Injecting chicken with masala

Injecting chicken with masala
Originally uploaded by Ameer Hamza

My sister demonstrates to me how yummy masala is injected directly into the leg piece of the chicken. This she called Al-Baik chicken and was served with fries and a yummy sauce containing olive oil. A bit heavy too.

Chicken croissants, Karachi

Chicken croissants, Karachi
Originally uploaded by Ameer Hamza

Via Flickr:
One of the best snacks you can get anywhere in Karachi. That's from United King bakery, Sharfabad, Karachi. Rate: 8 pcs for Rs.108.

Samoosas at United King bakery, Karachi

Samoosas at United King bakery, Karachi
Originally uploaded by Ameer Hamza

Dinner: Pita bread with chicken and peri peri sauce

Dinner: Pita bread with chicken and peri peri sauce
Originally uploaded by Ameer Hamza

Via Flickr:
This dish can only be cooked by my mother. The balance in taste has to match with peri peri sauce ingredients.

Sweets for Prophet's Birthday: Baklava, Karachi

Sweets for Prophet's Birthday: Baklava, Karachi
Originally uploaded by Ameer Hamza

Via Flickr:
Gifted to my father today by Pak Fan company, Pakistan, for the upcoming Birthday of our Beloved Prophet Hazrat Muhammad-e-Mustafa (salahu alihi wasalam), which will appear this Sunday (5th Feb, 2012). According to Sunni Muslims, Birthday of Prophet is 12th Rabi-ul-Awal Sharif, which is the 3rd month of Islamic lunar calender.

In Pakistan and across the world where Muslims reside Birthday is celebrated with recitation of Naats (hyms in praise of Prophet) and Quran Sharif (Holy Book of Islam and Word of ALLAH).

Breakfast: Gur Papri with chai, Karachi

Breakfast: Gur Papri with chai, Karachi
Originally uploaded by Ameer Hamza

Via Flickr:
Gur Papri is a purely Memon / Gujrati dish cooked during winters by women of these ethnic groups. This dish may be eaten at anytime but is recommended for breakfast and dinner. It consists of gur (jaggery), gondhar cooked with desi ghee and mixed with cut almonds, Chilgoza (pine nuts), akhrot (walnut), pista (pistachios) & kishmesh (raisins). My mother, it must be emphasized, is the best cook of this traditional dish.

Dinner: Hulwa puri & Aloo ka salan

Dinner: Hulwa puri & Aloo ka salan
Originally uploaded by Ameer Hamza

Via Flickr:
Aloo is potato in Urdu. Hulwa is sweet dish eaten on many occasions and even without any special occasion. Puri was really good today.

Memon winter breakfast: Hara lehsun with bajray ki roti, Karachi

Memon winter breakfast: Hara lehsun with bajray ki roti, Karachi
Originally uploaded by Ameer Hamza

Via Flickr:
This is a confirmed Memon / Gujerati winter breakfast across Karachi, parts of India (Ahmedabad and other cities and towns of Gujerat province, South Africa, UK and parts of USA where this linguistic / ethnic group resides). We are Memons and every winter we get to eat this nicely cooked breakfast. It consists of finely chopped spring garlic mixed with either bajray ki roti or chakki ka atta and served with dahi. If you want, you may have chai or sugarcane juice. I prefer chai as sugarcane juice is hard to get at this time. You may also have brinjal.

Heritage: Saint Paul's Church, Manoora, Karachi

Heritage: Saint Paul's Church
Originally uploaded by Ameer Hamza

Via Flickr:
Saint Paul's Church, Manora Island, Karachi, Pakistan.

It is a Protestant Church located at Coordinates: 24°47'37"N 66°58'39"E

Panchayat Khana will be un-blocked

It all started with some illegitimate person making a page to depict the Greatest Personality of Universe, my and your Prophet, Hazrat Muhammad (salahu alihi wasalam) on Facebook website. Off course, news travels fast in this modern age and someone in Pakistan got the wind of that page. All hell broke and Lahore High Court judge was forced to block the website itself. I am not sure why PTA did not bother to block something which was intended to be blocked, anyways. If not the entire website, which was eventually blocked by High Court, then atleast the single, defaming page.

But all has suddenly come to naught when yesterday our universally hated Minister (of what?), Mr. Rehman Malik, announced that soon facebook will be on and that Pakistanis will be able to connect to the world. Not sure what that means but sure enough our government has come black faced from this episode. And that's not the first time this government, or any government of Pakistan for that matter, has been through a blackened hole. We keep getting emotional time and again despite the fact that our people, of all the people on this earth, loving typing word 'sex' on google more than any other nation on this planet. And this alone is a glaring example of our methods and manners. Our judgement is perpetually weak and our decisions ad-hoc, just like our President and his cohorts. How sad that one week we announce in all our masjids that using facebook is haram and the user may well go to jahanum, and the other week our minister says that banning websites is not the way forward. How sick you can get!

