Meet Alauddin Khan, a tea shack server-turned-entrepreneur who now sets up a dry fruit push cart on Asif Jeay Ja Street on Karachi’s I.I. Chundrigar Road. Khan has been setting up his pushcart every winter for the past five years, paying the local municipality a monthly fee for the space he occupies on the pavement. Other expenses include a nominal fee to a contractor for electricity as well as buying a gas cylinder to power his burner.

Every day, Khan sets up his pushcart in the afternoon and sells dry fruit till late in the night. With business largely booming, we asked Khan about Karachi’s favourite winter nut, and what people should keep in mind before buying peanuts.

“There is no doubt about it: if you are buying peanuts, always choose the ones from Parachinar for taste, size and quality,” says Khan. “There are typically five peanut strains available in the market; the best is, of course, the one from Parachinar, followed by Chakwal, Kohat, Sukkur and India in that order.”

Why is the Sukkur strain, despite being closer in proximity to Karachi, not popular?

Photo by Tahir Jamal/White Star

“It is popular among people who want to keep peanuts for adornment purposes. Each peanut pod is bigger, so it gives the impression that the nut inside is big too. But that doesn’t mean that it is tasty too; in fact, in terms of taste, it is of a much inferior quality as compared to the Parachinar strain,” says Khan.

“When roasted, peanuts usually cook in their own oil — this is what differentiates taste, since all oils have a particular flavour too.

The Parachinar one leaves the best taste,” he says.

Then there is the pod.

“The Para­chinar one typically has three nuts in every pod. The Sukkur ones will have one or two; the ones from Chakwal mostly have two nuts in every pod. But again, if you are going for size, only then should you choose a strain other than Parachinar.”

For the layperson, though, there are three expert tips to follow before buying:

“Always ask for the strain. Some people sell Chakwal or Kohat as Parachinar, but experienced buyers will always be able to distinguish one strain from another. Whatever strain you select, make sure you are buying exactly that.

“Make sure that the peanut shells have not been penetrated by moisture. In fact, always crack open the peanut shell to check, since a hard shell doesn’t mean that moisture hasn’t affected the fruit inside. If moisture has pierced through the shell, the peanut has lost taste.

“And before buying, always test the product. Try at least three peanut shells, from different ends of the peanut pile. Sometimes, inferior qualities or compromised peanuts are mixed in with larger, fresh piles of nuts. Make sure that what you are getting is from the fresh pile.”

The writer tweets @ASYusuf

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, February 1st, 2015

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