known some braggarts; but bragging on an anonymous forum! Give me a break!

#30 by Ras
CHOWK Editors,
Could we finally read what friend
arjun_m is trying to write on this issue?

Ras Sahib, let me summarize it for you..... this is what friend arjun_m has been tryin to write:

- Indian IT exports are 3.2 trillion dollars, compared with 3.2 million dollars from Pakistan.
- Nadeem Azeemji is the richest Indian, worth 137 billion dollars, more than the GDP of Pakistan.
- They are teaching Java programming language to pre-K students in Hyderabad, and html is being taught while babies are still in the womb...... compared with the madrassa education that pakistanis like you have received.
- Finally, he tells us that he was born in the USA but brought up and educated in India..... and is a key mover and shaker in the Indian American lobbying circles...... and is frustrated that chowkies find his quest for his H1B visa extension funny.

so there!

oops! he also calls us Pakistanis jehadis, terrorists and pukis and thinks all of us belong in Guantanamo bay. Thank Goodness I remembered.... lest you remained deprived of your friend`s writings.

CHOWK Editors,
Could we finally read what friend
arjun_m is trying to write on this issue?

# 26: The Kakori Kabab’s sound interesting. Any details?

#20 Hi Farzana. Too bad that I did not have time for Parathaywali Gulli
this time around. I was offered the Shahi Tukra’s but was already too
Nehari full at the time and opted for Haldiram’s later. The Kheer Benazir
we all know is not named after BB but when writing as often as I do, some
strange ideas do crop up like your Pervez Paan.

# 19 Patwari: Lahore is certainly cleaner

# 17 Dilli is like Lahore but with Daru

# 16 HP: I must say, all that was missing was the Pakistani Flag there.
But I must try and understand the sensitive nature of the label…
I will disagree with you on Lahore food. It is amazingly good.

# #15 temporal: You go to Dilli for Pizza?

#14 Stuka: Food is great on BOTH sides of the border…

# 13 & # 12 kaurasach: Eat in Lahore and Bhangra will follow..

#11 Ansari: It is nice to go vegetarian once in a while. The wedding in Aligarh
that I attended had separate Veggi and Non-Veggi food sections.

# 9 & #10 arjun_m: What was that again?

# 8 Amit: One can only agree with you here..

# 7 GuruJee: They do eat a lot of Paneer in India but my lactose intolerance
remains a problem.

# 6 nazarhayatkhan : maybe Lahore food can be reviewed next week?

#5 Ansari: I have been eating at that place (Riaz Masjid or Ghaffar’s) since I was a kid.
Our house was just a stone’s throw from Delhi Saudagaran. My family
Is not all from Delhi but most of my neighbors in Karachi were Dilli Walas.

#4 stuka: Who is Sadia Dehlavi?

#3 Amrita: I agree

#2 Veeresh: Maybe it is time to get back to kababs.
I did pass the Jalebi Wala but stuck to eating Bengali sweets.
I did not notice the marriage brass bands because there were
too many marriages going on in Delhi at the time (all busy?)
and did go to Aligarh, Agra and Jaipur. Will write what I can
without violating my visa restrictions…. I want to visit India again
for 300 reasons all related to me.

#1 rkhan: I could not resist. Burns Road is still the place for me….

Ras Sahib says

``No beef was served even in the Muslim households visited, and obviously not in the restaurants outside.``

``The taste of “Shabbarati’s Nihari” is comparable to the best that old Karachi and Lahore have to offer on a good day.``

Can someone notice the contradiction here? Did someone catch Ras Bhai pulling a fast one on us?

Nihari is made with beef shank (which is the lower part of Holy Cow`s leg).... Nihari made with anything else is blasphemy pure and simple. I wonder what Haji Shabbarati made his nihari with... chicken shank I guess!! What other blasphemies are being committed by this fake Hadji? I hope he is not selling paya made with duck feet! If this Hadji ever sets foot in Pakistan, lets try him under section 295-C...... OK?

Now bhai sahib, what kind of tourist would want to eat a Pakistani dish like Nihari in India? haiN? Bhai, in India, you should savor the wide variety of Injun vegetarian delicacies like aloo-gobhi, gobhi-aloo, kaddu-baingun, baingun-kaddu, and so many more.

