#amankiasha

Daawat-e-Maghrib — an invitation for an evening full of delicious Pakistani food, fun conversations, and a crash course in making kebabs!

Delhi foodies found themselves at Eros Hotel, Nehru Place on Thursday evening for another exciting Zomato Meetup! This time, we met celebrity Chef Gulzar Hussain, who came all the way from Pakistan to pamper our tummies with food that melted in our mouths.

This was Chef Gulzar's first trip to India and he took out time from his cook-a-thon to sit with us and join in on the conversation. We took a walk down memory lane with him and learnt about the beginning of his career.

He was all of 19 when he started cooking professionally. He joined his family in the restaurant business, but like we often hear, his parents didn't take to their son's mingling with the culinary arts too well. However, his passion kept him going and soon he joined a culinary school in Japan where he trained not only be a great chef, but also a great husband, as he'd met the future Mrs. Hussain while he was there!

After a round of starters (more on that later) he escorted us to the live counters and briefed us on each kebab's story. The most interesting one was Chapli kebab. Originally, they were called Chappal kebab because they resembled a chappal in both size and shape; however, to make it easier to eat and serve, it was rechristened to Chapli. Would you believe it takes about 4 hours to prepare it?

The starters hit just the right spot as most of the foodies came after a long day at work. We began with Lahori fish fry, Bhain ke pakodey, Subziyon ki shammi, Murgh malai boti and Malai mushroom.

The Bhain ke pakodey were a first for many of us. Crunchy and tangy, they were fried to perfection. Subziyon ki shammi is what we usually call vegetarian seekh kebab; lots of healthy vegetables packed together and then deep fried in hot oil!

The main course was another tantalizing experience! For the meat lovers, the buffet served Lahori murgh chana, Yakhani Gosht ka pulao, Macchi ka salan, Kunna gosht and Haleem. The star though was their Sindhi katakat counter. It gets its name from the constant sound the utensils make on the tawa while cooking—katakat, katakat, katakat!  

Vegetarians weren't to be left behind. For them, there was Paneer magrabi qorma, Karari bhindi, Achari subzi, Aloo aur palak ka saag and Maash ki dal. While the bhindi may have been sinful for our livers, it was well worth it (YOLO indeed!). Some of us who attended the meetup don't usually venture close to spinach but the Aloo aur palak ka saag was irresistible.  

All fabulous evenings must end on a sweet note, as did this Zomato Meetup! For dessert, we had Pethey ka halwa, Lab-e- shirin, Sheer korma, Zarda and Sakorey wali phirni. The rice in the Phirni was blended well with the milk and was very creamy; in other words, perfect!

We all had high expectations from the food which belongs to the other side of the border and requires many many hours to be cooked to perfection, and our very full stomachs can tell you that we weren't the least bit disappointed!