- Good morning,
I hope you're having an amazing day.
It's Mark Wiens.
I'm in Pakistan, and I'm in a village
just outside of Gujranwala.
Today, I had a very special opportunity
to explore the village,
we're gonna cook, we're gonna eat.
It's about 8:00 am, the air is crisp and clean,
the sun is shining,
it's gonna be a fantastic day.
I'm gonna share everything with you in this video,
and we are getting started, we're on our way
to go have breakfast first.
(upbeat techno music)
- (laughs) - Oh Mika!
You've got the whole outfit!
(laughs) Oh, that is awesome!
Okay, and we're on our way though,
to walk around the village and we're
gonna have breakfast at a place.
(men singing) (drums)
So the village is called Kot Yousaf.
It's very calm, there's no cars,
mostly walking and motorbikes.
But then there's--
it's an entire community,
and just enjoying this cool morning breeze.
This is great.
- Sheep!
- Sheep! Goat!
- [Mika] Goat. - [Woman] Goat.
We've arrived to a place called 'The Derra'
which is ...
It's a place in the community, like a open yard,
court yard, they have some of the best quality
buffaloes and animals.
Kind of a relaxing courtyard,
but I think the main purpose of this area
is to have conversations, to socialize.
And this is where we're gonna hang out.
Very cool.
Good morning.
(buffalo braying)
(sniffing) (bells)
You dare step into the buffalo pen.
And most of the buffaloes are used for,
for milking here.
And then the milk is very important for many things.
Thank you to the buffaloes,
for the desi ghee, and the cream,
and a lot of the food that we've been eating.
And then finally, horses over here,
and these horses are used for tent pegging,
which is a,
its an art, it's a sport, it's a part of the culture here
and we're gonna have a chance to see them
perform it after we have breakfast.
(grating radish)
(pan dinging)
They're preparing breakfast already,
they're grating, they're peeling potatoes,
grating it looks like radish.
Big balls of dough which they are kneading.
And then it looks like they're gonna do
some of the cooking over on this side.
(ceramic lid clink)
Nice.
(doumbek drum beat)
(woman talking while preparing food)
They're gonna be making paratha
with the ingredients that they're cooking.
So they're preparing two versions,
one is with the radish,
which they shredded and then mixed with
a variety of spices, one is with potato,
which she mixed with a variety of spices,
and then she's got this mallet, pound it up,
so it's like mashing it, mashed potato,
and it's gonna fill into a roti and then fry.
(mallet pounding)
- [Ali] It's called saag.
- Ah, so it is like spinach,
but a type of spinach.
- It looks like spinach, but,
you find them in fields.
They grow wildly in fields. - [Mark] Like a wild spinach.
- [Ali] It's like a wild spinach.
- [Mark] Wow. - It's a delicacy
in this part of the world. You have it in breakfast.
- We're gonna have some lassee too.
Oh man, I'm getting,
just more and more excited by the minute for breakfast.
(doumbek drum beat)
(water hissing)
(stirring) (woman talking)
- [Mark] And they're also making haloel,
which is a sweet dessert made from semolina.
And so, they cook that down until it browned,
and then they just added in some hot water,
that kind of,
wooshed,
and now back on the fire.
(women talking) (patting)
(pan sizzling)
Added on some pure desi ghee.
And then stuck it onto the hot plate.
That just,
smoked and sizzled,
and then, as she's frying it,
she continually adds more and more desi ghee.
Oh, that's gonna be,
a flavor overload.
(woman speaking)
The way her hands move, and it's--
she's a beautiful,
Auntie.
She rolls out-- she's now making the paratha's,
she rolls out one ball of dough into a circular shape,
and then she rolls out a second one,
because they gonna sandwiched together.
Then she adds in some of the potato mixture,
or the radish mixture,
then she flattens it out,
into the center, adds the second layer,
oh, she added in some desi ghee into the center,
then she puts it on the hot plate and just wipes it,
smears it with desi ghee before she flips it,
so that gives it that, just golden,
sizzily ...
Just perfect,
crunchy,
desi ghee buttery goodness,
and it's just sizzling away.
I think we're getting ready to eat very soon.
That looks so good!
I'm so hungry now!
(doumbek drum beat)
(people talking)
(sizzle)
Ohh, whoa!
So we're all just sitting down at the table,
they put the table underneath the tree.
This is beautiful, we've got the cool breeze,
the paratha's are ready, the haloels,
there's the different,
variet-- oh, the chanana.
The chickpeas, and then the saag, the spinach dish,
and then there's some achar, there's a pickle.
Thank you.
- [Ali] There's some cream - [Mark] There's cream.
- [Ali] in it as well. - [Mark] Or is that
desi ghee on the bottom?
- [Ali] That's desi ghee. - [Woman] Desi ghee.
- [Mark] Desi ghee. Whoa.
As the honored guest,
it really is a privilege to begin the meal,
to start the meal with some of the saag, which is the,
wild spinach, and she-- before she served it,
she put in a whole heaping spoon
of desi ghee at the bottom and then poured on the saag.
