Shinwari (Heritage Food)
Shinwari- a Peshawari cuisine style related to Shinwari tribe in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the town of Landi Kota, the total population of Shinwari tribe is less than one million. In the past two decades Shinwari cusines demand has increased threefold, especially in the twin cities (Islamabad and Rawalpindi), and many new Shinwari restaurants have opened up over the highways and cities giving traveller and transport drivers an exquisite taste of scrumptious pashtun dishes. Shinwari cusines primarily uses lamb meat that is held to dry and aged for 1 to 2 weeks duration. In most dishes the lamb is cooked in its own fat which keeps the flavours intact and using minimum amounts of spices leaving the lamb’s fat and salt to bring out the flavour. This Pashtun cuisine as gathered local and tourist fans alike, many blogger and International vloggers sing praises about the simplicity and delicacy of Shinwari.
The lamb meat is made in three different and distinct methods, which the Shinwari restaurant serves in three ways:
- Shinwari tikka- salted lamb, skewered and baked on the grill
- Shinwari karahi- lamb cooked in its own fat over high heat in a deep wok
- Dum pukht- lamb cooked on slow heat for few hours a large pot sealed with flour.
As all these dishes use very little spice and for which it’s important and is very crucial aspect that the meat is prepared very carefully as such it has to be drained and dried thoroughly and given time to age for at least minimum of one or two weeks. The Shinwari method in cooking lamb is peculiar and appreciable, as it has gotten more people to have a liking for lamb meat, whereas many individuals would avoid eating lamb due to high fat content, it’s also has a much stronger smell then all the other red meats and in terms of price – the cost of kg of lamb meat is more than that of per kg goat meat, thus leaving lamb meat in the hands of experts, who come up with clever way of cooking methods.
After the rise in popularity of Shinwari cuisines many copy cats have emerged that may fool an inexperienced poor fellow into believing they are eating actual Pashtun delicacy. Many things set apart real and copycat versions, most important being quality and accessibility of high quantity of lamb meat, which most unauthentic restaurant are unable to meet with, here are some recommendations on most well-known and long established Shinwari chains around the country.