MOST POPULAR PAKISTANI FOODS THAT FOREIGNERS SHOULD KNOW! [By Nisar Hussain]

                         PAKISTANI CUISINE

By Nisar Hussain S/O Prof Waqar Hussain

                  Before I set off to tempt your appetites, as I’m sure after this talk, you’ll be straight heading towards the cafeteria. Let’s have a sight of where Pakistan stands on world ranking on producing spices. 

                 

 Keeping a very general view, Pakistan holds a rank of 5 for producing the most spices in the World, roundabout 53,000 metric tonnes per year. As a country with average scaled area, that’s not a small figure. Yet, thousands of metric tonnes are imported every year. You can imagine how much affection Pakistani’s holds for delicious foods.

Pakistani cuisine is not originally a sole creation of Pakistan society, but is a blend of many regional cuisines, ranging from some small provincial regions to the large Central and Western Asian cuisines. Among all, it seems to be very much influenced by meat-oriented dishes, perhaps, it’s the most likable part of any Pakistani food.

                              BREAKFAST IN PAKISTAN

Paratha's:

If we talk about the breakfast, keeping the typical Pakistani culture in view, Paratha’s are the most noticeable part of it. Unlike normal bread, this is a flatbread with many layers of dough. You can either make a plain paratha, which is simply a frying stacked bread of layered dough that looks like a single flatbread, but actually holds layers inside where it gets succulent by oil, and on each bite, it feels as if you are bursting bags filled of oil in mouth.

Stuffed Paratha:

Another type of Paratha is a stuffed paratha, as the word itself explains, among it’s layers of dough, there’s a layer of any ingredient that gives it a delish taste for eater to relish. This layer can be of a dough of boiled potato, mustard leaves, grinded meat, carrot, onion, and so on. Basically a dough of anything can be added to it, giving a new taste and making it more flavorsome.

Halwa Poori:

There’s another food called ‘halwapoori’ mostly served in Resturnants in the morning, although you cannot, by any chance find it in any other time beside morning. ‘Poori’ is a deep fried bread, like a plain paratha, and ‘Halwa’ is a sweet semi-solid sort of pudding along with a plate of salty ingredient, most probably a spiced chickpeas or any vegetable boiled in a spiced water. Among the most simply and casually cooked Pakistani food, the technique of boiling any vegetable in spiced water can be easily observed as Pakistani housewives find it really easy. The spiced water makes the vegetable soft and spicy, which can then be munched and the spiced water further gets drink as a soup.

Tea:

After this hard meal, a breakfast in typical Pakistani culture includes taking a hot cup of tea, or if I go in vivid explanation, a hot mug of sweet brown tea. Sweet brown explains that it have sugar and milk in it, unlike the western teas which have lemon and no milk. 

Kashmiri Pink Tea:

Apart from this casual tea, pink Kashmiri tea is a very likeable drink. Grinded coconut is sprinkled on it with a special tea pepper that gives it a natural pink colour.

Lussi:

There’s an orthodox, yet a very heavenly and luscious drink called ‘lussi’. It comprises of milk, yoghurt, and sugar. However, sometimes when it becomes too viscous, water is used. This drink gives a feeling of saturation and eventually gets the person dizzy.

Nihari:

Nihari is yet another popular dish taken in breakfast. It is a stew, and contains slowly-cooked meat with bone marrow, submerged in hot spiced water. It can be eaten with naan, an oven-baked bread of special flour or with Plain Paratha. Altogether, this dish is delectable, distinctive in its own flavorsome and quite a mouthwatering toothsome that can easily captivate anyone with its appealing aroma.

                                                         LUNCH IN PAKISTAN

When it comes to lunch in Pakistan, it is mostly a light weight meal. A simple bread, called a ‘roti’, or a naan, with a yellow mellow meal of boiled grains in broth, aloogosht, which is potato and meat in spiced water, or simply boiled rice with any spice. As you can notice, this ‘spice’ feature is fully into the Pakistani cuisine. Although, most such Pakistani foods are not palatable for foreigners as the Earthly trend is not fond of using these much spices in foods as Pakistani’s do. They go more for pleasuring their tongue rather than relieving their stomachs. That is actually why many people in Pakistan starts having malnutrition problems like obesity. Having acidity, ulcer, sugar problem, heart-burn, high blood pressure, and such died based diseases are commonly observed in Pakistani families, yet their affection for spicy foods is always sky high. Besides, those heavenly tasty foods can make any eater go crazy and addicted for them even if their stomachs are getting pushed to hell.