So that was at the bottom, stirred that in.
Okay, I got to try that first.
(laughs)
Oh wow!
Mmmmm!
Oh! (laughs) That is amazing!
You taste the spinach-y-ness of it.
But it's so light and fluffy!
That desi ghee just shines.
I think this one is radish and potato?
- [Ali] Yeah, this one is potato,
and this one is radish. - [Mark] Radish?
- [Ali] Put in on your plate.
- [Mark] Thank you.
Look at how it's just glistening with that butter,
this one is fresh.
I'm gonna rip,
rip a piece of the paratha.
And you can see how it's so thin also.
And you can see that inside.
And then it's also typically eaten with yogurt.
Dip a little bit of yogurt.
Ho...
oh thank you!
Mmm!
Okay.
And some lassee as well.
Oh, that paratha is ...
It's stunning!
Again, just the,
the desi ghee.
It's just saturated with desi ghee,
which makes it so good!
But the desi ghee has been sizzled on the hot plate
with that dough,
with the thin layer of radish, which has been spiced,
you can taste the chili in there,
you can taste the tumeric, you can taste the cumin.
And then he just handed me a bowl of lassee.
(upbeat techno music)
Ohhhh!
And try some of the achar, the pickle--
this is a chili.
Oh! Oh I love it!
It's like a preserved chili, it's salty.
Mmmm.
That pickled flavor, oh, that's wonderful.
Again, that's just a ...
A sharp contrast to the yogurt,
to the paratha.
The paratha is stunning, and that saag.
That saag just blew me away.
- You gotta try this too, it's insane.
- [Mark] Oh, that chana?
(Mika singing)
Some of the chana with the puri.
You can just taste the creamy-ness of that texture,
and then you taste the sauce,
I mean, it is the chickpea sauce which is
disintegrated as well.
The tumeric in there, the onions and garlic.
Okay, now I gotta try the haloel, the sweet ....
the sweet dessert that goes along with the puris as well.
It is sweet, but it kind of has a honey-ish,
floral taste to it.
(man speaking)
Scoop up a little bit of that saag,
with the paratha.
(laughing)
That saag.
That saag is award winning.
Breakfast was spectacular.
Everything made from scratch,
by the whole community coming together.
I was just asking how many people live in this village.
About 700, he said.
Then, one more thing I was gonna tell you is,
the word 'desi'.
You hear desi a lot,
we just had a desi breakfast, which is the local breakfast.
But, mostly, the word you hear is 'desi ghee',
which is ...
So it's butter, clarified butter,
but it's 'desi', which means it's local,
so it's from the source.
So whenever you hear 'desi ghee',
and I'll be using that term a lot,
in Pakistan,
it means that's it the clarified butter,
locally sourced.
Could be, right from the buffaloes,
right next to where you eat it.
(tractor whirring)
Oh, okay!
We're gonna take a quick tractor ride,
or maybe drive the tractor.
Plowing the field.
Oh!
Whoa! (laughs)
Hope I'm keeping the lines straight!
(upbeat techno music)
A little bit dusty, but what a ride!
Oh, that was fun!
As we're sitting here drinking tea,
they're starting to prepare the animals,
especially the horses, preparing the horses,
because they're gonna show us the,
tent pegging, which is a traditional,
sport-- oh, which I already mentioned before,
but they're getting ready to demonstrate.
What they're gonna pick up,
what they're gonna stab, what they're gonna spear,
is called a 'kila', which is this small piece of--
it's like a little wooden stake--
So they're gonna swing by with a spear,
and stab it on their way up,
and that's the,
that's the art, that's the sport.
Tent Pegging.
- [Man] This is how you actually control it,
and take the thumb out, so,
you have a strong grip.
When you hit it,
your whole arm, it bends back and this is how is turns.
(men speaking)
(man yelling) (horses galloping)
Really tough, that's so small,
that's such a small target.
(upbeat techno music) (horses galloping)
(people cheering and clapping)
We got back form the horse display exhibition,
which was incredible to see,
and it's now time--
as we were there, they were cooking lunch,
they were preparing lunch.
We're back at the,
the family home now.
There's a rice dish, which is like--
it's a pulao rice.
There's tandoori roti, fresh tandoori roti,
there's chicken curry, and there's a lentil dish as well.
But, again, another home cooked meal.
(doumbek drum beat)
First, I cannot wait to try this rice.
This is a desi chicken, it's a,
a local,
local chicken.
Like a free range chicken.
(men speaking)
Mmm!
Mmmm!
Oh, that's so fluffy!
And so,
airy!
The tumeric you taste, mmm, you can taste the chili,
the chili heat a little bit in the background.
Next try the chicken and curry.
Break off a piece of the chicken.
Oh yeah, you can definitely see the desi ghee in there.
Mmm! But almost as a,
okay, you can taste the cream in there.
That's what it is, the cream comes through,
the garlic, the--
so good!
(upbeat techno music)
Oh, the black pepper in that!
Taste that with the achar, the chili.
