PESHAWAR: In most parts of the tribal belt, it is customary to serve guests before and after meal with a variety of dry fruit and green tea, (Sheen chai) on festive occasions, especially Eid. Most people think that dried fruit and dry fruit are one and the same thing. Most elderly people think that both dry fruit and green tea help in digesting red meat and this special treat to serve guests with dry fruit along with Qehwa became a household custom among the tribal people. Now-a-days buying dry fruit has become a far-fetched idea owing to its skyrocketing prices in the market. Once a popular tribal treat on Eid festivals has now been reduced to green tea only.

“Not only on Eid festivals, tribal people used to serve guests with dry fruit in routine life also. Guests were supposed to be served with dry fruit and green tea before or after the meal. Some families despite meagre resources managed to buy dry fruit and Qehwa to serve their guests with. After all it’s a special typical tribal Eid treat,” Zarrak Jan Mohmand told this scribe. He said deep slump could be seen in dry fruit market because of its high prices. He said only well-off people could afford to serve guests with dry fruit.

Dustam Khan Afridi, a dealer in dry fruit, said the current rates of both dry and dried fruit had gone up making it impossible for people to buy it. He said one kilogramme of almond can be bought for Rs1,500 while one kilogramme pista costs Rs1,200. He said guests on Eid and other propitious events can be served with green tea. He added most dry and dried fruit used to be imported from different parts of Afghanistan.

Sher Wali, another fruit expert in Peshawar Namakmandi, while explaining the difference between dry and dried fruit said that there was a thin line between the two. He said in fact very few people knew the difference. He said dry fruit, which came under two categories, namely, indehiscent and dehiscent, had a hard texture and more importantly, they were natural. Indehiscent dry fruit, he said which included among others pistachio, cashew nuts, and almonds, didn’t have seeds in their seedpods while dehiscent dry fruits had seeds in their seedpods.

“Dried fruits such as raisins, apricots, cherries, and figs on the other hand are dried by using machines such as dehydrators or by using natural means since they are natural and fleshy in nature. However, both types of fruits play a vital role in helping people to improve their overall health by enhancing their physical and mental development and hence they are essential for the human body because they enable it to stay in good health,” Mr Wali clarified.

Dr Rehman Afridi said that fruits, which helped to strengthen the muscles, create new blood cells, prevent anaemia, and other wasting as well as debilitating diseases, reduce problems such as acne, pimples, dry skin and delay the occurrence of wrinkles in young people. He said dry fruit had numerous qualities and high nutritional values that enable them to nourish the body.

He said: “Dry fruit and dried fruit both play essential role in enhancing the metabolism of the body and reproductive processes and more importantly, they improve the freshness of the faces of the people who consume them,” He said that cashew nuts being the most popular dry fruit, were most highly recommended by medical experts because he said they had a high fat content being considered very healthy.

“These fruits do not have cholesterol hence their suitability for preventing or lowering the risk of developing heart diseases. In addition, they help in the development of connective tissues and bones because they have antioxidants that are rich in copper,” he maintained. He said almonds, which came under two categories, namely bitter and sweet, were grown in deciduous trees and for this reason, they were not real nuts. “However, they played an important role in the improvement of eyesight and memory since they were rich in calcium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium and they contain vitamin E,” Dr Rehman observed.

In addition, Dr Rehman said dry fruit made people stronger because they were rich in carbohydrates and they contained monounsaturated fat, that’s why medical experts considered them healthy. Dr Rehman added that pistachio plays a significant role in helping to keep the heart healthy by reducing the levels of cholesterol in the body since it is rich in phytosterols.

Published in Dawn September 13th, 2016