Author: mariumchaudhry

  • Cracks emerge among PML-N ranks as ‘leadership disobeys Nawaz’

    Cracks emerge among PML-N ranks as ‘leadership disobeys Nawaz’

    Amid reports of a rift between opposition parties as the
    Azadi March of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) to Islamabad continues, cracks
    are also emerging among ranks of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), The Current has learnt.

    According to sources, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s orders were disobeyed by the Punjab leadership of his party on Wednesday as 70,000 people were not mobilised to welcome Fazl’s caravan in Lahore.

    The Current reached
    out to several PML-N leaders to confirm or deny what rumour had and on the condition
    of anonymity, one of them rejected the same.

    “Both MNAs and MPAs of the PML-N were in Lahore to receive
    Maulana’s caravan and they did. We even distributed food among his buses, which
    were over a thousand in number,” the PML-N leader added.

    “There were six different points in Lahore where our party
    members gathered to welcome and facilitate Maulana Fazl. Our workers gathered to
    welcome the caravan hours before its arrival.”

    When asked why the PML-N leadership was nowhere to be seen at the Lahore stage of the Azadi March as JUI-F leaders addressed a mammoth gathering, the PML-N leader said they were asked to come on stage at the last minute and that too by a junior party worker.

    “Not Maulana or any other JUI-F leader invited us on stage and we told them that we will come in an hour. However, later we were told that the caravan will not stop for us.”

    The PML-N leader also said that they are on their way from Lahore to Islamabad with a huge crowd and plan on holding a small rally in the federal capital even though their leadership has been told by the JUI-F that the Azadi March will commence tomorrow.

    When The Current reached out to other PML-N leaders for confirmation of the postponement, former National Assembly (NA) speaker Ayaz Sadiq said, “Akram Durrani Sahib called me today and said that Maulana will address Azadi March at 2 pm tomorrow after Friday prayers in Islamabad.”

  • Woman stands up against ‘rotten system’, demands justice for slain parents

    Woman stands up against ‘rotten system’, demands justice for slain parents

    • Nazo Shinwari, her brother in hiding after parents’ murders; journalist alleges facilitation of influential accused by police, others
    • Police says department will protect victims at all costs, working hard to bring culprits to justice
    • Jibran Nasir calls out HR Minister Shireen Mazari among other govt members over ‘incompetence’

    Challenging the system over its failure to serve justice, journalist Nazo Shinwari, whose parents were allegedly murdered by her stepbrother and uncle over a petty property dispute, has demanded that the culprits be taken to task.

    As per the details of the case, Nazo’s father Mobin Shinwari was shot dead outside his residence in Rawalpindi for legitimately transferring his property — that didn’t concern his stepson or brother’s family — to his second wife and Nazo’s mother, Sumera Safdar, at the time of their nikah over thirty years ago.

    “After approaching a court against the transfer and continuing to threaten my family over the years, on March 28, 2019, they killed my father so that they could force us into surrendering the property,” Nazo said while speaking to The Current.

    “But my courageous mother stood up against them. She started pursuing both the property and my father’s murder cases,” she added and alleged that it wasn’t later when the accused got her mother killed too.

    Sharing the details of the second murder, Nazo said that Sumera was forced to leave Rawalpindi and reach “their turf” — Peshawar — for the hearing of a bogus case registered against her, her son and brothers.

    “She was murdered on her way back from KP [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] on August 17 in a drive-by shooting that also claimed her driver’s life,” she said, adding that her mother had written to the chief justice, prime minister, Punjab and KP chief ministers as well as top cops among other police officials concerned, but to no avail.

    “She demanded protection time and again, but no one batted an eye. Had they addressed her complaints and taken action, my mother would’ve been with us today,” Nazo said.

    “My brother, Shershah, and I are now in hiding because our lives are in danger. They also tried to poison my brother at a police station. They have sought pre-arrest bails and authorities are reluctant to act because the culprits are influential.”

    She also called out the police for its “reluctance to properly pursue the case in court on the pretext of a pending investigation” and Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital of “deliberately delaying” the issuance of her mother’s death certificate.