Many types of Rice:

We have to agree, Pakistani cuisine is really diverse, just as there are many types of Parathas, there are many dishes made from rice. You boil the rice, add beef to it and it becomes pulao. Add milk to boiled rice, it becomes kheer which is sweetened then. Adding grains to boiled rice, it becomes khichdi. Biriyani is a blend of many rice meals; it includes boiled rice with chicken meat, and many spices. Add gur, a solid brown sugar to boiled rice and it becomes gur wale chawal (Rice of gur) which is sweet in taste. It continues to many other types, each having its own distinctive and unique taste which the local people find tasteful enough to enjoy.

         DINNER IN PAKISTAN

If you want to find some really pleasuring, mouth-watering, delicious, luscious, delectable, and flavorsome meals in Pakistani cuisine, then join any dining table of a Pakistani family. Though it shall not be disregarded that meals on Pakistani dining table might not be palatable for some people, especially those who are not used to of eating too much and many spices.

Biriyani:

As I talked earlier about Biriyani, this dish tops every rice-oriented dish. Its main ingredients are Rice, meat and spices. It seems like it’s a simple dish with only 3 ingredients, but actually, these spices account for 16 different spices added to the boiled rice. It means, when you take one spoon of Biriyani, you’re actually taking 16 different spices. After you’re done munching a plate of biriyani, you can feel the warmth of your stomach and your whole gut feels to be burning. Though not as much to be painful, but enough to be noticeable. Usually people take soft drinks like coca cola, sprite or seven-up after biriyani, so as to relieve their stomach, but you can notice a clear foolishness there as they’re drinking nothing but another acidic item to boost the chances of acidity and ulcer.

Pulao:

Coming to another dish on dine at Pakistan, we have Pulao, yet again a rice-oriented meal, not as spicy as a biriyani however. In this, boiled rice are thrown into boiling broth, that contains meat or beef and some spices are added to make it more appealing.

Kofte:

Kofte counts as a piquant Pakistani dish that have meat balls merging out of a spiced soup. Kofte is considered as an expensive dish and not everyone affords to have it in dine.

Qeema:

Out of these meat-oriented dishes, qeema is a one pure meat dish which comprises grinded meat and spices only. It have a divine salty taste and teasing smell that attracts food lovers. It’s taste is mostly boosted by using lush green chilies, and sometimes even red chilies, fried in oil.

Korma:

Moving to the last meat-oriented meal of dinner in Pakistan and the most popularly known for mouth-watering dish, is Korma. Its ingredients are meat and spices only, but the procedure it is cooked and the minor but many spice ingredients added to it, makes it utterly yummy and super delicious. The meat is stewed which makes it soft enough to be eatable and not get stuck under adjacent tooth of eater. Then this stewed meat is braised with yogurt that gives it a little sour taste and boost’s its delightful smell. After adding numerous spices to it, including green and red chilies, a strong sauce is made in which, pieces of chicken meat are sub-merged, giving out the most tempting, teasing, and super mouth-watering smell, even thinking about it is making me eager to have that tonight.

Chinese Rice:

Other than our own traditional foods, Pakistani cuisine have been greatly influenced by Chinese foods. One of its example is ‘Chinese rice’, a very likable and enticing dish that enchants people, not only by its taste, but its aroma and appearance is as appealing as it’s delightful taste. It’s ingredients are boiled rice, vinegar, a special salt named ‘Chinese salt’ peppers, some finely chopped vegetables and grinded boiled eggs. Altogether, they make a perfect combination of a heavenly dish.

                FAST FOODS AND SNACKS

Samosas:

Apart of these timely cooked dishes, Pakistani cuisine have some fast foods and snacks, like Samosas, which are fried dish with a savory filling, that can be grinded cooked meat, potato dough, onions, etc.

Kebabs:

 And then we have a number of kebabs which are fried doughs of different items, like shami kebab, chapli kebab and seekh kebab. It can be made by grinded meat or beef, potato, stewed grains, and so on.

