Pakistan Meat Paradise - NALLI NIHARI + TIKKA in Gujranwala | Pakistani Street Food Tour!

- Good morning, I hope you are having an incredible day. I'm Mark Wiens, I'm in Lahore, Pakistan. And the plan for today is to drive from Lahore to Gujranwala, which is a city known for its

food

. We will take the GT Highway, which is also called the Grand Trunk Highway, which is a very famous highway, and along the way we will stop at a couple of places to eat. But, before leaving Lahore today, we have to stop for breakfast. It is a dish, it is essential. You can't leave Lahore without trying this dish. We will have breakfast first and then drive to Gujranwala. (upbeat music) And we just arrived at a restaurant called Waris Nihari.

It's a stew, I've tried it before, it's incredibly delicious. We have a few different versions, the one that also has brains and then the one that has

meat

. Take a piece of

meat

, then take some of the royal stew, which has a nutty color, put it in your bowl, then put your hand back into the meat, take some oil and pour some of the oil red on top to finish it off. (music) - Spilled milk and spilled yogurt. (sizzling

food

)-she Heated a whole pan full of desi ghee and infused some ginger into it until she boiled.

Then he poured a few spoonfuls over the

nihari

and then also heated each plate of

nihari

over the open flame. That's just finishing it, okay. He's ready to go eat. We have a couple different versions, one is with just the meat, another is with the meat and the brains. It comes with fresh *** and then you always have to season it with ginger, chilies and lime. And then we also got lassis. - Can't. Dude, this load, this is beautiful. I'm really excited about this right now. That meat is so tender that you can just run a piece of bread over it and it starts to tear apart. - And a little of that unseasoned sauce yet. - Oh, wow. - And all that desi ghee. - Dude, are you kidding me? - Wow. - That's great. - So good. - Yes, one more bite!

Thank you! One more bite! - So good. - We'll take another bite, okay? The meat is very tender. - And below you have the creamy nihari stew. Very fragrant, very infused, desi ghee. - Yes, it's fantastic, but you have to season it with ginger, chilies and lime. Make sure you grab some of the chiles and oh, that meat just falls apart! Oh, the drip! That meat, that meat is incredibly tender. You don't actually need teeth to chew it. Then, with that ginger, with those thin slices of chili to increase the heat, this includes the same meat, but also brains.

Oh, it's like sinking. - It's so sticky. - The brains collapsed in the desi ghee and become one with the desi ghee when you pick it up. The desi ghee also gives it the lubrication factor. Then you have the meat which is incredibly tender. Then you have the brain, which slides right in there. - Like hard-boiled egg yolk. - Add some chilies just to complete. Hand squeeze some lime for the finishing touch. It is one of the most delicious dishes I think I have ever tasted in my life. This is nahli nihari, and this is actually the most famous version.

With marrow inside. Those little white nuggets are all pieces of marrow. That's probably for the best, because that marrow, again, is kind of disintegrating into the desi ghee. Plus the meat. Plus the ginger. This is like the ultimate meatiness. And after that, I need to sit back and slurp the lassi. Oh, the milk mustache! It tastes a little like melted ice cream. So nihari is not a dish that I can eat too often because there is a lot of desi ghee, it is very heavy, it is very rich. But that was it, it was a pleasure.

What a way to start this day. (music) On our way, heading towards Gujranwala. And we're going to take the GT Road, which is short for Grand Trunk Road. It connects Central Asia with South Asia, running all the way from Kabul in Afghanistan to Chittagong in Bangladesh, passing through northern Pakistan. There is a lot of traffic and people take this road for short distances, from town to town. This is a very important path and today we are traveling it. (upbeat music) It was only about an hour and a half drive. We didn't actually end up stopping along the way.

But we arrived at the city. This is where we will eat some more, walk and explore during the day, most of the day. And behind me, right here, is the watchtower, built by the British. (upbeat music) We walk a little down the

street

and are going to stop somewhere to eat a mass-produced fried food. Mainly what they serve are pakoras, which are small fried fritters. It contains a potato, some vegetables, herbs and spices. The oil cauldron is bubbling, but they have, like whole, I think they have a few different versions, but let's go to a plate of freshly fried pakoras.

Just grab the mixed potato like a fist. You just squeeze it into the oil and then when they're done frying, they're just fish. He just fishes it. We have to try some of the fresh and hot pakoras. Oh it's good. Thank you! You take a piece, you dip it in that little bit, I think it's yogurt sauce. Oh oh, that's hot. Yes, that's great. That's freshly fried. There are potatoes in there. The green one is actually spinach. It has a little spice. A dream fried snack. (upbeat music) Ali said we have to try it with the rhoti.

It's actually common, he didn't know eating pakora with roti ever existed. Yes, it works a little. Because you have the soft, puffy roti and then the really crispy pakora. Textures, it's a question of textures. How nice. - That's very good. That's my comfort snack at home. - As-Salaam-Alaikum. As-Salaam-Alaikum. Thank you very good. So Gujranwala is known for her food and also for her fighters. For having big guys who fight. Then we have a surprise. I had no idea we would have this opportunity. But we met one of Ali's friends, who organized a visit for us to the local traditional wrestling.

That's where we're headed next. (upbeat music) (car horns honking) Quite a forklift. Quite a bustling area. And we're going... Oh, I forgot to mention that the fight doesn't start for another 15 or 20 minutes, so we're going to stop quickly to eat something before we go to the fight. We're just going to walk around this area for a while. This is also a pretty important

street

. That looks great. We were walking down the street and we saw a man making these little hamburgers. In fact, we saw the sign there. They are made of camel. They smell so good.