    ‘POLICE IN ACTION’:

    Meanwhile, Peshawar Operations Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Zahoor Babar Afridi has said that the police are working hard and the culprits will soon be brought to justice.

    “The Peshawar police are investigating the matter and the accused will be arrested at the earliest,” he said while speaking to a private media outlet and added that the vehicle used in Sumera’s killing had also been traced back to the nominated accused.

    Rawalpindi’s Potohar Division SP Syed Ali, on the other hand, said that justice will be served at all costs. “Nazo has become the plaintiff in her parents’ murder cases and they are being pursued by the police. We are trying our best to arrest the killers.”

    Speaking to The Current, rights activist and lawyer Jibran Nasir said that it is the state’s responsibility to provide security to its citizens. “However, in this case, the family was not provided any, despite repeated requests.”

    “They have even approached [Federal Minister for Human Rights] Dr Shireen Mazari, but no action has been taken by anyone, which speaks volumes of the authorities’ incompetence,” he said.

    Jibran also questioned the role played by the criminal justice system in Sumera’s killing.

    Repeated attempts were made to contact Dr Mazari and the police officials concerned, but they were unavailable.

  • Popular Fiction: Don’t feel like you’re Normal?

    Popular Fiction: Don’t feel like you’re Normal?

    It’s a trend now. To talk about the non-conformists, the ones who don’t fit in and the ones who don’t want to.

    In her 10th novel, Japanese fiction author Sayaka Murata doesn’t make up a story. She calmly and incredibly coolly takes us into the world of the straight face life of a “convenience store woman” in her internationally best-selling book of the same name.

    Stores of Convenience

    It’s a weird book and it’s so much fun. We enter the world of a convenience store worker, Keiko, who is 36 years old and single, has never dated anyone and has worked part-time at the same store for the past 18 years.

    No one seems to understand why she has worked in the Smile Mart for so long, why she yearns to be there and how it literally becomes her day and her night. But then she isn’t one to do things normally.

    The first blow that Keiko gives us is a memory of her childhood, when, to break up a fight, she hits one of the boys on the head with a spade and doesn’t understand when everyone is shocked by what she does. They did say they wanted the fight to stop.

    Deadpan and almost robotic, Keiko is the person we would tend to avoid — lacks emotion, copies emotion, and doesn’t get angry. You can’t trust Keiko but you can’t help but like her. Murata has so beautifully carved out Keiko’s character that you somehow don’t feel bad for her at all. Perhaps because you know that she already has everything; a job she lives for, a convenience store she loves and that’s enough for her.

    Murata, through Keiko, takes us through the experience of milestones that are part of every single society in the world. Work, life-partner, marriage, children and how we tend to isolate and judge people who don’t fit in society’s norms.

    Keiko’s counter, the young, lanky, and smelly Shiraha, is full of disdain. He joins the store and soon gets fired from the Smile Mart for not doing his duties. Figures that his only reason for taking the job was to find a woman, stalk her and marry her.

    The utter stench his words produce when we meet him is more effective than repellent. He is a loathsome character and as we move through the book, and discover that he might be important, we try to like him when there is nothing at all to like.

    But to be fair, Murata rushes through the existence of Shiraha. Maybe because she doesn’t want to marry the crazy beauty she has created with Keiko and perhaps she realises that the reader might relate more to Shiraha; whether they like him or not.

    It’s a short read, ends in 162 pages, bound to finish in a few hours because of how perfectly normal it is. It’s not at all a judgey book but it takes us into such a quirky and strange journey through Keiko that we can’t help but reflect on how judgemental we can be. How she, without question, anger, regret, tries to adapt to her society, where she doesn’t fit in. She cleverly and poignantly highlights what we all do: mirror others, judge others for not fitting in molds and feel happy for them when they do.

    At one point of the book, Keiko is told off by Shiraha who says, “You’re not human” to which Keiko thinks, “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” a thought which will leave you with a smile and simple reflection on life’s ambitious rat race and the simplicity of the convenience store worker. For a moment you’ll want her contentment, her creepy thoughts (inertly thinking that you might have had one or two of those yourself) until you conveniently forget and go back to ignoring the simple, convenient things.