US-China Cold War and Pakistan

US war on terror is clearly marked out as an American way of life. Nothing else can possibly justify this war or any other which US has led in this or past century. Area of interest, previously defined in terms of geography, has now expanded into every nook and cranny of this globe. In fact, US thinks it fit to call moon its area of interest!

Therefore, it is not hard to imagine that China's growing influence on world economy (and subsequently, politics) is in direct conflict with America's dwindling influence in world markets. No more does US dollar shakes European economy as it did perhaps 15 years back. And no more is US in the list of 'must visit' country as it used to be prior to this joke of war on terror.

Pakistan, therefore, is in big trouble. China thinks of Pakistan as a long term partner and friendly neighbour without bragging about it. US is no friend of Pakistan and in fact, has started bombing civilians inside F.A.T.A region without as much as apologizing. And still it brags about long-term interests with Pakistan and its people (sic and sic again). Pakistani army is finding it hard to say or do anything about this ever rising political drama on its land and today, Gen. Kayani, in a fit of rage, asked Americans to stop bombing inside Pakistan. He was very vocal that Pak Army has signed no deal with the Americans which may allow them to bomb hideouts inside our territory. We are waiting for US response.

Meanwhile, Chinese engineers continue to disappear. It is very interesting to note that no engineer or any other nationality is ever abducted. And this has been a case since long. We can clearly note that apart from USA no other nation has any interest in abducting Chinese engineers in Pakistan and eventually killing them.

It is then clear that US would do anything and everything to belittle China using Pakistan. Already, Gwadar port is malfunctioning due to extreme level of terrorism in Baluchistan. We now understand that US does not want to allow China access warm waters of Pakistan as it would allow China to do roaring trade with Middle-East and beyond and cut down transportation costs.

War on terror is also being deliberately pushed upwards towards Chinese border with Pakistan. We have already noticed something called Pakistani Taliban moving towards Swat and beyond. The tourist valley of Swat is now being touted as a safe heaven for terrorists and US is asking Pakistan to do more. You might hear similar things about Hunza Valley and Sost valley and eventually about Pak-China border in years to come. We have also see a spate of so called Islamists taking some time out during Beijing Olympics. I see red here. Why were these so-called Islamists not doing anything before the games? And how come they are related to Taliban in Afghanistan? And who supports them? For sure, many of these must have gone through Pakistan. And they are serving similar purpose of destablizing the center as Pakistani Taliban are doing here. The only major difference is that whereas in China these so called Islamists or Taliban are swiftly executed without much fanfare in Pakistan they lead pretty comfortable lives and blow up fellow Muslims on daily basis. It is very interesting to note that American interests are never harmed by these so called Jihadis and the only sufferers are Pakistani assets and Pakistani muslims.

For sure, US has reached the heart of our country and will surely harm our relations with China. It does not like the way China has progressed at world stage. It hates to note that non-English speakers, non-whites, small people are calling the shots. Therefore, Pakistani territory is the next hot spot and once again we are in the mess of what we call Cold War. This time, though, China won't forgive USA.

Sea View, Karachi

Karachi's sea front may not be the most environment friendly items on a traveller's list. But it surely is one of the finest place to enjoy life, to render thoughts in the oxygen; people come here to either remember their good times or forget their bad ones. Some do it by writing poetry, talking to themselves, crying, maybe smiling, others jump around and over such drains. Sea view, as it is called locally, is perhaps one of the last places in the city where rich and poor, Punjabi and Sindhi (and everyone else), policeman and lawyer come together to see the world through their own eyes. Senses here are fizzled out, if only for a moment; a breeze here is an ever-lasting joy.

More photographs here

Vanishing heritage of Karachi

British left too many structures in our city. The main reason is that they loved Karachi for its wide sea and no-nonsense attitude towards life. Already, they’d converted it into a large shipping base for their goods to arrive. Unfortunately, we’ve not been able to preserve lot of those wonderful buildings. And to top it all, corrupt politicians and land mafia has been very busy these days chopping good old buildings.

It is very clear that a nation which needs to understand its past needs to preserve the artifacts and structures from that past. If those are not preserved, there is no way of educating young people about the shared heritage. As a result, today lot of Karachi wallas are simply unaware of their rich heritage. They, at best, know something about KMC head office or maybe Quaid’s house at Kharadar.

Discuss below the ways in which common citizens may help preserve these beautiful and enduring heritage.