These all dishes I mentioned, basically covers the most of popular dishes in Pakistani cuisine. In case you ever get a chance to visit Pakistan, don't miss the chance to taste these heavenly dishes. 

Note: Images used in this article are taken from google. This blogger does not own these images. If you own any of above image and have issue, contact any of the contributor of this blog. Thanks for your cooperation. (Blogger Management).

When You're Gone [By Nisar Hussain]

                     When you’re gone

Time never stop running, life never stop moving on. They both never stop, and that’s how the world runs. Don’t be sad while adhering with the truth that you’ll be gone, you’re not alone, and all the billions of people are traveling on same road towards same destination.

Have you ever came across a time when you outset for having thoughts beyond your ken? Of course, everyone have. No one can disregard the truth of reaching that particular spot when, after constant infliction and heart breaking miseries, the person dawn to wonder with awe, the most bitter question of his life: “What will happen when I will be gone”? So much worse for this humanity, no one can exactly crack this question for anyone, but the man himself gets the best answer, too sad he won’t be alive to answer it then.

News of your death came as an utter shock and bump to your every known person. Then some haltingly start to grasp what a great loss has happened. The word “Never” itself is profound and wide, and when people realize, they’ll NEVER see you again, it pushes their heart for an instant. Your mother, who loved you with all her heart and soul, who poured her blood in you, who gave you a piece of her heart before you even stepped onto this world, who cannot see you out of her sight for a single moment, who holds the greatest pain for you, what goes on to that great woman’s heart when she get to know that you gave up and succumbed to despair and left her??? That heart may even stop beating because…hey! Didn’t I just mentioned..”She gave you a piece of her heart <3” and you slew it. Even if she manages out to keep herself alive, her heart would be shattered into million pieces, kaput. Tears running down from cheeks you used to kiss, her heart which used to beat for you, starts slipping down for losing you! No one can have even a single clue of what’s going inside that mother! She sees the empty chair you used to sit and work on, the place you used to sleep! Becomes the place her eyes drain out. How can she sleep at her bed while thinking that her innocent kid is sleeping in his grave wearing a white coffin! She used to hold you in her arms when you used to get scared. Now when you are sleeping down in darkness, she can’t even slide her soft hand on your forehead, passing her soft fingers though your hairs, whispering in your ears that everything will be alright! Every night, her pillow drenches in tears.

What about that great man who brought you up, who raised you, supported you, loved you, drained sweat and blood to make your life! Protected you from this cruel harsh world, made you strong and tough to be able to live! Taught you the lessons of life! How much disappointing, discouraging, depressing, and disheartening for that great man who’s son failed despite his neck breaking hard work. Yes! That’s your father! And this is the little of what he may feel when you’ll be gone! You never had known before, but that man used to come by your bed just to satisfy his heart that you’re fine and then slide a loving hand on your forehead, prays for your safety and success! Begs to God for your life every night! You might cannot realize but that man used to drain drops of drenching emotions even when you were alive! Can you imagine the height of his grieving emotions when you will be gone? He is ready to fight with the whole world for you! Stop any coming bullet with his own body to protect you! For him, you come before his own self! Trust me! No one does that for anyone. It’s the hardest and when found, the luckiest thing anyone can get in this life! And you get this as a gift in the face of your loving Father <3 the person who is ready to cede his own life for you!

For a moment, try imagining a scene, you’ll realize how much your father loves you. This is based on a true story, not a fantasy.

Put yourself in this story like this:

You and your father are walking down a street. All of a sudden and out of nowhere, a car stops by, a man smashes out of it and fasten a gun at you, about to press the trigger and robs your life away. While your father is watching this entire scene. What do you expect him to do here? Disregarding and ignoring the danger of losing his own life, he brings his own body in front of you, faces towards you, turns his back over the gun man, holds you tightly behind, bring your head close to his chest, cover your ears so you don’t hear when he gets shot from the back! And within a second, the bullet that was suppose to take your life way, pierce into his body from the back, then another! And another! His grip on you is still the same tight besides getting his own body cleaved by bullets from back! You never knew, neither did he, but he promised himself to not let you go! As it has always been his desire to keep you with him! A normal man would soon fall after getting shot, but that person there is not a man! That’s a Father! Who’s fighting till his last breath for his son! Despite his old age, he still proves to be strong enough to bear the pain of bullets to protect you and become the hero of your life! What else is there left to prove? What other love is there than this? What other great sacrifice is there than sacrificing your own life!? But this is not it here! He is still fighting with his own life for you! Until the gun runs out of magazine, he runs back to attack the gun man for even daring to hurt you! While his own body is dousing blood and bore with bullets. He gives his last breath and last stroke to protect you, so that YOU CAN LIVE!!! What will go on inside that father if he didn’t even get a chance to sacrifice himself to save you? Your death! Is not only your death! It’s the death of that great man who couldn’t save you! He ultimately gives up on life for not being able to save you.