  • Does No Lies Fries live up to the hype?

    Does No Lies Fries live up to the hype?

    No Lies Fries is late to the game. The gourmet burgers and fries came into existence a century ago and left Karachi two years ago with Burger Lab, Oh My Grill and Juicy Lucy. Though some did come close to the Holy Grail of burgers – Shake Shack – others were a miss. After hearing rave reviews on No Lies Fries, I wondered could it be? Had they cracked the Shake Shack code?

    The NLF: beef patty, lettuce and secret sauce

    Sadly, no. They’re close. But they’re drying their meat out by overcooking it and assuming their secret sauce will hold it together. But those extra 40 seconds on the grill only shock the patty into becoming plain boring. The ‘secret sauce’ doesn’t really need to be a secret since it’s nothing earth-shattering.

    The only shake in their shack is that perfectly perfect potato bun. Oh my, what a bun. I disassembled the burger and tried the soft potato goodness on its own and it’s legit, the best bun in town.

    The Crispy Chick: fried chicken, secret sauce, jalapenos and cheese

    The Crispy Chick, a fried chicken burger, didn’t get the slather of the secret sauce that was needed but it was fried to perfection. Depends on how crisp you like your chicken though. This was perfect. A not so thin layer of breadcrumbs resulted in a perfectly cooked chicken breast with that oh-so-delicious potato bun. The Crispy Chick isn’t KFC level, but then again I don’t particularly enjoy the fat layer of crispy crumbs which tend to overcook the chicken.

    Coming onto their main item. The guy taking the order recommended the Authentic Canadian Poutine but I really wish he hadn’t. The dish on its own didn’t come together and it seemed that the creators of this one expect that customers, (mostly Canadian returns) will be wowed by the thought of Canadian poutine rather than the work that goes into it.

    A decent (but too thick) beef gravy, cheese curds and fries, it lacked the flavour of traditional Canadian poutine, which is made by the gravy.

    Authentic Canadian Poutine Fries

    So are they lying? People expect that the juiciest details, the final verdict is usually delivered in the first few paragraphs. But something as inconsequential, as common, as Alanis Morrisette Ironic can be picked up, bitten into and make you do a 180.

    Belgian Frites

    No Lies Fries Belgian Frites are out of this world. Thick cut fries, Gordon Ramsay level cooked, crisp and aggressively seasoned, they are without an atom of a doubt, the best fries in Karachi. Their burgers might lie, but those simple fries definitely don’t. This just goes to show that secret sauces, shake shack references, Canadian copies won’t get you anywhere but a side item can make you live up to your name.

    (On a side note: the burger doesn’t come with fries; they are sold separately. And with a burger starting at Rs. 560, it’s really not the best deal in town).

  • Loafology: Divine Breads

    Loafology: Divine Breads

    There was a time, not very long ago when the only bread we found in our cities was Dawn ki white wali bread. Foreign sounding breads weren’t available in Pakistan until they came with a big bang.

    Loafology in Islamabad took the lead when it comes to producing the best bread in Pakistan. And as an avid bread finder and baker, I say that with full authority. There is no better multigrain bread in the country than the one at this bakery-cafe.

    The Walnut Raisin

    Making bread is a real art. After spending a week of learning how to make bread in a bakery in small-town France, I quickly realised that it isn’t an art. Its downright precision. The ingredients, the temperature, humidity, space where it’s kept varies from bread to bread. Writing on a small note pad as a young Frenchman explained with gestures and broken English on what temperature to keep for which bread, I felt small in the even smaller white space.

    Inside the Restaurant

    I am not a fan of their popular brioche and sourdough bread but their raisin and walnut bread and the eight-grain bread will take your breath away. So much so that you’ll be sure to buy the bread in bulk and lug it back to your city, freezing it for a month, cutting a piece every day and hoping it lasts forever.

    Its not always the bread that makes the sandwich. It might be the core of a good breakfast or sandwich but if the other ingredients don’t hold up, it can’t be the only saviour. Sadly, Loafology’s breakfast and sandwiches have never done their bread justice.

