Burns Road synonymous with food

Burns Road synonymous with food

Burns Road synonymous with food
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Food is a big part of a Pakistani’s life and every city has its unique flavours and dishes. Similarly, Karachi is also a city of foodies and has its typical cuisines.

It wouldn’t be wrong to say Burns Road is the city’s – and maybe the country’s – oldest and the most popular food street. It was established several decades before food courts and food streets became a thing. However, Burns Road is not all about food. For those interested in the past, it has quite a bit of history tucked in between the eateries.

Burns Road offers traditional sweets like ‘matke ke dahi baray,’ which is a popular yogurt based dish. This is kept in a huge red matka – a red terracotta pot – and served in small plates with spices. This famous matke wala is right next to the best lassi on Burns Road which has been serving the same kind for decades! Both of these delicious offerings attract a large number of loyal customers and food enthusiasts alike.

Apart from these, you can also get Haleem, which has become a staple for all Karachiites. Another great option one could go for is the chana chaat – a combo of chickpea, crispy fried wafers, potatoes, onion, chopped green chili and spices, yoghurt – that leaves an aftertaste to die for. Aside from these tasty ensembles, you can also opt for one of Burns Road’s prime specialty, the bun kebab, which is comprised of several tantalising elements including a kebab, bun, mint, green chillis and tomato ketchup.

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Burns Road Food Street Athar Khan 11

Burns Road also offers fast food, some with local adaptations – anday wala burger which has the same ingredients as the bun kebab but with a fried egg; ‘Afghani pizza’ which is a naan (bread) with a lot of spicy meat, vegetables, and cheese; BBQ like seekh kebab and tikkas burgers, chicken broast. Some of the firstborn bakeries are also located on Burns Road, including the famed Frescos, which was at one time considered an alternative to the rest of the spicy food. However, it seems the owners realised they needed a local food item to attract people and so they added meethay dahi ki phulkiyaan which became immensely popular over the years.

Interestingly, despite being a coastal city, seafood is mostly consumed during the winter. The low consumption of seafood is probably because the city’s population is very diverse and many people have migrated from other areas, adding to the culture and hence bringing variety to Karachi. However, it is still served on Burns Road. Biryani is a spicy dish primarily consisting of meat and rice, while the great debate on adding potatoes to the recipe continues to this day. The two major cities, Karachi and Lahore, have their own ongoing biryani war – both claiming to have the best. My bias, as a Karachiite, is ‘if you haven’t tasted Karachi’s biryani, you haven’t eaten biryani!’

But biryani is not the only thing Karachi’s foodies boast about. A trip to the iconic and historical food street – Burns Road – will open a whole new world of flavours and dishes that are typical to Karachi.

Burns Road gol gappay

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Burns Road is the colonial name for this road, it was renamed as Mohammad Bin Qasim Road after Pakistan’s creation but everyone still uses its colonial name. The story goes that it got its name from Dr. James Burnes (spelt Burnes), the doctor of the rulers of Sindh in the 1830s. Dr. Burnes is also known as the ‘spy doctor,’ probably because he was strategically placed in Sindh at a time when the province was of great interest to the British.

A little reading will reveal that history talks about another Burnes who also came to Sindh at the same time, and it seems more likely that the road was named after him. This man was Dr. Burnes’s younger brother – Alexander Burnes – who was sent to Sindh to use his brother’s position to get favour in the region. He was on a mission as the British were interested in the Indus and the interior of Sindh for commercial advantage.

Who would have known that the Burnes brothers would be forgotten for the achievements that were part of their Raj in Sindh and a variant of their name – Burns Road – would become synonymous with food.

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