Magain Shalome Synagogue in Karachi

According to 1998 census there are no Jews living in Pakistan ,but at the turn of the twentieth century, Karachi had a Jewish population of about two to three thousand.They were mainly traders and a few were civil servants. They spoke Marachi, which was spoken by most of Ben-e- Israel people living in various parts of the British India. The community was well to do, vibrant and fun loving.

It seems under British jurisdiction, the Jewish people were treated with tolerance. A small community lived in Peshawar where apart from the Bene Israel, the Baghdadi Jews and Bukharan Jews formed a small community and city had a synagogue. It has disappeared now. Few Jewish families lived in Rawalpindi and some in Lahore also.

Karachi had couple of synagogues. The famous Magain Shalome Synagogue was built in 1893 in Karachi by Shalome Solomon Umerdekar and his son Gershone Solomon. Some accounts suggest that it was built by Solomon David, a surveyor for the Karachi Municipality and his wife Sheeoola bai. It soon became the center of a small but vibrant Jewish community.

There existedvariety of social and welfare organizations to serve the Jewish community. The Young Man's Jewish Association, founded in 1903, whose aim was to encourage sports as well as religious and social activities of the Bene Israel in Karachi; the Karachi Bene Israel Relief Fund, established to support poor Jews in Karachi; and theKarachi Jewish syndicate, formed in 1918, to provide homes to poor Jews at reasonable rents. Abraham Reuben, one of the leaders of the Jewish community, became the first Jewish councilor on the city corporation in 1936.

After the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948 and Arab–Israel war , things got ugly for small Jewish community in Pakistan. The synagogue in Karachi was set to fire and Jews were attacked.The synagogue was later on repaired and restored by the community. The situation got worst and the plight of Jews became more precarious following disturbances and demonstrations directed against the Jews during the Arab-Israel wars in 1956, and 1967. Eventually most of the Jews moved to India, Israel and the United Kingdom. By 1968, thenumber of Jews in Pakistan had decreased to about 250 to 300.

However Magain Shalome Synagogue , a welfare organization, and a recreational organization kept functioning in the city. The small community in Peshawar and other parts of Pakistan ceased to exist, and the synagogue in Peshawer disappeared.Magain Shalome Synagogue, Karachi's last synagogue, was demolished in 1980s to make way for a shopping plaza in front of the last few Jewish families still braving in Karachi, with the understanding that in the new building a smaller synagogue would be built,that never happened.The Bene Israel (People of Israel) graveyard situated in Mewa Shah, alongwith the graveyard of Kutchi Memons and is the last resting place for hundreds of Karachi's Jews, many of whom preferred to stay on in Pakistan instead of going to Isreal or Europe or United Staes.

Unofficially some Jewish families do remain in Karachi, but they prefer to pass themselves off as Parsis. I met a Karachi Jew in 2004 and he told me that there are about 10 to 12 Bene Israel families in Karachi and they observe Sephardic Jewish rites. He also told me that Bene Israelis still living in Pakistani are living comfortable life and have excellent friendships with many people here in Karachi.

Majority of the Karachi Jews now live in Ramle, Israel. The Older members still speak Urdu or Marachi and have built a synagogue there, and named it, Magen Shalome.what else.

Written in September 2005 for Writers' Forum.

Hussaini: An Aviation Painter Par Excellence

Hussaini : An Aviation Painter Par Excellence

The history of human flight started in 1783 when Joseph Michel and Jacques Etienne Montgolfier, sent aloft Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier and Francois Laurent in a hot air balloon. They rose to about 6,000 feet and traveled more than one mile. Powered flight took another 120 years. Wilbur and Orvil Wright successfully flew their airplane, The "Flyer", on December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, NC,USA. 

Aviation is primarily a twentieth century phenomenon but aviation art has centuries of history.Artists had illustrated flight long before a hot-air balloon or the Wright brothers , Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century created detailed sketches of a flying machine, "The Ornithopter", with bat-like wings. . There are many illustrations, woodcuts and drawings from medieval times portraying flight. However, aviation art came into its own after the First World War.