    Desi Omelette

    The interior is quaint, a guaranteed hit with foreigners and aunties out for a lunch. Bright and happy, it reflects the openness of Islamabad and the joy of the abroad. But the food stops short of being good. The Loafology Omelette walks the bland line and bite after bite, falls into the land of no salt and the slow-cooked shredded beef needed more BBQ sauce. While the food has all the elements needed, it just doesn’t match up to the mark – not once but a few times.

    Regardless, we will all keep going back. For the bread, for the happy ambiance and the joy of knowing you can freeze the bread and let it linger for a month or more.

  • DOCK 27 has a secret saviour

    DOCK 27 has a secret saviour

    Most restaurants in Pakistan, especially Lahore, operate on one theory: the more you have on the menu, the better it will be.

    Dock 27 sounds like a seafood joint and looks like one too… or does it? Nevermind, it’s complicated.

    The base of any chef, any restaurant or any food, is the basics. Books for professional chefs, bibles of food pairings, all emphasise the utmost importance of the basic commandments, which when perfected, are what the finer, complex ideas should stand on.

    Dock 27 is as confused as the “About Us” section they have posted on their Facebook page.

    The words, that jump at you from their Facebook page, don’t mean anything when put together. “Deepwater expeditions,” “Drifts and Jolts under the dark eclipse,” “journeys with dancing dolphins” and ultimately a “nautical hub” bistro. What did it all mean? I couldn’t tell.

    Dimly lit, the clashing interior of Dock 27

    Dock 27, a “worldly” restaurant in Lahore Defence, simply put, focuses on seafood, but also on cuisine from around the world. From Thai green curries to NY Strips, Italian pasta to Chinese stir-fried beef, it’s as if the owner and chef sat down and decided to make everything: because excess is always good, isn’t it?

    Not spoilt for choice, but feeling overwhelmed, my dinner partner and I asked the courteous waiter for his recommendations. In the dim lighting, I could barely see his face but appreciated the impeccable service. We ordered two mains on his recommendations.

    Tampa Chicken with mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables

    It is incredible how something as basic as BBQ sauce can save a restaurant’s review.

    What a BBQ sauce. The Tampa Chicken is grilled chicken slathered in shiny BBQ sauce, a bone dry potato mash (that I sent back) and decently grilled vegetables. The flavour was spot on, with the perfect balance of ketchup, Worchestershire and the tartness of what tasted like imli. Another bowl of the sauce was requested and dumped on everything else. Including the second main, the penne pasta with chicken and mushrooms in a creamy sauce. It elevated everything that touched it.

    Penne pasta with mushrooms and grilled chicken

    The al dente penne pasta had a solid flavour with and the right basics — decent white sauce, perfectly seasoned…but that was it. After a few luxurious bites, it became a little one-note — until I took a journey under the dark eclipse and mixed it with some BBQ sauce, licking the bowl clean.

    Singing praises of the sauce, I left thinking that I will not return again. The dim interior, the confused setting, and the loud music left me feeling disoriented. But I would definitely send someone to pick up anything with extra BBQ sauce.

  • Testing Okra – Breathe In, Not Out

    Testing Okra – Breathe In, Not Out

    Ever felt like you’ve entered a new world just by walking up two steps? That’s Okra Test Kitchen – a small off-shoot of Okra, one of Karachi’s most loved fine dining restaurants.

    Okra’s well known for pushing the boundaries and creating fancy phoo-phoo food. But it’s also homey, organic and comforting. Many uncles and aunties would say, 1000 Rupees for an “anday ka omelette” isn’t worth it, but with the younger lot, knowing the main guy, Vincent, and getting a table for Sunday Brunch is equal to hanging out with Kareena Kapoor in London.

    View of the Restaurant from the Kitchen. Source: Okra Test Kitchen’s Facebook Page

    Okra Test Kitchen doesn’t have that kind of pressure. A very small place, with three, four tables, it’s walk-in only. And when you walk in, take a deep breath.

    It smells like Paris, freshly baked bread, croissants, soft music, the soft clinking of cutlery, the bright light streaming in from the large window. Breathe it all in and take the corner table.