When it comes to your siblings, how will they feel when you’ll be gone? You used to laugh together, play together, fight together, study together, eat together, have fun together, joke together, spend whole day together, share mom and dad’s love together! When you’ll be gone, all this “together” scenario will go missing of the word “TOGETHER”. They’ll look at your empty bed and pillow, drop tear beads of sorrow and grief for you not being there anymore. They’ll look into each other’s eyes, knowing that the one among them, the part of their family, is no longer there and will never come back. Suddenly the sight goes fade with tears. Everything you used to do together become the things to remind them of your absence then. Nothing remains fun for them anymore. They wished you could still be there with them or the time could reverse, again the tears drop when they realize that it’s too late now and it’ll stay like this forever and you will never return to them.

Your best friend, your friends, people that liked your existence, your class fellows! Everyone that has ever got to know you will bring their eyes down in sorrow. In fact, grieving for your death is what left for them to do for you now. You didn’t left any other choice for them to do for you! They will see your empty chair in class, no one will sit there but everyone will have their eyes stick to it with emotions leading down their eyes. Everyone there will witness a sorrowful silence, like no one wants to talk to anyone, even those who weren’t even close to you but just have seen you.

Teachers! That kept good expectation of your bright future once, how disappointing for them when they will not see you on your chair anymore. This wasn’t what they ever expected from you! You failed in the test of your life!

Wasn’t it so sad when I was telling all this? It seems like you have a great influence on everyone around. But this isn’t the end of sorrow! There’s a fact left behind to be revealed. Isn’t it so heart breaking that your death doesn’t matter more to this world than grieving for the very first moment and then …near to completely forgetting that you even ever existed! </3 that is the truth! We call it “LIFE”.

The Answer to “What will happen when I’ll be gone” is…

“People will move on”.

Initially the emotions will be at height of their peak, but just with the passing time, they will move on and the height of emotions will no longer remain there. You’ll become nothing but a memory of a ‘great friend’, ‘great student’, ‘great brother’, and ’great son’.

Many road accidents take place every day. For a moment, everyone stops, feel bad, and pray for those who died and got injured and then…Move on! You never saw a terrific stopped for long just for an accident right? This is exactly how life also goes.

Your close ones, even they won’t drain tears for you for their whole life. That sorrow fades away and everyone starts accepting the truth that you are not in this world anymore so let’s move on! Time isn’t stopping, why shall the life stop moving on then? Makes Sense there right?! I pass a graveyard at a side of a road everyday while going and coming back from my college. It takes less than 30 seconds and I pass hundreds of graves. This doesn’t even give me enough time to notice more than a few graves clearly. That’s your worth after death.

I am definitely not saying that the love your father, mother, siblings, and friends owed you is fake! That is totally not fake but 100% pure! I tried to portray the near to exact feeling of them. But among that sad truth, we cannot deny the fact of life! It will “never” stop moving on.

The time you’re gone, everyone moves on. People you held, people you loved, become the people you left. No one stays, no one cares for long. Time never cease, Life always decease. Don’t be sad for leaving this world, never could anyone stood here for long. The One, who came, later becomes the one to leave one day.

DECLINE OF HUMANS - Chapter #1 [By Nisar Hussain]

[Decline of Man-Chapter # 1]

Is our ability of Imagination damping? Yes!

By Nisar Hussain

Shall we consider touching off a serious issue just in the initial launch of this blog?
 
      As an author, I must create a reason for my readers to keep visiting and on every visit, they feel satisfaction of achieving something good for their selves from my content. If you read down till the end, I bet most of sensible people will start developing a habit of reading from this instance as the issue I'm going to address holds a matter for us to be deeply worried about and 'reading' is the only way possible to encounter it.