Aviation appeals to many aspects of human nature - challenge, excitement, adventure, exploration, mastery, serenity. Images of airships and airplanes took the fancy of the youth and sold newspapers, books and magazines. Illustrations of World War I dogfights, increased aviation art's popularity even more. Though, photography competed with illustration after the invention of roll-film by George Eastman, it could not compete when it came to define and express pure beauty. Artists could paint imaginary situations,depict scenes,embellish a situation, change the landscape, or add dramatic lighting. Early photography was hardly capable of achieving all that. Aviation art had arrived.

During Second World War the Aviation Artists became an invaluable part of the war effort. Writers, journalists and photographers documented the war, but it were artists who rallied people through patriotic magazine covers, advertisements and posters of aircraft and heroic youthful pilots. Dan V Smith's "Keep Em Flying," painted in 1942 , featured a formation of bombers set against pastel clouds and a rippling U.S. flag.

It is argued often by art purists that aviation art is a kind of commercial art. To be fair to the purists aviation painting emanated from popular illustration but is far from ubiquitous commercial art. Aviation painting has elements of impressionist landscape as well as expressionism of action paintings. Add to it, the necessity of a sense of movement, obviously it is a complex and difficult craft. An aviation painter combines the vision of an abstract painter, the sensitivity of an impressionist and the skillfulness of landscape artist with a historian’s keen sense and understanding of history.  It is the combination of painter’s ability to convey a sense of drama, tell a story and frame a composition that pulls the viewer in.

There is really more to aviation art than the depiction of mechanical flying objects. Aviation artist Gerald Asher said, “the most exciting aspect of creating aviation art is the sense of freedom the enhanced perspective of being above the earth rather than on it and being able to move the horizon where you want it, literally adds a new dimension to the work". Many aviation artists agree that the degree of difficulty involved in creating aviation art is unmatched.

Although aviation underwent many changes during the last century, the look created by World War II artists continues to be the mainstay of aviation art. Most of the pioneering artists are realists using a colour palette ranging from bold to subdued and they composed paintings on the diagonal, creating dynamic movement by pointing the airplane's cross shape, wings running perpendicular to the body, toward one of the canvas' corners.

Few in Pakistan know about a world class internationally acclaimed aviation painter Masood Akhter Hussaini. It is not surprising for a country where few can or willing to spend time on appreciation of art ,crafts and literature. Group Captain SMA Hussaini joined Pakistan Air Force College Sargodha in 1963. Alumni of Pakistan Air Force School/College Sargodha are known as Sargodhians. This writer has honour of being a Sargodhian as well. We are from the same house, `Saber' in Hussaini's time.When I reached college the house had been renamed “Rafiqui” to commemorate one of Pakistan’s greatest fighter pilots.

Hussaini graduated from PAF Acedemy Risalpur in 1971 but his heart was somewhere else. I wouldn't say it was his good luck I would rather put it in this way that it was fortunate of Pakistan Air Force to not only discover but also utilize his extraordinary skills. Saying Hussaini was a born painter would be an understatement. Over the years he painted the history of PAF with elegance and passion. His style is close to one of the pioneering aviation artist, Keith Ferris. Both create a romantic feel. Airplanes are set against pastel skies and luminous clouds. Hussaini has been conferred Tamgha-i-Basalat and President's Pride of Performance Award in recognition of his contribution as the Aviation Artist.

Keith Ferris is acknowledged to be the most important aviation artist in the world .His panoramic 25 ft by 75 ft mural of Boeing B-17 bombers "Fortresses Under Fire" is a popular attraction at Washington’s National Air and Space Museum. . A large body of his work is in government and private collections world over. Keith Ferris admires Hussaini's skill and talent. Bob McCall the founding member of American Society of Aviation Artists (ASAA) said," His (Hussaini) paintings are charged with a special energy; how impressed I was with power and beauty of these images."

