BAHRIA TOWN RAWALPINDI, Shopping in

A Food Adventure in Bahria Town, Rawalpindi, Alex's story. Can you relate?

Alex, a food enthusiast from New York, found himself in Bahria Town, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Eager to explore local cuisine, he set out to shop for ingredients at the bustling Bahria Town marketplace.

The market was a vibrant sea of colors and aromas, with stalls overflowing with spices, fruits, vegetables, and mysterious foods Alex had never seen before. The problem? He didn’t know the names of anything.

Alex approached the first stall, eyeing a basket of peculiar green pods. “Excuse me, what is this?” he asked the vendor.

The vendor, with a puzzled look, replied in Urdu, “بھنڈی۔” Alex blinked, none the wiser.

Determined, he pointed to the pods and mimicked eating. The vendor laughed and said, “Okra!” Alex nodded eagerly and bought a bag.

Next, he spotted a stack of round, green vegetables. “Are these cucumbers?” he wondered aloud. The vendor chuckled, “نہیں، یہ توری ہے۔” Realizing he was lost again, Alex tried gesturing a cooking pot. With some animated explanation, he learned they were zucchini.

Feeling more confident, Alex saw something that looked like a potato but wasn’t quite right. “Potato?” he guessed. The vendor shook his head and said, “شکر قندی۔” Alex scratched his head, then understood – sweet potato!

Finally, Alex wanted some lentils but didn’t know where to start. He gestured “small beans” and found himself looking at various kinds of “دال” (dahl). The vendor kindly explained the different types, and Alex left with a mix of red and green lentils.

Back at his temporary home, Alex laid out his treasures. Though the journey was filled with language mishaps, it ended with a flavorful homemade Pakistani feast. Alex realized that sometimes, getting lost in translation leads to the best adventures.

And so, Alex’s culinary escapade in Bahria Town became a cherished memory, a story he would tell with laughter for years to come.