Asma Mirza
When I saw this delicious picture of Murgh Yakhni and boiled eggs set to allure people, my memories went back to childhood train travels. Before the buses invaded Islamabad-Lahore route, traveling by trains, stopping at every station, enjoying the typical chanting of vendors was part of every child’s life.
The most interesting of all these voices would be the shrilly one, “GARAM AANDAY LE LO” (Have Warm Boiled Eggs). And the pleasure of eating those warm boiled eggs (with no fear of cholesterol and calories) was entirely unmatchable. Now when I see back, I miss that punjabi street delicacy in my life. I’m afraid the slightly newer generation is not even aware of its existence. Gradually, soups took over the place of decades old simple delights.
Have you eaten Garam Aanday just like that in chilly winters? Any Garam Aanday reminiscences from your life you want to share with us?
Image Courtesy: Dawn
Tastes acquired during ones childhood are unforgettable and if you grew up in Lahore, you will have a wide variety of tastes. I just love them all; garam unday is just one of them.
Author has talked about the chicken soup sold by street vendors above. I have an anecdote on that too :)
In 1987 I got badly addicted to street side chicken soup. I was in grade X and studied in an afternoon school. After school finished at 5 p.m., I used to walk out of my way to go to this market (Meena bazaar, Karachi) and drink chicken soup from the ‘Thela’ vendors there.
Hygiene was pretty bad there. For dish washing, the vendor kept a ‘Dalda’ canister full of tap water at ground level. Every passing car threw clouds of dust in it. Every used bowl was rinsed (by dipping only once) in this dirty water which after few washings itslef turned into a kind of diluted chicken soup.
‘afwaah hai’ (Rumor has it) that allegedly the same dish water was sometimes sold in guise of chicken soup in lighter sales times.
Anyways the taste of concentrated chicken soup, which was served in evening rush hours, was terrfic. It was very spicy and little bit sour from vinegar and got me hooked on it for almost a month.
Little did I know that our Islamiat teacher also walked through ‘Meena bazaar’ daily on her way home. She noticed that I was drinking chicken soup from street vendors daily.
After a constant daily dose of street chicken soup, I indeed fell ill with a serious stomach disease and couldn’t go to school for the next 2 months. I not only lost precious study time but also few matches of inter-schools cricket which we’d been practising and planning for many months. I lost considerable weight and came out of illness looking like a walking skeleton (zinda laash :)).
On my first day at school after recovery, Islamiat teacher made me stand up infront of whole class and gave this lecture:
” matti ke maadhoo…aap murghi ki yakhni pi pi kar khud chooza bun gaye haiN”
:)
(you statue of mud! After drinking dirty chicken soup you’ve turned into a small chick yourself)
That dialog has remained fresh in my memory till now. It is said that chicken soup sold by most Karachi vendors is actually made from ‘crows’ as crows out number human and chicken population combined by 2 to 1 in the city. – wallah alam :)
Anyways it took me many years to re-gain weight, and I have actually never drank chicken soup from a street vendor again since 87.
OOoo I am going to boil eggs…I Really love to have them with meal!
Yes of course yes, I am slightly newer generation but not so new anymore. Had garam Aanday at Itwar bazaar in Islamabad in winters.
They were beauty!
why you people keep remembering all these things sitting outside come to Pakistan they are still here as long as you feel yourself young.