Ramadan is supposedly the month of abstinence – a month of self-discipline through self-denial. And by those very standards, a month of pure trial for desis.
Of course, Muslims all over the world are facing the true test at this time: 12 or more hours of no food and water in the scorching summer heat. But for desis, there is the added dimension of all the seasonal goodies that we must deny ourselves until sundown.
You see, summer for us is that time of year when our favourite fruits are in season: mangoes, falsay and jamun (berries). Sinfully succulent and sadly seasonal, they are in their prime for just a few weeks and this year, those few weeks overlap with Ramadan.
Our love for mangoes is no secret. We devour the golden beauties as a main course with dal chawal (lentils and rice), or for dessert, with or without vanilla ice cream. Dassehri, Langra, Sindhri and chaunsa may all look the same to an outsider, but desis know that while one is best for slicing and eating on its own, another is good for squeezing gently while whole and then popping a hole on top to suck out the juicy pulp. Sure, you can get imported mangoes all year round, but we want nothing to do with those puny green specimens.
Recently, I woke up from my post-suhoor nap with an immense craving for falsay: tart black-purple berries that are sour and sweet. Excellent on their own, they are sprinkled with a bit of masala or juiced with sugar.
The botanical name for this fruit is Grewia Asiatica, and while it is called everything from a cranberry to a blackberry, it really is neither. Though falsay grows in many countries from Pakistan to Cambodia, it seems that Pakistanis are the only ones who have taken a solid liking to it. You won’t find them at your local Spinneys or Al Maya Lal’s. You will need to go to a speciality Pakistani store. These little shops in hidden corners of areas with a high density of Pakistanis are a lifesaver for homesick people like me. So, when I have a falsay craving, I make a beeline for my closest Pakistani store.
The falsay were all gone. The shopkeeper laughed at me when I asked for some and told me they sell out within minutes of arriving at the store and that the next shipment is due in a couple of days. I did come away with a packet of Chooran Chatni sweets – locally made and hugely popular hard sweets in the flavours of chooran, a desi digestive aid made of an arbitrary combination of lime juice, cumin, black salt, sugar, dried mango powder, ginger, ground pomegranate seeds, pepper and chatni (mango and tamarind chutneys). I also bagged a kilo of chaunsa mango and the last 250 grams of jamun – another seasonal fruit, also called jambul or black plum.
Now I’m calling the stop every day to check on that shipment of falsay. If you, too, want a taste of falsay or other Pakistani goodies, stop by a speciality store. The one I went to the Pakistan Supermarket, located in Karama, opposite BurJuman Shopping Centre (04 370 9005), but there are plenty of other little ones spread out in various areas of Bur Dubai and Ghusais, in Dubai, and in various places in Sharjah.
The writer is an honest-to-goodness desi living in Dubai