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The Weirdough Burger or bhaatti burger is the latest burger to hit Karachi's food scene. It is the brainchild of Syed Abeer Aamir and Emaduddin Majid. Thanks to the encouragement and support of their two other friends Saffa Agha and Meraj Ahmed, they are now serving it at their eatery, Nasheman, in Gulistan-e-Johar.

Abeer is a final year student of Computer Science, Saffa recently graduated, Meraj is also a student of Computer Sciences and Advertising and Emaduddin is a student of Islamic Studies. The friends have school, university and neighbourhood associations that led to their business partnership.

The mouthwatering Weirdough Burger is not your regular burger patty served between two sides of a bun. It is a patty cooked inside dough in a brick oven. Think of a baked burger sealed inside the dough.

"Everyone serves burgers between buns. But we wanted to do something different with it. We wanted the bread and the patty to cook together in the oven. And the outcome was something absolutely amazing. You really need to try it to know what it does to your taste buds," says Abeer.

Saffa, the lone girl in the group, says: "Only a foodie can best tell what you need in your ingredients to come up with the best concoction." She would know — she's a foodie herself. "I like going around exploring restaurants, which told me that the idea of the innovative burger in a brick oven cooking in my friends' head was rather unique, a completely new concept. No one here served anything like it. But now that we have come up with it, it can become a new trend in burgers," she says.

"As the dough bakes and toasts from the outside, its stuffing, the tender meat, chicken or beef, is also cooking inside in its juices, sauces and cheese. The temperature inside the brick oven is more than 200 to 250 degrees centigrade," points out Abeer. Once the burgers are out of the oven they are brushed with butter, which also enhances the flavour of the dough.

The restaurant has a unique menu headed by the Weirdough Burger. Their other offerings include their stuffed naan, koyla chai, etc.

The prices here are also quite reasonable with Rs350 for a chicken and Rs370 for a beef Weirdough Burger.

"We wanted everyone to be able to enjoy our menu. We youth like to hang out with friends [but], being students, [not all of us] have that much money in our pockets. We wanted people like us to be able to enjoy a meal with a cold drink or tea on the side for under Rs500 per person," explains Emaduddin, who besides supervising in the kitchen, is also in charge of the pricing.

Nasheman is one of the very few rooftop restaurants in Gulistan-e-Johar. There are both tables and chairs as well as takhts with bolster cushions for those who would like to enjoy their meal at a dastarkhwan.

The proof of the pudding is in the food.

The burger is juicier than your regular burger and the butter coating gives it a wholesome tandoori and roghni flavour. The blend of the meat, sauces and cheese in a single bite creates a taste of its own.

The friends smile and shake their heads when asked what kind of sauces they used inside the burger. "That's a trade secret," they say in chorus.

All photos by the author