The first ever Bohra Food Festival kicked off in Karachi’s North Nazimabad neighborhood on Friday. The festival will continue until Sunday.

The festival is being held on the rooftop of the North walk strip Mall located next to the Hyderi Greenline BRT Station.

The entry fee for the festival is Rs100, with the proceeds to be used for charity.

Bohra chicken, Bohra biryani, cutlets, malai khaja, gur papdi, kadi chawl, khichda, bharta, sev puri, spices, dhosa, pao bhaji, vada pao, and traditional drinks are among the delicious dishes served at the festival’s 100 stalls. Most stalls are run by women and home chefs giving visitors a taste of the Bohra cuisine.

The Bohra Thaal

The main attraction on the first day of the food festival was the Bohra Thaal. The portions served at individual ‘thaals’ are just right for eight people. Diners are instructed to consume every last morsel on the thaal and to make sure not a single grain of food is wasted. Once everyone is seated, one serving person walks in with water in a chilamchi lota ( mobile basin and jug for everyone to wash their hands before eating). It is customary to take a pinch of salt before and after every meal – believed to cleanse the palette. Each dish is placed in the centre of the thaal in a single plate and diners pick their share from it.

The Bohra cuisine is quite distinctive and intriguing, a mix of Gujarati, Arabic and Middle Eastern culinary styles. Unlike most other cultures, the Bohra meal begins with desserts like hand churned ice creams, custards, puddings, halwas or any other signature sweetmeat like malido or kalamdo, followed by kharaas (usually a meat-based savoury starter), and then the jaman or the main course, mostly the traditional Bohra kari chawal or dal chawal palidu, or even pulao and biryani, along with accompaniments like soups, raitas, salads and chutneys.

The meal ends with fruits/dry fruits, paan and a beverage.

The food festival is organized by the Dawoodi Bohra community. Karachi is home to more than 7500 Dawoodi Bohra families spread across 18 neighbourhoods. The largest community centre is located in the North Nazimabad neighborhood. Shabbirabad and Saddar are also important community neighborhoods in the city.

Since before independence, Dawoodi Bohra families have lived and thrived in Karachi. Most community members were predominantly traders and businessmen at the time.

According to the organizers, the festival’s goal was to introduce citizens to the traditions of the Dawoodi Bohra community and to promote harmony with other communities.