Cooking in Pakistan: Masala Tinday

Cooking in season is nothing new for people in Pakistan. Instead, it’s a way of life.

Tinday Masala

Now, that’s not to say that the fast food giants and processed foods aren’t creeping into the Pakistani diet at an alarming rate. They are but for the most part, most families still are preparing meals using what’s being harvested within 100 miles of their home.

On a recent trip to Pakistan I watched my mother-in-law Fazeelat carefully carving out the inside of what is called a tinda squash here in Lahore. A tinda squash is actually a small, green gourd that’s in season in May and June. They look somewhat like a green apple, with soft fuzzy hairs on the green rind and white flesh inside. They grow on four to five foot vines and are ready for harvest in 70 days. They are also called Indian round gourds, apple gourds or Indian baby pumpkins.

Nothing Like A Fresh Mango

It’s mango season here in Pakistan and there is nothing like a fresh mango. And nothing like a fresh mango lassi.

Fruit seller cart

Lassis are made with fresh yogurt, milk and mango. Sweet from the fruit and full of probiotics from the yogurt, a mango lassi is the go-to drink to cool off in Pakistan’s hot summers. As the world’s fourth largest producer of mangos, Pakistan has no shortage of mangos when they are in season.