Have you ever realized that every passing day, you are damping your brain's capabilities? In other words, killing it?
 
We contemplate that our world is modernizing and improving. Indeed it is doing so. We are witnessing new overwhelmingly impressive inventions. All these were once a fantasy of escapists, now they are physically real. This has been made possible by 'Thinking' of human mind. We 'Think'. It makes imagination and fantasy. Words might not lay down true importance of 'thinking power'. It lies beyond our ken, yet we can imagine its vast extent. You see things in your imagination that might not even exist on this earth! But yet! your brain visualize a multi-dimensional model of it. And that is what we call envision.

It took centuries for man to flourish the quality of thinking, and we got this as a gift through endowment, with which, if I disclose the word 'Elephant' after your brain, it automatically displays an image of elephant in your mind (doesn't it?). This has what made man supreme over other animals. However, now it seems like we are failing to recognize the importance of this gift by our ancestors and going back to what we were in the stone age.

Your brain does not cease thinking just on visualizing. It 'thinks' further to materialization and some competent minds stumble upon with an idea to make it so. If anything goes wrong, your brain overthink to devise a way out to fix it and carry on to complete the implementation. If this implementation go unsuccessful, your brain makes another attempt to devise a new way of making the implementation possible. It keeps formulating new ways until things go successful or the man himself cede.
Basically, this is how your brain works to make new things. Today, if we are witnessing all these inventions! from an iron needle to a complex computer! all this contrived when human brains got to work and used the power of 'thinking'! This is what we now call 'creativity'.

Isn't it so captivating to keep witnessing new inventions and innovations to awe ourselves and make our lives easy?!
 
 It of course is!
But how bitter and pessimistic it will be if I say that it no longer will stay like this!
Human brains will soon be getting deprived off by the power of 'thinking'. And as all these inventions are created by thinking, we will no longer be having new inventions. Can you imagine how devastating it will be if this actually happens?
So much worse for this world if what I just told, proves to be correct. You all will be wondering 'how?'
To answer that, let me remind what your brain is able to do for you and what it is doing every time you think. Whenever you read or listen, your brain makes virtual raw images. For example, when you read or listen a story or any tale, have you ever realized that you are actually watching all that happening in your brain!!! your brain is able to generate images of whatever you read! (It should makes sense however)
This is the exact same capability of brain with which it thinks and visualize things.
With the advancement of technology, especially the graphical technology; in simple words the 'moving pictures;videos' which we contemplate to be a great invention. It indeed is! and that is why we are not looking at its conflicting affects! Who would look up for negative aspects of something that is giving so much benefits! This is like a 'slow death'. We are not able to feel the bad impact videos are causing on our brain!
As I recall, brain is able to generate virtual images by reading or listening to something for better and easy interpretation. But now, when brain has to interpret a video, it do not have to bring about anything as the video itself already possess interpretable form (images). Most people will see this as a good point of videos when it is actually causing a devastating effect that most of us are not able to realize yet.
Our brain is no longer feeling the need to use its ability of 'thinking'! It is the exact same ability which is the root to all inventions and the one that generate virtual images of whatever we read. Videos are desisting brain to practice its imagination and visualizing powers. Soon this power of 'thinking' will be taken away from us.
For confirmation, if we consider the Theory of Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics by Lamarck, that is supported by evidence with respect to a variety of scientific disciplines including the dictating history of evolved organisms.
So if we comply with this theory, in simple words it states that, an organism evolves! it brings changes in itself to better adapt in environment.

How it does that?
 
