Gifts of Gilgit: Delicious and delicious

 When cold winds blow and then drizzle, the use of dried fruits enhances the beauty of winter. Cashews, walnuts, peanuts, chickpeas, apricots, pistachios and other dried fruits provide warmth and essential nutrients to the body during the cold winter months, as well as enhance the enjoyment of the season.

Recently, a relative of ours living in Gilgit fed us a dish of walnuts so that the rest of the dried fruits seemed normal to us. This walnut dish, in common parlance, I called walnut chocolate, but in the local language it is called "Kilao" or "Clive".

This dish called Kilao is actually a special gift of the Gilgit-Baltistan region and can be called the unique dried fruit there. The people of Gilgit work hard to make this walnut chocolate. Despite the scarcity of resources, this hard work is a dignified source of livelihood. Coming from Gilgit, we all brought this special gift for the family. But before we ate, our writing vein burst and after hearing the whole story of the preparation of the short Kilauea, I wanted to write it down immediately.

Kilauea is a gift from the Northern Territory, which is made but in limited numbers. Because making it is hard work. The first step in preparing it is to separate the apricot and walnut kernels (these are made separately from the two different dried fruits, ie apricots and walnuts), but because of their taste, the sweetness of the walnut is preferred. Walnut chocolate is made in large quantities.

After separating the nuts, it is used in strong threads, which are at least long enough to hold a kilo of walnuts. All this work is done by women. On the one hand, these nuts are nurtured, on the other hand, the juice of black grapes, which are abundant in Gilgit, is extracted and put in a saucepan with some water to cook.

This grape juice is cooked continuously for ten to twelve hours. When it starts to thicken, it is mixed with a little cinnamon, flour and mulberry juice and cooked again to make the desired solution. After making the solution, the dried fruits in threads are placed on light wooden bamboos and dipped well in the solution so that the grape juice is well applied to each grain. Then they are taught in the sun.

In Gilgit, as the weather is often very cold, it takes at least a week or two for these dried fruits to dry. When the kilos are ready, that is, when they are dry, they are placed in cloth bags, and then sent in paper packets for sale in the market.

Kilauea has become a household craft for the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. It is quite expensive but at least cheaper than chilblains. It is found in two to two and a half thousand per kg. It tastes very good and delicious. It is also eaten well in cold weather but the locals do not have any technology and other equipment to prepare it. Most of the work is done by hand.

Gilgit-Baltistan produces abundant dried fruits. Practical steps can be taken to improve the condition of the local population by preparing Kilaue on a large scale