The scrumptious meal of curried bones

PESHAWAR:

Struggling to wade through a rush of people gathered outside an eatery at Ghanj area of the interior city, middle aged Mujeeb is trying to reach close to a salesman for purchasing a bowl of “Peshawari paye”, a special dish made of cow or buffalo trotters cooked in oil and spices within a deep earthen cauldron.

“Foodies have a special liking for Paye, also called as Panchey in local Hindko language of K-P. But in the holy month of Ramazan, its desire becomes irresistible forcing us to spare time and get a meat bowl after a long struggle,” Mujeeb explains about the hard work he is doing to get his favorite dish for breaking fast.

“The taste and aroma of trotters being sold in Peshawar have no match and can be presented as a special dish reflecting culinary dexterity of chefs of our region,” claimed Mujeeb while talking with APP.

“Peshawari paye is a traditional dish and majority of people associated with its cooking have inherited this skill from their ancestors,” informs Habib, an owner of a trotter shop in Yakatoot area of Peshawar.

Talking to APP, Habib said he represents the third generation who is engaged in this business at the shop set up by his forefather in 1920.

For the past one century we are cooking paye on a daily basis as a result of which the taste of our dish has become unique and much attractive for customers.

People also cook trotters at home but cannot get the taste which they enjoy from paye prepared commercially at shops, Habib claimed.

In the holy month of Ramazan, when people fast from dawn to dusk, the demand for paye increases manifold because the faithful enjoy eating their favorite dish after breaking fast, he went on to say.

Usually, Habib continued, trotters are sold in the morning as a breakfast dish but in Ramazan it is offered to customers from afternoon till evening.

“Denizens of Peshawar have a special liking for trotters who enjoy it on every happy occasion and during large gatherings of relatives and friends,” observed Saeed Ahmad, an octogenarian local resident of Peshawar.

People call their relatives and friends for lunch or dinner with an enticing offer of trotters as part of the menu, Saeed Ahmad added.

“Being a senior citizen, eating of such a gelatinous food having a high level of cholesterol is not suitable for my health, but cannot resist when an offer of feast of trotters is made by a friend or any relative,” Saeed Ahmad shared his inner sentiments.

After consuming such a heavy meal we also take couple of cups of Pesahwari Qehwa (green tea with ground cardamom) for digestion, he added.

In Peshawar, there are more than 25 shops of trotter sellers supplying special dish to lovers of traditional food, informed Yaseen, another seller of Peshawari paye.

Yaseen also belongs to the third generation of his family, continuing with the trade of trotter cooking and selling in Peshawar city.

Yaseen also explained the cooking procedure of trotters which he said takes around 10 to 12 hours for preparation.

First we purchase trotters from abattoir and then boil them for removing hair from it by using a sharp knife. The cleaned trotters are put in an earthen cauldron and cooking starts at night till morning on low flame.

About the recipe, Yaseen says, it simply comprises of turmeric, salt, pepper both red and black, cumin and cooking oil.

He added that the main reason behind the unique taste of trotters prepared at shops is its cooking in bulk.

Yaseen said he usually cooks around 15 to 20 trotters on a daily basis and sells a bowl at a price of Rs350 which is enough for a single person. However, in Ramzan the quantity of trotters increased from 25 to 35 trotters on a daily basis due to a high demand.

He admitted that the price of cooked trotters has increased manifold and is getting out of the range of poor people, blaming high price of ingredients specially gas charges, shop rents, enhanced price of cooking oil etc. “Most of our patients admit that advise of avoiding oily meal especially trotters is ignored by them” shared Dr Muhammad Shezad, a general physician practicing in city area.

Talking to APP, Dr Shehzad said some of our people have special penchant for trotters and they cannot resist eating even knowing the fact that its intake is injurious to their health.

Realising the popularity of Peshawari paye through the use of social media, foreign tourists and famous food vloggers also taste trotters during their visit to Peshawar.

A number of international vloggers visited our shop and made video while enjoying our hospitality and taste of especial trotters, Yaseen claimed.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2022.