The Baloch are known to be brave, hospitable and respectful and to be blessed with distinctiveness of their culture, tradition, language, food and lifestyle. Apart from its language and cultural heritage popularity, the Balochs are famous for their delicious foods which are cooked and are readily available. The most famous food of Balochistan includes naaho mahdar, shelanch, appesk, baato mash, porani naan, khonar, naano sheer, shapen rogan, appothag, konsh and some vegetables which are cooked meticulously.
These foods are mostly available in Baloch Nomadic tribes that have easy access to cows, camels, sheep and goats, etc which are used for transportation as well as are sources of delicious foods for the families.
Naaho Mahdar and shelanch are the most popular foods of the province. People actually travel from afar to visit the rural areas where they could get their hands on these delicacies. ‘Naah o Mahdar’ is the mixture of dates with Balochi Pure oil called (Shapen Rogan) which is available in Milk. ‘Naah o mahdar is eaten with Shelanch which is too found in milk. This food is very tasty and liked by every Baloch who always loves to eat Naah o mardar with Shelanch.
Appesk means water with fish which is a common food of Baloch who have this meal in a bowl. When Appesk gets ready, the breads especially taroni naans are mixed in appesk with lemons and pure oil. This food is very tasty and is liked by all. Besides this, Baat o Mash is the food which is mostly liked and eaten in rainy weather. The pleasant weather compels the people to eat this food which is liked at rainy seasons.
Certainly, the Balochs are too expert at baking different kinds of Naans (breads) some breads names are; Porani naan, Sesark, Dasth Pach, Teenoki, Taroni, Teenigi, and Rogini naans which are well-liked by the people who eat different breads according to changes of the seasons. The summer season, Taroni, Tenoki and Rogini bread are eaten by them while in winter Sesark, Porani and Teenigi naans are liked by them. Mostly, the bread are baked through teens called ‘Teenok’. These baked breads are eaten with Milk called ‘Sheer’ that is very famous and eaten regularly by Balochs. Since, this food makes the body very healthy and strong with protection of the health.
However, Balochs do get eatable food from mountainous trees which are the sources of food especially for nomadic societies. The food available in mountains are, Khonar, Konar, Appotag, Konsh, Shamsh and Aloko which are naturally tasty. Khonar, Konar and Konsh are known fruits which are gained by mountain trees after rains while Appotag, Shamsh and Aloko are like grass which grow up after a week of rains in mountainous areas. The Nomadic people’s lives are based on such foods which grow in mountains and they like such food very much. The Balochs avail food from agricultural production known as vegetables as well.
So, Balochi Delicious foods are multiple with different tastes which are liked by every Baloch in Balochistan. In fact, Balochi foods are pure with full of proteins and energy which protect the healths of the people from diseases. Majority of Balochs are long-ages people due to Balochi Foods which are far from mixture of chemical and other materials. The purity of Balochi food refreshes the brain and body to be strong. The lucky Balochs are those who get Balochi delicious food to eat; since city’s people are mostly deprived from such foods. Thus, when someone eats Balochi food once especially ‘Naah o Madar with Shelanch’, then she/he will always wish to have the food regularly. The most delicious and tasty foods are found in Baloch societies.
The writer teaches at DELTA and can be reached at [email protected]
Published in Daily Times, March 26th 2019.