Fighter aircraft are stunningly beautiful. Like a shark, they are sculpted fit for purpose. Sharks evolved over eons. Humans moved from Wright brothers’ elementary flying machines to Stealth fighter in about hundred years. It is a statement of human ingenuity and energy.  Few in the world can paint fighter aircraft better than Hussaini. He is a visual storyteller since his overt as wella s dormant imagery is inextricably linked with history of Pakistan Air Force. His palette is warm, his lines are dynamic and his compositions are dramatic. In his skillful hands, flight technology is poetry in motion and the lethal shape of a fighter aircraft becomes beautiful. It becomes exceedingly difficult to accept that these beautiful pictures of beautiful machines are all about killing people.  

Had Hussaini not committed himself to aviation painting he would have been a great landscape painter, arguably the best from this part of the world. Most of his paintings are brilliant landscapes. His paintings "Battle of Tejgaon" 2'ftx3'ft AHQ Islamabad; "The Last Encounter" 2'ftx3'ft AHQ Islamabad; "Paybills" 2'ftx3'ft Ministry of Defence, Rawalpindi; and mural size "Riverine Assault" 12'ftx14'ft Naval HQ,Islamabad are all extraordinary landscapes. He is very careful about the time period he sets in his paintings. I first flew over Jamrud Fort in 1984, even at that time the surroundings were much different than what Hussaini has painted in "Red Dragons" 6'ftx4'ft AHQ,Islamabad. The painting is set in 1967 and his representation of time period and attention to detail are astonishing.

Hussaini’s early work has expressionist rawness and impressionist finesse. I saw his brilliant early painting " Hercules Bomber" 2'ftx3'ft in Headquarters Air Defense Command in mid eighties and was instantly awe-stricken by its biomorphic composition, bold colours and uncanny rhythm. It was a painting of a C-130 on bombing mission during 1965 war."Attack on Okha"2'ft x3'ft is another outstanding chiaroscuro of his experimental days. My favourite Hussaini has to be “Halwara” which he painted from the perspective of Sarfraz Rafiqui H.J. It has been composed on the diagonal and painted with poignant blue palette.

Surprisingly in the recent time Hussaini's canvas has "grayed" moving closer to image registration and event description. Gone are the bright vibrant colours and dramatic compositions.But I am sure he will inshallah come out of this phase.  It is very normal for great painters to go through these kinds of artistic phases.  Picaso’s blue phase can be an example which lasted almost five years. During those years Pablo Picasso painted principally monochromatic paintings in shades of blue and blue-green.

I have a very special bond with Hussaini ; a bond of respect and love. For me, he has always been a source of positive energy and encouragement. I remember his delight when I presented him a copy of my first published book. Later on, when he told me that he liked it, I was ecstatic. We had many sessions in his studio located at PAF Base Chaklala. We did couple of television programs. We talked history, painting,photography, and, of course, beautiful women. There were a lot of good jokes. Those are prized moments of my life. .

Although his batch mates might not agree, Hussaini is a true sufi. He is a very contended man.He simply loves what he does. For a man of his stature, prominence and substance his humility is amazing. Hussaini always dismissed my one, nagging objection that he "invented" or "glorified" some of the events in his paintings, but then the first casualty of the war is often truth.

The Death of Benazir Bhutto

The assassination of former prime minister of Pakistan Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, who returned from exile on 18 October has all the ingredients of a Frederic Forsyth thriller . The knowledge of a clear and present danger, compounded by a near miss on the night of her return from years of exile, makes it a chronicle of a death foretold.

Benazir returned under a flawed U.S. mediated plan to shift Pakistan from direct to indirect military rule and give it a civilian façade. For much of her exile, Benazir was considered irrelevant by Washington, but after Musharaf's crackdown on civil society in Pakistan, she emerged as America's safest bet in a region where US policy makers have huge stakes. Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton's image-maker presented her as progressive, secular, female, reformed during her years of exile and willing to compromise.

