Sarhad Food Kitchen & Restaurant, Attari- Wagah, India

After immersing oneself in and enjoying the almost comical entertainment and eccentric showmanship with 10,000 others, of the spectacularly uniformed Indian Army officers who carry out the carefully rehearsed Wagah-Attari border flag lowering ceremony, there is no better way to end the evening than to retreat to Sarhad, a mere 1.5km back along the road to Amritsar.
Easiest access is to drive against the traffic on the wrong side of the multi-laned road for the final 300 metres as otherwise you will have to go a long way indeed to find a break in the median strip. Fortunately this is not an uncommon procedure in India, where it seems anything goes on the roads. Oncoming traffic will simply move to the side of the carriageway to let you through – very polite behaviour I must say.
Sarhad was highly recommended to me by an Indian man in Singapore; he insisted that if I dined anywhere in Northern India it had to be at this restaurant. The restaurant celebrates the Amritsar – Lahore connection, dating back to the pre-partition days of Punjab, suggesting in its menu that it offers customers a “unique fusion of Indo-Pak food and culture. You can now enjoy Lahore food without going to Lahore!”
My driver and I knew we had to allow several hours out of our frenetic schedule to dwell on the blissful culinary offerings, bask in the fascinating architecture, appreciate the duplicated Golden Temple style floor and patio tiles and reflect on this intriguing part of the world so close to the only gateway from India into Pakistan. It wasn’t hard to do as the day’s sunshine had warmed the patio tiles to a pleasant temperature underfoot, the still night air was beautiful and balmy and the restaurant staff were ready, willing and able to serve us well.
It was a chilled, salted Lassi to start followed soon after by Lahori Mutton Chops and Lahori Chapli Kebabs, both dishes giving up their tenderness and succulence, sizzling with spices to maximise their appeal and coat the deserving tastebuds with the influences of the region. A special moment.
Nihari Gosht, yet another Lahori special according to the restaurant manager, wasted little time in jostling with the Papads (poppadoms), Lahori Naan, Mixed Vege Raita and Vege Biryani for pride of place before us. What interested me about food throughout the Punjab was the ability to detect individual flavours in a dish that, at first glance, looked just like an Indian curry on a plate. The skilful addition of ingredients at the right time in the cooking process and the timely sprinkling & blending of spices and herbs essential to ensuring the integrity of taste is maintained are quintessential procedures guaranteeing palatal satisfaction. It is no wonder that Punjabis have been successful purveyors of food around the world for many decades. Theirs is a masterful combination of culinary history, passed down through the generations, access to an exceptional, enviable array of herbs and spices and an innate ability to extract the best out of what they have to work with.