It do that by dropping organs or capabilities it does not use or need.
'Tail' was useless for humans, evolution chopped it off.
Hindus do not eat meat, they do not get need to bite often (biting organism have sharp teeth;incisor, however herbivores do not)
You can notice that they went through evolution and they do not possess well structured incisors now. (exception in few cases).
Following the exact same rule of losing a capability that do not come in use, humans will lose their power of thinking if they continue to rely fully on videos for things that they can easily get through reading and listening. But when things come in unnecessary use, they cause an adverse effect.
Evolution, however, is not carried by a few years or decades, it takes million years. And it does not happen instantly, it is brought slowly. Our thinking capability is getting rusty and it will keep losing power if things continue like this.
Despite stopping, we are going for advancement which is eventually causing a slight quicker evolution to occur and deprive human from a great blessing that is the root cause of all the other blessings we are getting ease from these days.
Now that we watch videos on T.V, mobile or computer, they are 2 dimensional. Our brain still have to do a little effort for turning it into 3 dimensional in brain. Obviously not literally! But just to make you feel the distances and effects, it have do a little effort.
Thanks to Graphical advancement, we now have 3D cinemas and motion rides! Sounds awesome, doesn't it?!
Now our brain do not have to do that little effort anymore as well. And we have given our complete selves in control of graphics.
This situation go akin with human not ingesting his food but getting glucose drips direct into vessels. Both gives energy but are not the same as the one causing ease, is to cause other problems as well.
I know most will not bother about this as they have prior themselves and not about the upcoming generations. And as I told, evolution takes a million years to happen, they would have taken that as an absolute relief to lock this issue for now and leave it for upcoming generations to deal with.
 But if I remind something here....Whatever you do in your life course, a little of it pass on through inheritance. But throughout your life course, it will have a great effect on your own self. During your average course of life, if you rely totally on graphical ease, your ability of thinking will get shaky soon and you will start having problem of remembering things just as old people do. Eventually your brain will go feeble much earlier and will lose its strengths.
So beside being precarious about this, 'think'!
I am not advising to drop the use of videos. I know that is somewhat impossible now, even for myself. But we can try not to get fully dependent on them, and develop a habit of reading. Technological innovations designed to save energy, not to deprive man's abilities. The reason for this article just at the beginning of blog is to promote 'reading'! If you wish to  help me out in doing this, share this article and advance this to other people.

An Exemplary Road in Pakistan - Sargodha to Faislabad

 An Exemplary Road in Pakistan- Sargodha To Faisalabad

  By Professor Waqar Hussain

If one gets an opportunity to travel on Sargodha-Faisalabad road, he will find a distinguished piece of road measuring in length about 3 kilometers near Sargodha. This portion of road is broad, smooth and exemplary hard.

     During a road journey, one gets annoyed when vehicle proceeds slowly and feels irritated on its acceleration as the jumps and rattling of engine and body of auto-mobile become more and more pronounced.  So in both cases, the passengers are sandwiched between two agonies; they are so to say between the devil and the deep sea.

   As soon as, this exemplary portion of road starts; all the clattering and tremoring are strangulated and transport vehicle gains speed without any mental or physical suffering. It seems as if it will take off in a jiffy and the travelers get a sigh of relief. Many thoughts flashing mind. One imagine if all the roads of the country become so smooth and plane, the traveling will be no more a fatigues task.

    Furthermore, one question arises after all, what is the main difference which has made this road so unique and distinguished among the catalogue of roads? Suddenly, a reply comes from the heaven ‘it’s preparation is the outcome of quality material, toilsome labor and honesty of concerned agency. These three factors are sine qua non for par excellence of a road.

     As far as quality of material is concerned, there is no scarcity of gravel in our country. The nature has bestowed us with number of mountain ranges.

      On focusing the attention on availability of efficient and hardworking labor, it is stated that he roads are usually constructed during the summer seasons, the days are long and elevated thermometer level facilitate melting of coal tar. So the workers not only have to combat with scorching heat but also have to perform their work for a longer period of time.

    In this reference, it is stated that there is legion Pakistani workers who are working in the Middle East and earned a respect by the dint of hard work and ability. One cannot doubt their tolerance of heat as the Middle East doesn’t fall in a cold zone. It indicated that our country is not handicap in the availability of competent tolerant workers.

But the real problem lies in the availability of honest, dedicated administrative machinery. Corruption has spread in our society like an epidemic. Almost everyone has fallen victim to this malady and so far no effective vaccination has been invented to combat this evil. Only Hercules is required to abolish such malicious practice. Fortunately, there are some sections of the government which are not fallen prey to this monster of corruption so far.

    This band of road is constructed under the patronage of a government agency whose prime function is to safeguard the nation: both from external as well as internal threats. So some additional work may be entrusted to armed forced in the time of peace.  It is the only way to complete the trio requirement of heaven’s reply.

   De facto, this portion of road is made for dual purpose: transportation and air craft landing. What may be the purpose, key point is its quality. If trio-factors are implemented, surely there will be a network of carpeted roads in the country.