Benazir was an enigma. Brilliant, beautiful, fearless, compassionate but with a will of iron, ruthless ambition and deeply devious. Far removed from ordinary life in Pakistan, she had an English governess, went to a convent school and graduated from Harvard and Oxford.

'London is like a second home for me,' she told William Dalrymple. 'I know London well. I know where the theatres are, I know where the shops are, I know where the hairdressers are. I love to browse through Harrods and WH Smith in Sloane Square. I know all my favourite ice cream parlours. I used to particularly love going to the one at Marble Arch: Baskin Robbins. Sometimes, I used to drive all the way up from Oxford just for an ice cream and then drive back again. That was my idea of sin.'

Known to her friends as Bibi or Pinky, she liked royal biographies and Mills and Boons romances. Khalid Hasan, Press Secretary to her father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, said, "If Benazir Bhutto was to be summed up in one word, that word would be ‘kind’. Indomitable though her will was, and extraordinary the courage she was gifted with, behind her sometimes steely exterior lay a deeply humane woman who felt for the poor and the deprived. Benazir was forgiving. She had an amazing capacity to take personal abuse – and that was one count on which she was never to want. She would shrug her shoulders and move on. She preferred to concentrate on the essentials of her relationships with people, not the trivia that often gets to define them. She was by nature a generous person."

Husain Haqqani, who did a lot of work on her behalf in Washington and with the US media, wrote, "Benazir Bhutto was the most amazing, loving and lovable person I have ever known. For those who only saw her as a distant political figure, her human dimension clearly did not matter. For everyone whose life she touched, her humanity transcended the politics. Benazir Bhutto had the capacity to turn critics into admirers. When I first met her, I worked for her opponent but she won me over by her charm and persuasion, leading to fifteen years of close relations and my absolute personal loyalty to her".

However, Benazir had many loathsome detractors and critics. They painted Benazir Bhutto as a frivolously wealthy feudal landlord, more concerned with power than with the wellbeing of the average Pakistani. It was trumpeted with ferocious frequency that she and her husband shamelessly looted the nation’s treasure and ended up fleeing the country, pursued by the courts. It is also widely claimed that during her years as Prime Minister, Pakistan went backward, not forward.

It is not clear who killed Bhutto. She told crowd of supporters that fateful evening, "I risked my life and came here because I believe our country is in danger". The government says that Baitullah Mehsud, a militant with links to Al Qaeda and the Taliban, was behind it. That exonerates everybody else.

This attack was carefully planned and executed. Benazir’s behaviour during and after public gatherings had been well researched and carefully plotted. She often used that top sunroof to greet her supporters during processions and public gathering. But her assassins could not assume she would continue to use the sunroof. They probably had a plan to get her to come out while she was about to leave the gate of Liaqat Bagh, Rawalpindi.

The killers learnt from the unsuccessful attempt of 18 October when Benazir survived because her armoured truck withstood the blast that while a bomb may fail because of the protective measures, it is necessary for the target to shift to another vehicle. There lies the opportunity for the kill. The assassins therefore probably planned for the 27 December attack to include a shooter, a suicide bomber and, in all probability, a sniper. They were determined to get her.

The publicly available video footage and photographs show a pistol firing gunman and a suicide bomber. The suicide bomber and the shooter probably did not know about each other's mission or presence. The shooter was not on a suicide mission and was given an exit plan. If the bomber was to be used to get her out of the armed vehicle, this shooter would have been eliminated with the bomber. So who was to take final shot? The logical conclusion points to a highly trained sniper. This therefore becomes something more sophisticated and professionally orchestrated.

Official accounts of the cause of death kept shifting. Bullet wounds became concussion. A Ministry of Interior spokesman said Benazir had died by hitting her head on a lever of her vehicle's sunroof during the attack. The other passengers refuted this. The doctors who examined Benazir afterwards also distanced themselves from this theory.