#21 by stuka on February 18, 2005 12:43pm PT

You`re eating at the wrogn places...
Try Peshawari and Bukhara grill...

amrita:

yes wenger`s

made fresh, personal size and steamin....mmmmm

A foodie article and my claims not not interacting here get thrown out of the window. Especially with these Bambaiyas claiming a cosmo variety (visit Pune and see where the better Irani joints are). Actually that was true till maybe even 10 years ago but saddi Dilli has changed quite a bit since then.
The Karim at Jama Masjid is the original. Many years ago when I was chota sa baccha my dad posted in Red Fort, so I had fond memories of kebabs from Karims. The Nizamuddin one only makes it more accessible for those who rather not drive into Old Delhi (traffic hazards not any other reason). But the traffic in that area is a better controlled now than it used to be. Chandi Chowk ki Parathewali gali deserves a look in as well as the book stores there. The chaat variety in CC is unmatched (which reminds me - UPSE ka Chaat wala apparently still does roaring business except he now comes in a Mercedes).
Chandi Chowk say yaad aaya did you go to Chor Bizzare for Kashmiri food (maybe Wazwaan in Def Col).

``Nathu`s at Bengali market`` indeed. For many Nathu`s at Bengali market is an imposter, a newbie (thos its been around for ages now). The Bengal Sweet House being the original which now, horrors, sells ``Vage`` pizza. Vaise sweets ki baat hai then a trip to the sweet house at Sundar Nagar rates a mention. Actually there a number of them all over the city to give names would reveal my gluttony.

And the option is not just restricted to the 5 stars. The Lucknowi food at Al Kauser mmm think Kakori Kababs and as mentioned previously the resturants at Pandara Lane (Pindi, Gulatis). And I can`t reemeber the name of the original that started it all by the refugee from Pakistan (darn the original is at Daryaganj).

Dosas are now a North Indian dish. Malabar Cafe for wonderful spicy southern chicken with appams. Visit Dilli Haat to savour food from different states. Try the Rajasthani kadhi chawal. Actually have anada parathas at night from the roadside vendor under the moolchand flyover. Eat fried fish with grated mooli from any roadside vendor and do not miss the kulcha channa from the roadside vendors too. Actually some of the best food comes from the street vendors, hygiene be damned. I had all the gol gappas and papri chaat and nothing happened. Mexican/Thai/Chinese/Japanese etc etc sab milta hai and as I have to write my script this term paper will have to wait.

sutka .. china garden sucks.. lings pavillion the place (actually i hate chinese food pretty much anywhere in india)

stuka on kababs i agree. i prefer mahim dargah for kabab (shashliks marinated in papya jiuce) or foras road for mughlai. dilli is overall provincial in the sense of lack of veriety. also in the older times, dilli did not have any ``real`` upmarket restaurants..all they had were hotel restaurants (liek dum-pukht etc). us mumbaiyas found it very provincial. hopefully things have changed. offocourse in mumbai we have great views from sea-lounge..

other thing in dilli is that say you meet an old friend and want to get a cold beer (or 2 or 3), masala papad over a pack of wills navy-cut, you would have to think of where to go, whereas in mumbai you would need to walk for about 3 minutes at most.

mumbai also lacks those tibetan dhabas .. but then mumbai does not get compared to Lahore ;-)

I`ve eaten excellent food in Manali (HP). Karahi chicken and paneer. One of the best ever Chicken I ate in my life is at the Queen`s palace (now a restaurant) in Mandi (HP). It was EXCELLENT!

Farzana:

``Stuka, so what if Gujjus put sugar in the dal?``

Umm, is that even a serious question? Do you also put Thums Up in black label scotch? Hahaha!!

``Punjabis put malai in their chicken...``

So do the French. Cream and butter are essentials of good cooking as thickeners in all sophisticated cuisines such as Punjabi, French, Italian etc.

``and if one can have have spicy parathas with dahi, then problem kya hai?``

No problem eating Paranthas with Dahi. I also do that. We are in agreement here. (Thumbs Up Icon)

Jang:

Dude, Bombay sucks ass as far as Non Veg food is concerned. I was taken to a much touted Badey Mian`s close to Taj. Crap!! Better kabas and Tikkas and botis available in New Jersey. Even the Chinese of China Garden was over-rated.

Bombay does well for vegie food like Bhel Puri and Vada Pao. The south indian food is not bad but I have had better in Mangalore and Udupi.

Hi Ras:

It is obvious that you enjoyed your trip...at least the palatable stuff:) Glad you wrote about food, that is pretty much all that Delhi has to offer...and made sense to stick to the Muslim-Punjabi cuisine. Though it is pity Annapurna was closed. Instead of Haldiram`s, Nathu`s at Bengali Market would have been good for mithai and to grab a quick chaat...

I think there is some confusion about the two Karim`s, though you visited both. The Chandni Chowk one is downmarket, but the kebabs are great. However, the one at Nizamuddin offers more subtle flavours (in their yakhni and saalans) perhaps keeping the clientele in mind. I assume you did not catch the qawaali?

Did you eat anything at all at the Dilli Haat stalls? I like their South Indian stuff the most...

Did you do Paranthewalli galli?

