Daily Times

The grilled fish and chapli kabab outlets have started attracting foodies in a bid to keep themselves warm after torrential rains continued lashing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since last night, which has turned the weather extremely cold and chilly.

In the wake of increased chill and rainy weather conditions since last night, the people thronged to the outlets of mouth-watering chappli kabab and grilled fried fish at historic Qissa Khwani and Namak Mandi where the delectable varieties are being served with traditional qehwa (green tea) and spicy sauces. Food lovers are also getting food takeaways for their loved ones at home to beat the cold rainy weather. Peshawar is a unique ancient city, which is an attraction for tourists and food lovers to relish its delectable traditional food varieties including the mouth-watering chapli kabab, Peshawari rice-pulao and fish varieties mostly brought from Malakand, Hazara divisions, Punjab and Karachi as special winter offer. The visitors, while travelling on historic Qissa Khawani and Namak Mandi bazaars in the bustling city of Peshawar, can’t resist the aroma of grilled fish and chapli kabab being served with traditional qehwa and spicy sauces till late at night.

“The tantalising aroma of trout and carp fish, chappli kabab and chicken corn soup with traditional gajar halwa and chicken yakhni always attracted me to enjoy in winter at Qissa Khawani bazaar having about 3,000 years old history, said Sundas Amin, a lecturer of Statistics and resident of Bannu district while talking to APP on Monday.

She said that it was her fifth visit to Qisa Khawani during the ongoing winter season with family. She said that visit to Peshawar remains incomplete without enjoying the mouth-watering chapli kabab and grilled fish with green qehwa at Qissa Khwani which is internationally known for storytellers. She underlined that the tourists while travelling to the subcontinent or Central Asia for trade had often stayed here at night and swapped tales of culture, civilizations, and traditions besides day to day happening while enjoying Chapli Kabab with traditional qehwa.

The visitors of Peshawar go around to the historic Balahisar Fort, Ghanta Ghar, Mohalla Sethian with rare architecture and woodwork of its buildings in a day-long trip and return to Qissa Khwani for a night stay before starting their journey to their destination for trade. Ghanta Ghar, a famous fish trade hub in Peshawar also drew a substantial number of seafood lovers on Monday where the trade of fish including mushka, rahu, simon, pomfret, mahsher, and lobsters have significantly increased after the cold wave caused by heavy torrential rain has gripped Peshawar valley since last night.

A fish outlet owner at Ghanta Ghar, Barkat Ullah said trout stock has been brought from Swat and Mansehra districts as a special winter offer to fulfil Peshawarties’ pressing demands for marriages and other parties. While eating fish at Ring Road Peshawar along with friends, Zeeshan Qaiser a resident of Wapda Town Peshawar said trout was his favourite seafood as its meat was full of proteins and vitamins besides easily digestible. “When I was young, I visited Swat with my father during winter to enjoy the freshwater brown trout due to its aromatic taste and spiciness amid snowfall. This winter, I did not go to Swat due to the availability of the grilled and baked trout fish at Peshawar”, he said. Dr Ziaullah Chamkani, senior medical specialist at Government Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar said there was an additional burden on the heart, brains, joints, and lungs of weak people and children due to persistent cough, nausea, and frosts in winter, adding consumption of fish was the best available choice to help reduce risks of these diseases.

Besides being the best source of proteins, vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, phosphorus, iron, and iodine, he said that consumption of seafood helps improve digestion, protects skin from dryness, and relieves joints’ pains. Usman Ali, General Secretary of the Swat Trout Fish Farming Association said that the business of trout farmers shined in winter following an increase in demands of consumers and hotel industry from across the country. He said about 150 trout farms existed in Swat that engaged extra laborers to meet the placed orders.

He said about 2,500 people were directly associated with trout farming in Swat where one kilogram of trout was being sold at Rs 2000 to Rs 2500 per kilogram in the open market. “Trout farming is a highly profitable business and any farmer having 35 marla land minimum and proper water inflow and outflow system can produce 2,250 kg trout by earning about two million rupees profit after 15 months raring,”. Officials in the Fisheries Department told APP that under the Trout Village Project (TVP), around 93 small and large trout fish farms were established in Malakand and Hazara divisions under a 50:50% cost-sharing formula basis.

The official said that a model trout hatchery under the KP government was set up at Salathanar Valley in Upper Swat on 15 Kanal with the capacity to produce six million fish seeds per year. He said that ‘Development of cold water fisheries resources’, a joint venture of Federal and Provincial Governments having 40:60pc cost-sharing basis, is in progress in Malakand and Hazara divisions under which 297 trout lakes were being established to bolster fish production. He said that the KP government has approved the ‘development of reservoirs for the uplift of fisheries resources’ project under which 67 carp fish farms and a model hatchery on 179 kanal at Swabi were being established from where fish seedlings to be provided to private hatcheries and Turbella dam.