Considering what is known and statement of the DSP at the scene, the alleged shooter was almost at 8 o'clock position at a distance of about 3 to 4 meters from the vehicle. Though it's fairly close range, it is still difficult controlling a pistol/revolver. A revolver is more difficult to control than a pistol. As Benazir was standing in her vehicle, the angle of the shooting arm was about 35-45 degrees. It is a difficult shot with one hand even at such a close range. Add in the crowd and the anxiety factors and it becomes an almost impossible shot. The suicide bomber eliminated the shooter and created enough chaos.

If it is accepted that shooter was successful in taking his shot, than the bullet probably entered from slightly rear lower part on the left side with an exit from the front right side. An experienced doctor confirms that in this case the entry wound would be difficult to locate. Low velocity entry wounds are very small - smaller than the calibre of the gun. To note the characters of these types of entry wounds the area of scalp has to be shaven. The exit wound usually is bigger than the entry wound.

Dr. Mussadiq and his team at the General Hospital Rawalpindi must be under tremendous pressure as Benazir was either already dead or dying on their examination table. It cannot be ruled out that they missed the scalp wound. The doctors were probably unaware that shots had been fired at her. The assumption of death by blast might have narrowed their examination, otherwise they would have tried to find the entry and exit wound and the track of the bullet.

In any case a post-mortem was needed in quiet and calm condition to provide the answers as to how Benazir actually died. The autopsy was not conducted on instructions of the local police chief. A former senior Pakistani police official, Wajahat Latif, who headed the Federal Investigative Agency in the early 1990s, said that in any case of a suspected murder an autopsy was mandatory.

The Government was quick to blame the Taliban and Baitullah Mehsud. The evidence was intercepted audio recorded on tapes. It was the easiest and obvious attribution because only a religious fanatic lured by heavenly rewards would blow himself up! But what were their motives for Benazir’s assassination? Why should they kill her? Afterall what could she have done which Musharaf's Government is not already doing? They might have wanted her dead in general terms but their persistent going after her lacks a specific motive.

On 26 October, Benazir e-mailed Mark Siegel, her friend and Washington spokesman, to be made public only in the event of her death. "I would hold Musharraf responsible," Bhutto said in the message. "I have been made to feel insecure by his minions." She listed obstruction to her "taking private cars or using tinted windows, using jammers against roadside bombs and being surrounded with police cars. "

She was buried in the same mausoleum as her father where days after her return to Pakistan in October, she had visited to offer fatahah and scattered rose petals on the white-marble tomb.

Many questions remain unanswered. Who benefits from her death ? Why and who ordered the doctors not to have a post-mortem done at the hospital? Who ordered the fire brigade to wash away the crime scene and remove possible evidence?

Her assassination has certainly complicated the already fraught political situation of Pakistan.

Remembering Gulgee

December was a very difficult month for me. I lost my father that was personal, but our country lost Gulgee the last icon of our already impoverished cultural landscape. I first met Gulgee in the late eighties when I met him to show few of my amateurish paintings. He was very generous in his encouragement and I still remember he asked me to explore my talent and look into brush and paints seriously. Which I couldn't,

Aur bhi gham hein zamanay mein mohabat kay sewa
Rahatain aur bhi hein rahat-e-vasl kay sewa

 In early nineties when I was posted at PAF Faisal, I visited him several times and we had many long discussions on various topics.Gulgee was a great conversationalist, had tremendous energy and was a vivacious person with great sense of humour. He had beautiful stories to tell. He had immense knowledge of litreture, music, arts and crafts, mathematics, Physics and Dance! He was a competent dancer himself and told me he once considered learning it properly and giving it more time. I remember once we talked a whole evening about Isadora Duncan, Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov, JohnTravolta, Vijantymala and Panah.

Gulgee was a Peshawari and spoke fluent hindku. He belonged to the Ismailia community . He was an engineer and was once employed with the government of Pakistan. Gulgee was a public school boy, was a Galian as he went to Lawrence College Ghora Galli.So we had public school bond also.

