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Charsi Tikka restaurant brings the taste of Peshawar's Namak Mandi to the capital

Charsi Tikka restaurant brings the taste of Peshawar's Namak Mandi to the capital

Located in Saidpur, the restaurant seasons its dishes with just salt, which brings out the flavour unique to Namak Mandi
21 Mar, 2016

ISLAMABAD: By flavouring their grilled meat and most karhai dishes with just salt, Charsi Tikka in Saidpur Village brings the taste of Peshawar’s famous Namak Mandi to Islamabad.

Although Charsi Tikka does away with the traditional floor seating or charpoys that are typical of tikka outlets in Namak Mandi, it does feature a live kitchen, where customers can see mutton tikkas grilling on an open spit and chicken tossed with fresh tomatoes in block woks over smouldering charcoal.

The restaurant’s most popular dish is the namkeen tikka. For this, the meat for the tikka is dusted with coarse salt and grilled on barbeque skewers on an open spit.

The meat is turned over every few minutes and brushed lightly with ghee. After around 45 minutes, the meat is sloughed off the skewers and served with fresh tandoori bread and a mint sauce.

A namkeen tikka is mostly ordered as an appetiser, as the wait for other meat dishes – all of which are made fresh to order – can be a long one.

The namkeen karhai is a variation of the same dish, catered to those who like a bit of gravy alongside their meat.

Diced meat is tossed into a wok with fresh tomatoes, green chillies, garlic, vegetable stock and animal fat.

Salt is added to the karhai as well, which is cooked in the wok for about an hour, over charcoal.

The dish is a simple one, but the smokiness of the coal adds depth to the flavour.

The karhai is customarily followed by steaming cups of green tea with either honey or lemongrass, because the gravy is rich with animal fat.

Namkeen Karhai - Photo by Khurram Amin
Namkeen Karhai - Photo by Khurram Amin

Charsi Tikka has managed to replicate the taste of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in its dishes, where the food isn’t heavy spiced and the taste of the main ingredient shines through. It also does a good job with its take on the famous Peshawari chappli kebab.

Meaning ‘flat kebab’ in Pashto, finding good chappli kebab outside of KP can be hard. The ingredients for the kebabs are simple. Parsley, salt, pomegranate seeds, chilli flakes and tomatoes are mixed in with fresh minced meat.

The trick is in shaping the kebabs into thick patties, and shallow frying them in animal fat on a high heat, ensuring the outside chars while the inside is cooked through and juicy.

The piping hot, charred on the outside and juicy on the inside kebabs are topped off with a half-fried egg and steaming bone marrow.

The menu also offers patta tikka, which translates to hidden tikka.

Bite sized pieces of liver are rubbed with salt and garlic and wrapped in a thin layer of stomach fat.

They are then grilled on skewers over an open flame for 15 minutes on each side. These tikkas are delicate, so much so that they are served on the skewers because removing them would ruin the texture.

Patta tikka is best eaten hot, when the layer of fat is crunchy and the pieces of liver inside are soft and chewy.

The restaurant is frequented by families and young people alike. Although there is a family hall in the back, the veranda at the front offers a more traditiona setting, with dewans and takhts adorned with traditional velvet spreads.

Watching a chef prepare his order of chicken namkeen karhai, Adil Shaukat said he brought his friends to Charsi Tikka so they could taste Khyber cuisine.

He said: “All of us friends live together and we survive on takeout. This is a nice change from the everyday biryani and saji. Although they haven’t tried it yet, I’m sure my friends will love the food here. After all, the simpler the better, right?”


Originally published in Dawn, March 21st, 2016

Comments

The Reluctant Fundamentalist Mar 21, 2016 11:10am
Finally. Good news for Islamabad.
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Akash Mar 21, 2016 11:20am
Some one stole my idea to bring the Charsi Tikka to the capital of Pakistan.
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Edwardian Mar 21, 2016 02:40pm
Charsi tikka? Imagine the name Druggie Tikka or Cannabis Tikka would be admonished but not Charsi. Point to ponder
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anonymous Mar 21, 2016 03:06pm
they dont use garlic in their karahis and also they use corriander, not parsley
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Saad Mar 21, 2016 04:22pm
I tried it in Namak Mandi Peshawar many years ago while coming back from Kohat After failing my ISSB exam. That was a refreshing experience and a very different one for me. I always thought of going there again but mever got a chance especially with current security situation. Im glad I can taste it once again in some how safer and closer place. Thanks Charsi and Thanks Dawn for letting us know.
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Israr Khan Ismailzai Mar 21, 2016 05:25pm
Charsi Tikka is the best.
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saifullah mahsud Mar 21, 2016 07:00pm
Was drawn to the place because of the name as had many a dinner parties at the original Charsi in Namkmandi Peshawar during my university days. Took a foreign friend for some "authentic" Pashtun karahi and BAR B Q. BIG MISTAKE! Clever marketing ploy though to use the name Charsi. Many would go in the hope of having good tikkas and karahi. I did! But none will return.
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Shami Mar 21, 2016 08:43pm
I like chapli kebab very much but the way they cook in black diesel like oil is definetly not good for health. Thats why whenever i want to eat the kebab i cook at home.
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Fi Mar 21, 2016 09:47pm
When the first time I heard 'charsi tikka' I thought it is marinated in chakras ( opium). Very interesting name.
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Usman Mar 21, 2016 10:08pm
I thought this was a review on the famous Charsi Tikka of Peshawar.
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Islamabad person Mar 26, 2016 07:59pm
It's really good food, must try. Ambience is decent too.
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