For dessert, you should have tried the Shahi Tukda...but I guess a certain lady`s name took you in a different direction?! Kheer Benazir is not named after the Pakistani PM, but I would love to push for a post-meal Pervez paan...

Next time, do make it to Mumbai. There really is nothing quite like it!

- - -
Stuka, so what if Gujjus put sugar in the dal? Punjabis put malai in their chicken...and if one can have have spicy parathas with dahi, then problem kya hai?

Yes but I think lhr is cleaner and thus food is more healthy.

Re: # 15
t - wengers? I dream of their apple strudel.

food wise, dilli is very provincial. mumbai is the only truely cosmopolitan eating place.

you have your ``muhalla`` food places, e.g. gujju muhallas serving thalis with piping hot rotis, madrasi muhallas like matunga for south-inidian veg food more authentic than madras or mysore, sindhi colony for the grease and junk food, koliwada (guru teg-bahadur nagar) for panjabi fried fish, muslim eateries liek noor-mohamdi restaurant in mahim or dilli-darbar on Foras Road (where every one is called Hritik Roshan), pasee colony yazdiyaar, ghati places like Mama Kane ..

street food (many new inventions) like bhel-puri, pau-bhaji, kala-khatta, juices, sandwitches, kebabs, wada-pau.

cool-cat places for pizzas and extremely ugly and pink cocktails, hole-in-the wall thai places in bandra, and more Barista coffee places on every corner (more than in Seattle).

good value institutions like the mocambo for biryani+beer, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Hostel canteen called ``Majestic Hotel``, Mahesh Lunch home for phish.

new-trend speciality restaurants claiming bengali, keral, costal andra, goa-coastal marathi foods..

and offcourse daruu everywhere, and you can watch homely aunties dancing to latest item number for time-pass.

while dilli still competes with Lahore ;-)

“A mini-Pakistan was very much alive and well here”

Hindu groups to deride Muslims in India use mini Pakistan and there is no need to repeat that. Muslims in India are Indian. Those are historical Muslim areas in Delhi way before Pakistan came into existence.
There are areas in Karachi and Lahore that resemble Delhi. If people start calling them Mini-India, Would you agree with them on that?

Now food! The delicacy of Delhi food is captured in Karachi not Lahore. Most of the food sold in Lahore streets is made up excess use of lard/ghee/Tallow etc the lack of or accurate proportion of spices is evident. Food does not become delicious by using lots of Lard/Ghee/tallow or intolerable amount of Red chili(lal mirch). Lahore food is an example of abuse of spices such as red chili and black pepper.
Authentic chefs/cooks of Delhi origin cooked food in Karachi at least in the Burns road area. It may have changed now. However, the food in Lahore is no way near authentic Delhi food.

Your write-up reminded me of my travels in Delhi and in the surrounding areas such as Aligarh, Deoband, Meerut etc. in a car and frequently stopping at dhabbas to eat food.

Thanks for bringing back old memories. I am looking forward to be in Delhi this summer.

the fare at karim`s in chandni chowk is way better than the nizamuddin karim`s...the time we were there...

digression:

the best pizza i`ve ever had was from an old established bakery in connaught circle...everytime we`d be in delhi we`d detour to grab some:)

``Essentially you have ended up describing purely Pakistani cuisine which is alien to Indians who mostly eat only vegetarian dishes. India is mostly a vegetarian culture to the extent that they religiously abstain from eating even eggs wheras our dishes which here you erroneously refer to as `Indian` are conspicuously made of meat and that too of beef.``

Gurujee, that is not Indian cuisine, It is Brahmin cuisine that you talk about. India is much bigger than the culinary horizon of Brahmis from Uttar Pradesh.

I have had excellent beef curry in Kerala. Bufallo kababs in Nizamuddin, pork momos in Chanakyapuri, butter chicken at Pindis`s and Gulati`s...all these places in Delhi, are paradise for non veggies. Only bore place which was largely veggie was Gujarat. And those guys put sugar in dal.

India has come a longways from the rajma/chholay chawal and tandoori chicken. I was surprised to see these small town hotels and restaurants on the outskirts of Chandigarh turning out excellent dishes in Indian, Chinese, and Italian fares. And they do smashing business. City folks throng to these eateries in droves. Even with `connections`, it is hard to get in sometimes.

I don`t have such pleasant memories of Delhi food. I was out for 3 days after eating a `hamburger` at Connaught Place (food poisoning). Fancy restaurants weren`t much better.

All the reccommended eateries turned out to be bore. Narula`s was the craze at that time. I was able to take only one bite of the ``best pizza`` in Delhi.

Lemon Wala, Ice Cream (kulfi wala), Biryani wala in Chandani Chowk turned out to me mediocre fare.

Delhi was twice as expensive as Chandigarh. and the fare half as good.

