Platter Politics

8216;8216;The usage is different,8217;8217; says Mehboob Ahmed Khan, executive chef of Lahore8217;s Avari Hotel. Take our Mughlai recipes, for instance. While we use cashew or almond pastes, our neighbours stick to lighter onion, ginger and garlic bases.

8216;8216;Even to thicken gravy, we would rather use a tomato pureacute;e or curd. We don8217;t use cornflour either. For a more starchy base, we add roasted atta,8217;8217; says Khan, who has worked at the luxurious Avari for 26 years, and is visiting with Master Chef Mohammed Jamil.

Khan8217;s style, common among Pakistani chefs, involves very little use of water. 8216;8216;I prefer cooking with the natural water of the meat or vegetables,8217;8217; he says. They also avoid artificial colours in their tandoori cooking. 8220;Our colours come alive from the fresh laal mirch we add to the marinade.8217;8217;

Not everything about Pakistani cooking is traditional though. 8216;8216;A trip to Pakistan is considered incomplete if you don8217;t treat yourself to a Japanese meal,8221; says Usman Najmal, food and beverages manager of Avari Hotel which started a Japanese restaurant last year. 8216;8216;It is Wasim Akram8217;s favourite haunt,8217;8217; says Najmal. Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto were regulars, too.

While Sharif came back for Murg Boti, Bhutto likes the dal and bhindi. General Pervez Musharraf is also a patron and during the Agra Summit in 2001, he had Khan and Jamil accompany him to India.

Khan has picked up cooking techniques on his travels abroad and is doing the same here. 8216;8216;South Indian fare, being so different, intrigued me on my previous visits,8217;8217; says the chef, who even lugged a dosa machine back to his restaurant.

GOVAL MANDI
TAWA KHEEMA
Ingredients
1 kg minced mutton
2 cups onions
2 tbsp ginger paste
3 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp red chilli
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 cup oil
2 tbsp green chilli
1 cup chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp whole coriander
2 tbsp ginger julienne
4 tbsp green coriander
1 tsp hot spices

Method
Heat the oil on a tawa. Fry onions until golden brown. Add remaining ingredients, except green coriander and ginger. Sauteacute; thoroughly until all the ingredients are cooked and the mince is dry. Remove from heat. Garnish with ginger and coriander.

PESHAWARI CHAPPALI KEBAB
Ingredients
1 kg minced lamb
250 gm chopped onion
25 gm ginger
25 gm green chilli
4 tbsp whole dry coriander
4 egg yolks
50 gm besan
25 gm fresh coriander
2 tbsp salt
3 tbsp whole ground chilli
1 tsp sweet soda

Method
Mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Make chappali kebabs one by one, making sure to flatten the mixture between your palms. Heat a little oil in a pan. Fry the kebabs on both sides until dark brown.

The unusual name of the dish derives from the fact the kebabs were originally made in the size of chappals.