Pakistani Raya Treat

watch out for the goats

This year, the Hari Raya holidays proved to be quite the culinary experience for us. A Pakistani friend invited us over for an authentic Pakistani offering - Haleem.

Haleem is as Pakistani as Benazir Bhutto, except that you can't eat Benazir Bhutto. Actually you can, but you probably shouldn't. *ahem*

But I digress. Haleem is a wheat and mutton porridge popular amongst Pakistanis and Indian Muslims throughout the world, especially during Ramadhan (so says Wikipedia, though I none of my Indian Muslim friends here have ever served this!)

Farid's version was made with wheat, barley, rice and 5 different kinds of lentils; and just as much mutton. He had started cooking the night before and after a good eight hours of simmering on the stove, he and his posse of apprentice chefs remove the mutton, shred it into fine slivers and dump the whole lot back into the pot.

Served with fried shallots, bird-eye chillies, shredded ginger, a good squeeze of lime juice and some excellent indian spice powder, the name of which I cannot remember, Haleem is the kind of dish you die for. This Hari Raya, I died four times at Farid's house.

By the time I got home I was stuffed. But deep in my heart, I regretted not taking my fifth serving. *sigh* Next year I'll know better.