I think Amritsar has better food. The mithai in Amritsar is much better. And other dhabas and restaurants that dot the roads of India. And they are reasonable.

As far as `muslim` food, I remember going to this roadside dhaba like tandoor place in Delhi that was crowded. His rates were really high ....and the host got only a small portion....it was good.....but nothing that made me break into an impromtou Bhangra.

That`s an interesting point. I remember a friend telling me a while back about a wedding she attended in India where the hosts served pure vegetarian fare, including rajma and chawal. As someone who is used to heavy-duty Pakistani wedding food (qorma, biryani, zarda) I found it delightful. Not too sure how well that menu would be received in Pakistan though. People would think sautelon ki shaadi hai . . .

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Re:GuruJee#7

Yaar, do you have to bring up this India-Pakistan thing even in food? There are millions of Indians who are non-veg in a big way. Maybe they dont eat beef just like you dont eat pork. Otherwise, there are no limits. In fact, there are many hindus like myself, who do eat beef when prepared outside the house in restaurants etc.

Siddiqui Sahib, you forgot to mention everyday ubiquitous Indian fare of `Rajma-Chawal`, `Palak-Paneer` and `Cholay-Chawal`. Essentially you have ended up describing purely Pakistani cuisine which is alien to Indians who mostly eat only vegetarian dishes. India is mostly a vegetarian culture to the extent that they religiously abstain from eating even eggs wheras our dishes which here you erroneously refer to as `Indian` are conspicuously made of meat and that too of beef. Example is `Keema-Paratha` (Note to Indians: try to read it as the way its written and not `kHeema`) which is a pariah in India where you`ll have to restrict yourself to eating `Gobi/Aalloo Paratha`. No one in India knows about Nihari, Haleem or Beef-Pilaf as it is against their religion to consume such dishes. Even in predominant areas where beef is eaten in India, its supply is erratic subject to the whims of fundamantalist-party goons in power. Kebabs are eaten in India but are made of Mutton and not beef. The perennial orange coloured `Tandoori-Chicken` continues to remain an Indian tardemark!

Ras

A good article. Karachi`s Burns road has been an old faithful. Lahore had the Mcleod Road -and now probably the food street.

It is a fact that the variety & taste of these dishes is out of this world and other foods do not match it. Choumein, stake, pitza may be all fine but it is the nans, kababs, bhuna ghost, biryani, cholay that do the deep satisfaction.

nhk

Ras: There is a Dilli colony next to Bahadurabad in Karachi. I haven`t had their nihari but chicken boti was very good. I think you can get ``Dilli ka khaana`` relatively easily in Karachi. They have something called ``cheentay ki roti`` which is eaten fresh out of the tandoor with aloo gosht.

Are you a Dilli-waala too?

Great article Ras. If you get a chance, read a similar article called Dilli Ka Dastarkhwan by Sadia Dehlavi.


Veeresh: I have been to the Karim`s in Nizamuddin but not the one in Jama Masjid. I know the owners are the same but is there any real difference in the ambience or food of the restaurants?

Nothing I miss more about Delhi than the food. Karim`s.... there`s the ultimate reason never to go veg! Great read!

Thank you for an excellently readable article. I have been off real kababs for almost five years now so your article tends to bring back memories.

Some questions, which may also add a little extra flavour, and not just from or for Muslim males either . . . .

# The two Karim`s are inter-related. Perchance, did you visit the one at Nizamuddin on a Thursday, if not then please try to do so next time, and proceed on to the Dargah for . . . .

# Did you happen to pass/spot the famous jalebi-wala on your walk from Jama Masjid/Karim to Ghantaghar/Ghantewala? If not, please do so next time and tell me if you can eat more than 100 grams . . . .

# Were the marriage brass bands practicing outside Bhagirath Palace when you walked past? Most of them claim linkages to similar brass bands from Hyderabad/Sindhh and are able to move from tunes for birth to wedding to funeral without missing a beat . . . .

# Kheer Benazir at Karim`s/Nizamuddin is fine, but the onion slices dipped in vinegar and served with masalas are named after an ex-Information Minister of Pakistan . . . .

Next time you go to Aligarh, may I suggest you travel the longer way around at least one way? Please drive from Delhi to Agra, then cross the Yamuna at Agra from where you can back-track a wee bit to Aligarh.

Ras,
Man you can’t resist bringing the name Benazir into your articles, can you? Nevertheless a nice article especially the food part. I still drool thinking about the student days in Karachi going for the Zahid ki Nihari in Saddar or to Waheed restaurant off Burns Road for Kabab Fry and topping it up with Pista Rubri from the Rubri wala next to the restaurant.

I hope I get to visit Dilli sometime for the Nihari near the Jama Masjid. I have heard a lot about it.
Raheel