Another Stan

After experiencing Afghan cuisine last week, I decided for our next stop to see how similar the food is from Afghanistan’s southeastern neighbor, Pakistan. To help us in our quest, this week’s tour guides, Maria and Michael, had lunch with us at their favorite Pakistani restaurant, Rasham in South Windsor.

I called the restaurant the day before to investigate what time they opened and was told we could come in anytime after 1 p.m. At 1:15 we showed up, hungry and ready for some good food, only to find a locked door and a sign that read they don’t open until 3 p.m.

I was ready to get back in the car and figure out a plan b when a very determined Maria walked around the side of the building to the little market attached to the back. She asked the man inside to open the restaurant early for us, and surprisingly he did without seeming the least bit put out. It’s not often you get an authentic cooked meal in a restaurant all to yourself.

At our table, after briefly glancing over the selections, Michael and Adam both closed their menus and appointed Maria the official orderer. She picked a nice family-style mix including Shish Kebabs, Tikka Boti Kebabs, Palak Paneer and of course goat foot.

To drink, Adam ordered a Sweet Lassi, which is similar to a milk shake but made with yogurt. Perfect for cooling the tongue after a fiery meal, it was like drinking a vanilla Dannon.

While Middle Eastern styles heavily influence Afghan food, Pakistani food is more of a mixture of Middle Eastern and Indian flavors. Whereas both countries make use of the same aromatic spices, such as cardamom, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg, Pakistani food also incorporates turmeric, cumin and red pepper, bringing a bit more heat to the table. There are also many similar dishes between the two countries, such as several different variations of palao.



The shish kebabs were my favorite part of the meal as the chicken was well seasoned with the right amount of heat. I could have made a meal out of just these, especially at $1.50 a piece.





The tikka boti, which translates to small morsels of roasted meat, were boneless pieces of chicken breast marinated in a spicy red sauce. The meat was a bit dry, but a healthy squeeze of fresh lemon and a dollop of tamarind sauce really perked it up.

Adam later confided that there is a certain spice, although he’s not sure what it is, that is commonly used in Indian-style cooking that makes all the food taste the same. Whatever the spice, he said, it turned him off to both the kebabs.



The palak paneer was a dish of slow-cooked spinach mixed with chunks of soft, South Asian farmer cheese. The spiciest of all our selections and the most un-appetizing looking, it was actually quite good heaped onto pieces of garlic naan.


The Goat Paya, which literally means goat foot, was a watery soup that tasted mainly of cinnamon. Maria complained that the broth should be a bit thicker and I agreed that the dish was rather boring. Small bits of goat foot, mostly bone, fat and cartilage made up the soup as well and although Maria warned that they were probably a bit slimy, I had to suck on a goat toe just to see what it was like. Slimy was a good description.


For dessert we ordered Mango Kulfi, a deliciously thick frozen dessert similar to ice cream, Ras Malai, ricotta cheese in sweet milk and Gulabjamun, a small ball of fried dough in rose water syrup. Michael admitted that he might have a slight addiction to kulfi and I can now understand why. Although they were all quite good, the mango kulfi was our unanimous favorite and would be great on a hot summer day.

As we were finishing our dessert, Adam commented on an item he had seen earlier in the little market, a bottle with what looked like fish eggs floating in it, he explained. What ever it was, it sounded too weird not to investigate, so we headed back to the market.

It turned out to be a beverage of basil seeds and honey that did indeed look like it contained floating fish eggs. The shopkeeper explained that it is good for settling the stomach, especially during fasting. Adam had to buy some, although I don’t think he will ever actually drink it. I have to admit I'm not sure if i would drink it either, but it is fun to play with.