Oh.
Just.
That rice is insane.
It's so good.
And then that chicken, with the,
with the curry sauce,
and then following with the achar.
It's such a honor to have home cooked food.
But you just taste the difference of home cooked food,
made with so much love.
Yeah. It is ...
This meal is spectacular.
As was breakfast.
Oh, that's the bite.
- [Mark] Thank you so much! - [Man] Mark, thanks
- a lot man. - [Mark] Yes.
That was.
That was so special.
Thank you so much!
- [Man] Thank you. - [Mark] That was amazing!
Thank you so much. - [Man] Thank you!
- [Mark] Thank you. Bye bye!
(laughs)
(car door)
Whoa okay!
Ali just said, that was a marathon of food,
and activities. - [Ali] That was a
rollercoaster ride. - [Mark] A rollercoaster
- [Ali] Food and activities and whatnot.
(laughs) But we had fun.
These guys were very hospitable,
- Whoa! - [Ali] Amazing.
- [Mark] They really took care of us,
I love how the entire community gathered.
My huge thanks to the entire Bagdhi family,
who are from Kot Yousaf Village,
just outside of Gujranwala.
But they are,
yeah, what a,
what a display of hospitality.
Thank you very much!
Okay, the plan for the rest of the day is,
we are driving now,
it's gonna be about a three hour drive,
we're driving almost to Islamabad, right?
- [Ali] Yeah, we are driving towards Islamabad,
but we will be having dinner at Chaklala.
- [Mark] Chaklala, which is just before Islamabad.
It's another village?
- Yes, another village just before Islamabad.
(upbeat techno music)
- [Mark] . Hi. Nice to meet you. Mark.
Tonight, this is kind of a surprise,
but we have a special opportunity to hang out
and meet Mr. Yasir Sarfraz.
And, he,
has this incredible
150 year old mansion
in the countryside, in a village.
So we've been invited for dinner tonight.
And then,
yeah, what a,
what a location, it's like a castle.
- [Yasir] Simple and home made and desi.
What is this one?
Chicken?
- [Mark] Nice.
- [Yasir] This is like,
local chicken,
what do you call it?
Desi chicken.
Organic-- - [Mark] Desi chicken.
- [Yasir] Organic, yeah.
This is,
- [Man] Mutton.
- [Yasir] This is mutton. - [Mark] Mutton.
- [Yasir] This is also,
like a local meat.
Yeah, this is also spinach. - [Mark] Okay.
- [Yasir] But, generally, the spinach, which is,
generally eaten with this.
- Thank you. - [Yasir] Are you
recording me?
- Yeah. (laughs)
- [Yasir] And now it,
used to be considered, not it's not.
It's cold, and it doesn't--
- [Mark] Thank you.
- [Yasir] They're made very good, so.
- [Mark] Okay, I'll try some of that saag, actually.
(doumbek drum beat) (singing)
- [Yasir] That's actually spinach and cheese.
- [Mark] We're all sitting down at the table
in the dining room.
Oh wow!
Oh, the mutton curry.
Okay, next up to taste, the saag.
And that's eaten with a special corn bread,
which is that thick,
thick corn bread.
Oh yeah!
Oh, it's so creamy, it's so,
spinach-y, but it's got that,
silky,
gooey-ness.
- [Man] Chicken.
(doumbek drum beat) (singing)
- [Mark] Next dish is a,
chicken curry made with desi chicken, a local,
local free range ...
guy.
Oh!
I mean, again,
you can taste that texture,
you can tell it's not,
it has been running around.
- [Yasir] The roll you ate in the afternoon,
- [Mark] Yeah. - [Yasir] That was Punjabi.
And this is from our region.
- And then for dessert,
a regional, this regions version of haloel.
Mmm!
Yeah, it's almost,
almost like a bread pudding.
You can taste the spices in it and the cardamom maybe.
And then there's raisins in there.
Oh, and nuts too!
(doumbek drum beat) (clapping)
- [Mark] Dinner was excellent.
And now a local band has come to the house,
he's gonna,
they're gonna perform for us,
and they're gonna play music local from this area.
(singing) (doumbek drum beat)
- [Mark] Thank you.
Pink tea with pistachio shavings.
Mmmm!
And cardamom!
(singing) (doumbek drum beat)
Alright!
It's very late, it's like 1:00 am at night,
1:30 am, but we finally made it to Islamabad,
and yeah, that was just a unique dinner in the old,
a heritage home.
And he's actually the,
Minister of Tourism Punjab.
So I want to say a big thank you to Mr. Yasir
for inviting us to his home for dinner.
Thank you to everyone who,
helped us, who cooked.
It was a--
the entire Bagdhi family,
was very very special, and it was an incredible day.
And thank you to Ali for arranging everything,
for setting everything up.
Ali, I'll have his information in the description box below.
And that's gonna do it for today.
I'm gonna end the video right now,
heading straight to sleep,
so I'm gonna,
see you tomorrow.
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Thanks for watching,
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Good night from Islamabad.