We talked a good lot about painting. Though in his latter years he himself was doing action painting with lot of gusto and passion still he did not think very high of American abstract expressionists and thought anyone with a bit of imagination and good colour sense could do that. He was of the opinion that the shallowness of American painting scene and a desperate need for the heroes in art and the all powerful American art critics made abstract expressionism such a phenomenon. However he liked the free and easy way of action painters like Jackson Pollock, William DeKooning , Paul Klee and many other great action painters.

We also went once to Meerath kabab located in KDA Market Karachi, offcourse the shopkeepers knew him and we were served with the most succulent and delicious kebabs.

The last time I met him was in 2001 when I was with National Database and Registration Authority and was trying to launch Computerized National Identity Cards. We short listed Gulgee, Jahangir Khan, Muneer Niazi, Hasan Sardar and Imran Khan for our launching advertising campaign. Eventually we settled for Hassan Sardar (some of you might have seen those advertisements. I consider it one of my best work).

I also have the privilege to see him paint. It was a joy to watch him, though I think he allowed very few. In 1997 I also asked him to paint something with a PAF or an Air force theme. He was aware about Gp Capt Hussaini and said that Husaini was already doing that well enough.

I was planning to meet him for quite sometime infact I saw him in Super Market, Islamabad few months back but by the time I could reach him he was already inside his vehicle and I thought it wasn't appropriate to shout. Now I am regretting it, I should have made an effort.

Some Desi Desserts

Some time back I listed a few savory dishes from Pakistani cuisine. I am adding to it and listing five desserts. Personally I don’t have a cultivated sweet tooth but these are all desi desserts I adore.

1. Gajar ka Halwa

Probably the most popular and certainly the most delicious of the sweet dishes of sub-continent origin.Because of its basic ingredients, milk, carrots, butter and sugar/gur, it can be assumed that it originates from Punjab. Although it is available throughout the year, it is considered a winters sweet dish. There is a shop in Gowal Mandi Lahore which gives you great gajar ka halwa. Couple of shops in Gujranwala are also famous for their halwa. In Rawalpindi/Islamabad  ‘Sweet Centre’ on Murree road is a winner. A small shop, Hamid Sweet House in Chah Sultan Rawalpindi has a superb gajar ka halwa. The best I had, however, was in Sargodha from ‘Gali wali Hatti’.The shop was located in a side-street in kacheri bazaar, Sargodha. Their halwa was full of wonderful carroty flavor and khoya with the spicy aroma of cardamom and cinnamon.

2. Dhood Jalebi

Jalebi is made from maida. It probably is one of the most liked sweet in sub-continent. Jalebi also has originated in Punjab. It is made by deep-frying maida batter shaped into a chaotic shape and soaked in sugar syrup.  Jalebi can be bright orange or yellow or white. Another version of it is "Emarti", which is red-orange in colour and sweeter in taste, and made from gram-flour. Emriti is more popular in Eastern Punjab. It tastes divine if taken with boiling milk. This concoction gives you instant energy, that’s why it is well-liked by Pahlwans and athletes in Punjab. Our PAF basketball players always demanded to have it after a tough match. Dhood-jalebi “allegedly” has some kind of aphrodisiac properties as well and is therefore quite often placed on bedsides on wedding nights. Where can you have the best dhood jalebi? Almost everywhere in Pakistan even in London and Manchester. My personal favorite was a small shop in Committee chowk Rawalpindi. The shop has been demolished however, a very sad end to one of my favourite places.


3. Ras Malai

Ras Mali has to be one of my favorite desserts. It is primarily sweetened dumplings of ricotta cheese. These cheesy dumplings are soaked in sweetened and thickened milk delicately flavored with cardamom. It is best served chilled, garnished with chandi ka warq and a dash of crushed dried fruit. This sweet dish is a gift of Orissa Eastern India. It has been adopted by Lahore and is available in every sweet shop there. Rahat bakers in Lahore Cantt are famous for their Rasmali. The best however might not be Lahori. It is from Raheed sweets in old Saddar Bazaar Rawalpindi. Rasmali they offer is fluffy, slightly brownish-colored and sweetened to perfection.They have opened up their branches in Islamabad and other affluent areas of Rawalpindi. But I still find the old shop to be more fulfilling and delicious. Nostalgia I suppose.