    Some of the most enviable Instagram moments are images of small cafes, on bright sunny days, scintillating conversation, softly munching on bread. That’s what Okra Test Kitchen has managed to achieve. A place that sings Europe with such authenticity that you feel like you’re on vacation. It’s okay if you’ve come out in your lounge pants and you really don’t know Vincent. But the thing is, you don’t need to.

    Portuguese Custard Tart. Source: Okra Test Kitchen Facebook

    The menu hangs on the wall, the chefs greet you from the small, makeshift kitchen, cooking right there, baking right there. You order right where the menu hangs, you ask for a coffee from the coffee machine you can see.

    If you make it to heaven, you’ll ask for an Okra Test Kitchen croissant. If you live outside Karachi, you’ll take boxes with you because you won’t find it anywhere else. You’ll never say this out loud but you know that Parisian croissants have nothing on the incredibly soft, flaky, crunch of the Karachi Croissant. You’ll ask for more, and if it’s not your day, they’ll be sold out.

    The Croissants. Source: Okra Test Kitchen’s Facebook (and my heart)

    The scrambled eggs are moist and fluffy, slow-cooked but without much comfort. The maritozzo, a sweet Utalian brioche bun, filled with cream, is light but doesn’t do much for the Pakistani palette, except making you start to count calories. However, the Portuguese custard tarts are sweet and delightful, joy filled in their crust.

    Okra Test Kitchen is all about the bread, the pastry, the croissants, and there is nothing else like it in Pakistan. The food is above average, (pushed up by The Forbidden Croissant) and strongly elevated by the atmosphere it has so flawlessly created. You ignore that the place is so small, you’re bound to knock off one of the bottles, precariously resting on a shelf on the wall, causing a rather embarrassing stir, promising to pay for it but not having to in the end. You ignore that sometimes you’ll walk in and never get a place to sit but are willing to wait a good hour just so you can stay there and breathe. You will go back, week after week, just so you can step into a different universe, one that promises a mini vacation for an hour or two. It’s an hour or more, of first world peace, before you step back into the grime of Karachi, relishing the time when you could get away and be transported to the streets of Europe.

  • Italian Express: the perfect Lahori comfort food

    Italian Express: the perfect Lahori comfort food

    The golden rule of parenting is: ‘Don’t make plans to go anywhere if you have a baby.’ Because chances are that you will either end up not going or you will regret it.

    That said, there’s something comforting about not being able to go out for a fancy dinner or having to dress up and being stuck at home with a baby who refuses to sleep. In short, plans ruined, clothes changed, makeup wiped off and food delivery options decided.

    It is also strange that the minute food is ordered, and a show to binge watch is decided, the baby decides to pass out and sleep like it’s the best sleep of their lives.

    Italian Express in Lahore, is the perfect Lahori comfort food. I specifically add the word Lahori to this because if there is one thing I have learnt about the Lahori palette is that they like their pasta terribly overcooked and super duper saucy.

    Italian Express is a small joint, which started off as a delivery service before turning into a small restaurant. The manager, who is an amicable and lovely fellow, recommended the pasta, which tasted more like Maggie noodles. Don’t get me wrong here. I do appreciate a bad pasta sloshed with Sriracha which hits the spot and Italian Express is terribly good at being bad comfort food.

    On the other hand, their pizza is the food of memories, with the taste of the 90s and notes of Ginos. Something a reviewer on their Facebook page doesn’t get. The user had lamented: “I ordered special thin crust pizza for the very first and the last time…the sauce was way too tangy, poor quality cheese and that too with extra mixing of cheddar very less topping and overly cooked tortilla base with too much oil like a paratha…guys do you even know how to make pizza. Pathetic.”

    Though the reviewer gave them no stars, he obviously didn’t understand how most Pakistanis crave the cheddar mozzarella pizza – the Kings and Queens of Karachi, The Uno of Lahore – the tangy sauce, which is a little ketchupy and of course, the thin crust that is soggy with crispy ends.