They are sizzling in this greasy liquid that just bubbles. You take a handful of the meat mixture, simply flatten it on the hot plate to create the burger shape, and then straight into that bubbling oil as it fries. I'm pretty sure it's frying in its own fat. Oh. Oh, wow. That's so good. It's so yummy. Oh, it's very well seasoned. It has a citrus flavor. Actually, what I really try is the coriander seed. It gives off that almost citrus flavor. That's tasty. Camel sliders. That coriander seed. Oh man, beyond tasty. - We couldn't resist the smell on the other side of the street.

And this guy is doing it very well. - (mumbles) - I would talk, but right now my mouth is full of camel. - That's a line. - Dude, that was a pleasure. That was a pleasure. Proper street meat delight, right there. - I already love this city. It's a bit laid back, but bustling. Too bustling at the same time. It is not an official game, but it will be a practice. He practices wrestling, and wrestling is a big part of the culture in Gujranwala. It will be a true honor that they have invited us to watch them practice. (mumbles) - Hello - Hello, Nice to meet you, very nice to meet you. - Thank you so much. -He said that he just returned from Istanbul. -Yes.-Two days ago, where he won one of the championships there.

And it seems that they are just preparing the sandbox for wrestling. - Yes, for wrestling. - Good, excellent. They just finished the warm-up, now they will have the fights. (upbeat music) - Back to the sand and I'll finish, okay? - Well. For three seconds? Or just... - No, just play. - Well. - Just touch and it will be done. He has finished. - Oh well. - He is the winner. (upbeat music) (clapping) - We'll take a quick photo with everyone. Well done man, thanks. Thank you very much for inviting us today. It was an honor to be here. (upbeat music) (cheers) (upbeat music) Let me tell you what the new definition of meat dreams is. (upbeat music) It's a huge grill the length of a bus, which is just turning into a fire of smoke.

You can smell the meat in the air. We have a whole group with us. Look at that grill! It is like the result of a fireworks show. The meat, the smoking, is incredible. Oh, and this is where they skewer the meat. - They start at 6 in the afternoon and go until 3 in the morning. - They have their own farm, their own source of goats and sell between 35 and 40 goats per night. Meat goats. Whole goats. Thank you. We have just moved to the Karahi station, where he is preparing the pots full of curry. Oh, wow. (pan sizzling) And the next station, to see how the naan is made.

Or is it riroti time? I think maybe it's time to make riroti. As-Salaam-Alaikum. They have a large and very nice indoor section, but they are very kind to give us some tables on the street. We have the lamb karahi, we have a varied lamb plate, we have various skewers. Time to eat. We have to start with the golakabaob, which is a round meatball-like skewer. It's so flaky. You can taste its meatiness. The umami of burning fat, of charcoal fire. That's... That's meat at its finest. - These are the lamb chops. (mumbles) - Well, it's time for lamb chops.

It's so soft and cuddly. The spice marinade is almost sticky. It's caramelized on the meat. The meatiest and dreamiest thing you've ever tasted. This is the karahi, this is what he did about that huge fire. Oh man, you just clean it up. Clean that ghee, that desi ghee, that gravy and that mutton. Oh, that's... That's awesome. You've got that tart richness of that yogurt in there. The richness of desi ghee. Then just the tender lamb. The light aroma of ginger. -How do you give so much flavor to a sauce? Dude, it's like spicy yogurt. Yes, it's like cheese.

That's crazy. - I can safely say that it is one of the best grilled meat dinners I have ever had. Incredibly delicious. Thank you. It feels like I just took a smoke bath. In fact I did. Oh, that was awesome. (upbeat music) Tonight we'll stop at one more place. I think just one more place. Oh it's good. Oh it's good. - (mumbles) - I had no idea we were understanding this, but it's paan. - So this is called paan. It is common in India, Pakistan, Nepal. - Oh thanks. That's delicious though. That's a mouthful of many, many things.

It's so sweet and so juicy, with so many textures. Then you have the main leaf which has a chalky appearance. There is so much going on it's incredible. Thank you! - Thank you thank you thank you! - That was delicious. That was a mouthful of excitement. (upbeat music) Jalebi is like a deep fried dough, which is then dipped in syrup, making it like a sweet and crunchy donut. She kept spinning the dough, spinning the dough, until it looked like a huge Frisbee. That's a giant jalebi. That's really good. It's like, - Wow. - Crispy fried simply saturated with floral syrup.

We are on our way to this town because we are going to spend the night in this town. I think we could make one more little stop for a snack, I'm not totally sure but we'll see. And we are on our way again. (music) I think it's kulfi, a type of ice cream. And he must be the one who invented it. Who has the recipe? The secret recipe. Thank you. So cold. And to me it has something of a starchy texture. Very very milky. Again you can taste that boiled condensed milk. I think that's called khoya.

It has been a fantastic day traveling from Lahore to Gujranwala. Gujranwala, you have impressed me a lot. It is a very friendly city. Such a hectic and busy city, but with so much character and so much good food. Also, I want to say a big thank you to Ali and Sayem for bringing us to Gujranwala today. I will have all the links and information in the description box for everything we did. Tomorrow we have another big day, so I'll finish this video now. Thank you very much for watching this video. Remember to like it if you enjoyed it.

Leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you. And if you're not subscribed yet, click subscribe. And also click the bell icon to be notified of the next video I post. Good evening from Gujranwala, see you in the next video. Thanks again for watching.