4. Bengali Rasgulla

Nothing can be so sinisterly delicious than Bengali Rasgullas, exotic dollops of cheese in syrup. Like Rasmalai, Rasgullas also have a Bengal and Orissa origin. I have heard about an entire village in Orissa specialising in Rasgullas and other sweet delicacies. Before 1971, there used to be many Bengali sweets shops in Pakistan. My father tells me about a Bengali sweet shop in Saddar Rawalpindi, which closed down in 1970 as the owners left for Bangladesh. The shop remained closed for almost 2 to 3 years waiting for the return of the owners. They didnt .....

5. Kulfa-Falooda

Falooda or faludeh was introduced in India by the Iranians/Parsis. It is a traditional serving to celebrate nauroz. Falooda is a concoction made of ice cream, milk, thin noodles known as cellophane noodles, and tukh malanga/basil seeds.

Khulfa or Kulfi is refreshing and rich blend of sugar and cream. Khulfa-falooda is definitely a Punjabi creation with unique flavours and interesting textures. It is a very popular dessert available almost round the year all over Pakistan. My personal favorite is from Hafiz Soda water and Falooda in Sargodha located in old bazaar just beside the entrance of a mosque. During the scorching Sargodha summers this was a treat. They served from a terracotta pot (matka) covered with scarlet cloth. The bowl of kulfa falooda they dished up had generous amount of kulfa, hefty scoop of hand made ice cream and noodles topped with tukh malanga. Each and every spoon was a pleasure and would always leave you craving for more.

Finally another winter sweet dish made in my home during December rains. Aatay ka halwa is a blend of wheat flour, asli ghee and sugar/gur. It is a difficult dish to prepare , requiring lot of time and effort but worth all the effort. It is not available anywhere, if you want to have it you are welcome to my place in Islamabad during winters.

Delicious 10 from Pakistan

Pakistani cuisine is delicious and fullfilling. Here I am listing ten Pakistani delights I always enjoyed.

1. Beef Nihari with sesame Nan - Sabiri Karachi: It is said Nihari has Hazrat Nizamuddin Aoulia's blessing. I have read somewhere that it was also cooked for the workers working on Taj Mahal. There are two distinct varieties of Niharis available in Pakistan, Dehli and Amritsari. Amraitsari Nihari is less spicy and is normally available in Lahore, Rawalpindi etc. In Rawalpindi, Kala khan Nihari house is operating for quite sometime at Kartarpura. Dehli nihari, being more popular is available everywhere in Pakistan. It is a very rich and spicy dish. Some of the eatries specializing Nihari are Waris Lahore, Sabri, Zahid and Mohammdi in Karachi. Arguably the best among all of them is Sabiri on Burns Road/Bhunder Road. It is operating there since the 1950s and has maintained its taste and quality. Yes the place lacks good standards of cleanliness, but if you forget about it all for an evening you are bound to relish mouth watering and delicious nihari with fresh nan .

2. Kashmiri Ghoshtaba and white rice - Dilbar Hotel Rawalpindi: This is a traditional Kashmiri dish of big sized mutton meatballs in saffron yogurt gravy. Traditionally this dish is served with steamed white rice. It is a speciality of Dilbar hotel in Purana Qilla Bazar, Rawalpindi which is serving its quite faithful clientele for more than 50 years.

3. Lahori Deep Fried fish - Sardar Machi house Lahore: This is the biggest attraction of food street Gowalmandi Lahore. Big chunks of Rahou (Fresh water fish) marinated in a delicious batter which is amalgamation of various spices (the recipe is a closely guarded secret) and deep fried in vegetable oil. Fish is served with tamarind `amli ki chutni and reddish. `Sardar' is a very old outlet operating in Gowalmandi Lahore for almost 6 to 7 decades

4. Chicken Karahi - Tufail Hotel Sargodha: Chicken karahi is the single most popular Pakistani dish available around the world. Like chiken tikka masala, it is a great hit in UK. In Pakistan it is devoured from Gawadar to Gilgit but the best possible is served at Tufail hotel in Sargodha, where it is prepared in fresh butter and served with Raita and tandoori roti. During college days and later on when I posted at PAF base Sargodha, Tufail karahi used to be our weekend indulgence.

