Dear Hector,
I am in Peshawar (North West, the gateway to Afghanistan and Central Asia). Just came back from dinner at “Charsi”. Charas is “hash” in Urdu and a Charsi, therefore, is a hash addict. The story is that one of the cooks many years ago was a charsi and became known for his “taste”. So eventually they renamed the place to Charsi. It has two branches; one in the old town and the one we went to on the road to Jalalabad and Kabul.
There are only two items on the menu – BBQ lamb and lamb karahi. You can select the meat and they slow cook it over coals. Takes at least an hour. The karahi is cooked in the animal’s fat only, no oil or spices or herbs or chilies, just salt. Finished off the meals with two pots of sweet green tea.
Ahmed