A meaty affair

As the community came together to commemorate the religious rite of sacrifice on Eidul Azha, the air was filled with the savoury aromas of traditional dishes typical to the festive occasion.

Families and friends gathered to share delectable feasts made of fresh meat. Citizens rushed to the markets and stalls which were set up in the streets for preparing meat cuts such as mincemeat (qeema) and mutton trotters (paye).

Abubakar, Muhammad Asif, and Sheikh Shakeel, citizens from Rawalpindi and Islamabad, when speaking to The Express Tribune highlighted the versatility of mincemeat in various dishes and also added that the flavour is even more enhanced when made from sacrificial meat.

Mincemeat is a key ingredient in popular dishes like koftay, qeema biryani, seekh kebab, gola kebab and chapli kebab.

Shopkeeper Nabeel revealed that business is booming due to the Eidul Azha rush. "We're so busy that we don't even have time to clean the meat before mincing it," he said. "Customers are responsible for cleaning the meat before they bring it to the shop, and then we prepare the mincemeat."