    It’s what reminds us of our childhood. Waiting outside pizza places, kids piled in a car, parents waiting, taking the pizza home in piping hot boxes and salivating at the thought of getting that first slice. Its bad pizza but it’s just so good because it transports you back to a time you fondly miss and rarely have the time to remember.

    So as you sit on your bed, eating your pizza in your pjs, watching a subtitled version of Netflix’s Money Heist, it’s the closest you get to a perfect night in. And munching down on memories, you look at that sleeping child and hope you can give her food that gives you the same kind of terrible tasting comfort.

  • LHR’s Howdy vs KHI’s CFU: The Steak at Stake?

    LHR’s Howdy vs KHI’s CFU: The Steak at Stake?

    The pain is real. Every Pakistani will moan about the lack of decent steak in their city. The overachievers will post selfies of themselves and their meat at Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecote in Paris or London and the home Masterchefs will complain about how the local butcher can’t tell a sirloin from a T-bone.

    “Please, don’t order your steak well done or medium well,” said Khurram, the main man at CFU in Karachi.

    “Arey, kyun?” I asked, just for ainween.

    “Ziadti hai humare meat kay saath,” he responded.

    Khurram says that to everyone apparently and urges them to try his steak style. And so we did, Brazilian style.

    The small restaurant that serves around 25 people for dinner, is Karachi’s answer to a premium steak house. Though it’s no Wagyu, it’s local meat is dry aged for more than 20 days.

    It’s a small, dreamy, low lit place, with tables seated so close to each other, that if you don’t speak with the strangers sitting next to you, it would be rude. Though it can get awkward if the guest next to you is someone you know – you automatically feel this need to ask them to join you – you’re sitting close enough. Definitely not a place for a first date with someone you’ve been day dreaming about.

    Was it the steak of my dreams? Definitely not. But was it the best in Karachi? 100 percent. Tender, juicy, melt in your mouth, fantastically seasoned. It came on a large wooden platter with roasted garlic, (a trend that Okra began), grilled veggies, mushrooms, creamed spinach and potato wedges. Looked good and tasted great; a rarity to be honest.

    On the other hand, Lahore’s food scene is largely based on inspiration. I’ve had steak in Lahore that tried to copy the famous secret steak sauce of Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecote (didn’t come close), and I’ve sat in a booth at Howdy’s, the burger joint, before it became the next big steak place of Lahore.

    Launching their steak platter just a short while ago, I was incredibly apprehensive about trying it out. Mostly because their burger had been terribly mediocre. But pulled into the best restaurant scam (CFU and Howdy are both guilty) of limited seats, months long wait, and aged for days steak, it was a must-try.

    Priced at the same 2500 per head damage as CFU, with just 25 steaks available a day, like CFU, and using local meat, like CFU, the comparison begged to be made.

    Did it beat it’s Karachi inspiration? Sadly, no. But is it the best steak in Lahore? Yes.

    The steak was good, tender and juicy, but terribly under-seasoned. The sides ate up the steak, making it difficult to focus on what to eat.

    A loud, big restaurant, they haven’t limited their seating but have limited their steaks. Noisy, with kids jumping around, it’s got life in it’s environment; but not in the best of ways.

    The difference between Lahore and Karachi screams in the appearance of their food. CFU is classic Karachi. Small, uptight, and contemptuous, Karachiites tend to think of themselves as connoisseurs – and the food is usually proof that some of them are. Preferring quality over quantity, you can serve a Karachiite delicious morsels and they will leave happy.

    I didn’t know where to look on the wooden block. At the Mac and Cheese, which needed more pepper, the massive bowl of creamed spinach, which was mediocre, the giant bone of marrow, the roasted garlic, the perfect mushrooms or the large green salad. It was a classic comparison. Lahore would not pay 2500 for just a steak. They needed a buffet to go along with it.

    CFU and Howdy will both be busy for many more months to come and Howdy’s steak is a welcome addition to Lahore’s food scene. It is bound to create many more inspired joints, perhaps pushing local butchers to produce cuts steak lovers crave, push local restaurants to do more with local products, and tempt selfies at CFU and Howdy instead of the Parisian dream.