5. Beef/Chicken Briyani - Café Student Karachi: Briyani is another hit item of Pakistani plattere. It is available all over Pakistan and I have tried it at as far away as PDTC Motel Bisham and in Gilgit.The best nevertheless is served in Karachi. Café Student is famous for its hot and spicy biryani. It is available there hot around the clock with salad and raita. If you are in Karachi, have a bite.

6. Chappal Kabab - Jalil Kababi Peshawer: Chappali kabab is a delicate dish, but has been adopted by the Pathans and most of the time they over cook it. Jalil kababi is an exception. Located on the GT road, Jalil is one of the oldest kababi in Peshawer and fries these flat kababs according to your liking. You can also choose the toppings, ranging from egg to brain to bone marrow. It is served with fresh tandoori peshaweri nan and the most tangiest of chutni. After the meal is the cardamom kava and you are fresh to have another bite.

7. Khada Ghosht (lamb) - Quetta: This is a sheer indulgence and pure delight. Whole lamd or goat is cooked in khadda (a ditch) of wood/charcol fire for few hours without any spices. It is available in Quetta and some Baluchi eatries in Karachi and Islamabad. It is prepared to perfection at my Baloch friend's dera (place). I have seen his cook rubbing just a little bit of rock salt, black pepper, some lemon juice and some cinnamon. It is placed in Khadda for about three to four hours. The meat is tender to perfection and melts in your mouth. Khadda ghosht is served with Balochi palao or nan and fresh yogurt. Both mild red and white wines go great with it. Personally I recommend a good red possibly some Pinot Noir which is soft and silky and goes best with lamb.

8. Fried Trout - many roadside joints Chakdara (Swat): Chakdara is the gate way to Swat valley. For those who haven't heard about Chakdara, it is located at about two and half hours drive north of Nowshera. This is the place where River Swat enters fertile plans of NWFP. Whenever, I have some time, I go there for fishing and its always great fun. You'll come across several stalls serving fried trout. Again our Pathan brothers don't hesitate to overcook so if you are a bit careful about this and keep a watch on the process, you are in for the best fried fish in the world.

9. Mutton Namkeen Karahi - Namak mandi Peshawer : This lamb dish is cooked in lamb fat with only salt, lemon juice and a little bit of pepper. It is served with Peshawari Nan, which in the words of great Urdu writer Muhammad Khalid Athter is "the most honest bread in the world". After a hard game of basketball, with a couple of friends,we ate about 6 to 7 kilos of meat. And if you ask them they would also serve you a good joint of 'chars'.

10. Bihari Kabab and Paratha - Bahdarabad Karachi: Bihari kababs are such a delight that its inventor is destined to be in heavens for bringing culinary pleasures to so many people. Bihari has also emerged to be an extremely popular addition to continuously expanding Pakistani platter. The best bihari kababs are prepared in Bhadarabad Karachi. I have tried various eateries , but the most succulent and exquisitely spiced bihari kababs are barbecued at Rizwan Kabab Bhadarabad, Karachi. These are served with paratha and (Tamarind) 'Imli ki chutni'. And if you have good sturdy red wine with it you are in heaven.

Finally, I am writing about one dish which my maternal grand mother used to cook in winters. Sarsoan (mustarad) ka saagg and paneer with makai (maize) ki roti and butter. She learned `this special tarka' from a lady in Rurki (India), where my grand father spent couple of years during pre-partition times. The recipe was transferred to my mother and from her to my wife. As it is a family secret you wont find it anywhere else, however, you are welcome to come to my place and have a taste.