2018 was an epic year of travel for me, and it began and ended in the same place: India. In January, I visited the country for the first time and fell in love with it so much that I knew I had to go back as soon as I possibly could. That opportunity came eleven months later, in November, when I spent nearly three weeks experiencing more of this country’s beautiful culture and outstanding food with my travel buddy Sam from Sam & Audrey.
Even though we had only been in Amritsar for less than a day, Sam and I already had tons of epic Amritsari adventures under our belt as our first day in the city continued with a trip to the Indian-Pakistani border with our friend Japneet to witness the Attari-Wagah flag ceremony and have an incredible Pakistani dinner at Border Restaurant!
Sam, Japneet, and I took the 30-minute car ride to the Indian-Pakistani border from Amritsar. On our way, we bought two Indian flags for 200 rupees each. We made it to the village of Attari, which lies directly across from the Pakistani village of Wagah on the other side of the border. It is here that the world-famous Attari-Wagah flag ceremony takes place. Japneet got us VIP tickets to the ceremony so we’d get to see it up close and personal. After a quick, scary moment where we realized we’d forgotten our passports, we went inside after we showed them our IDs. Bring your passports when you come here!
The venue itself is like a massive stadium, but I noticed that the Indian side is a lot bigger than the Pakistani side. Once we got to our seats, the crowd passed a gigantic Indian flag overhead. It was such an exciting way to kick off the lowering of the flags ceremony, which takes place daily from 5-5:30 p.m., dates back to 1959, and is a military practice that the security forces of India and Pakistan take part in. This ceremony, which is well-known around the world, symbolizes both the brotherhood between the two countries, as well as their friendly rivalry. The drills that take place during the border ceremony are known for their dancelike movement and showy high leg kicks. The energy of the crowd was electric! There is a lot to take in during the 30-minute ceremony, from the drills and the music to the enthusiastic shouting and chanting from the crowd.
After the ceremony ended, the three of us headed to Sarhad (which means border) Restaurant, for some authentic Pakistani food. We started with a Chicken Seekh Kebab and Dahi Ka Kebab, which is a fried patty with yogurt inside, along with some mint chutney. It was amazing! The mint chutney was fantastic and a little spicy, and the chicken was really soft, almost like poached chicken. The Dahi Ka Kebab looked like a potato fritter and had lots of herbs inside.
Next, we ordered garlic naan, Lahori Naan (which has onion seeds sprinkled on it), and Peshawari Naan (which contains dried fruits and nuts including raisins and almonds) along with three Pakistani curries: a mutton curry, a chicken curry, and a dal. They all looked incredible and each of them came with a chili pepper.
The mutton curry was super tender and juicy, and was falling off the bone! The chicken curry, especially its sauce, had so many flavors in it and the Lahori Naan was nice and crunchy and had a beautiful contrasting texture. Of course, I had to try one of the peppers…and yes, it seared off all of my taste buds!
Next was the dal, which was refreshing and didn’t have a ton of spices in it. Then I tried the Peshawari Naan with the chicken curry. The naan was sweet and perfect with the chicken curry! I honestly can’t say enough about Indian sauces. They get it right every single time!
And finally, we had dessert: Lahori Khalifa Khatai with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and all of it drizzled with Khalifa syrup. The biscuits were dense and super nutty and also contained cashews and pistachios. The Khalifa tasted a lot like chocolate! I never would have known it wasn’t chocolate if Japneet hadn’t told me!
I hope you enjoyed our trip to the India-Pakistan border and our mouthwatering Pakistani feast! If you did, please give this video a thumbs up and leave me a comment below. And please subscribe to my channel!
What's up everyone, this is David Hoffman from David's Been Here in beautiful Amritsar,
Punjab, India.
I'm here with my good friend Sam from Sam and Audrey and my friend Japneet, he's a big
time follower.
That's okay.
He's been following me for over a year and he's going to take us to the border right
now, the Pakistan-Indian border and there we're going to see the ceremony, the flag
ceremony.
It's like a 30 minute thing.
It takes about half an hour to get there and it is only from 5 to 5.30 so definitely get
there early to get seats and it is really like a spectacle, right?
It is a true spectacle.
He's been there.
I went there in 2010.
That's right.
It is unbelievable.
You guys are going to love it.
Very energetic.
Energetic?
Yeah.
Very energetic.
Wow, I'm excited.
I haven't been to it.
I've seen it in a few different videos from other travel vloggers.
I can't wait.
And then after that we're going to the border restaurant and then we're going to eat some
Pakistani food.
I can't wait.
This is going to be an epic adventure.
Let's go.
No, no, no.
We pay.
Come, come.
I want two flags.
How much are they?
I got money.
So it's 200 each for the flags and obviously we're going to the flag ceremony so I think
we're going to be there waving the flags.
I'll wave it right here.
We're going to wave it right here.
We love India, guys.
We love it.
So 200 each, man.
This is awesome.
How are we taking this home?
I don't know, man.
I hope we can.
Just roll it around.
Just roll it around the border.
5 kilometers away from the border.
Wow, we're getting close.
Okay, so right here across this river is the border with Pakistan.
Wow.
We are here, guys, at the border.
Wagah border.
The village here in India is Atari.
Yes.
So we call it Atari border.
Okay.
The village across the border is the Wagah.
Wagah border.
The village is called Wagah.
When you come to the border there's two ways to do it.
You can either go with the general public and basically before you enter you have to
walk for a long time.
The way we're going is VIP style.
My boy here.
Hello.
He got us VIP tickets.
So we're going to be right at the front.
We're going to see the ceremony really up close and we're here in this massive parking
lot right now.
Dude, I hope you charged your batteries.
We're going to be rolling the cameras.
I did.
Here we go.
So we got our flags.
We're ready to go.
Let's go to the ceremony.
India.
Hindustan.
Wow, so many people here.
You've got to go like this.
Smooth.
This is a long queue.
This is like a super long queue.
I know.
And it got super long while we were running through the super long queue.
Oh yeah?
We forgot our IDs.
Well we forgot our passports but we brought IDs.
So we're good.
But that is so scary.
Guys, bring your passports.
That's the no man's land we say in English.
No man's land.
It's the Indian side of the border.
And the other side is the Pakistan.
It looks like a stadium here.
Yeah.
It looks huge.
That's the gate over there.
Woo!
Whoa, it's like a sporting event.
It's so wild.
It's pretty incredible.
It lasted 30 minutes and the whole time they were saying what is it Hindustan.
Hindustan Zindabad.
And what does that mean?
Live long.
India.
Live long India.
And on the other side the same thing.
Pakistan is saying the same exact thing.
Right?
Yeah.
Basically.
Basically a showdown.
It is a showdown but as you can see they are really friendly with each other.
They open the gates.
They shake hands.
But the Pakistan side is like tiny.
Yeah.
The Indian side is huge.
And you know what is crazy?
You can see that it has actually expanded.
The stadium is bigger than the last time I came.
It is like a football stadium now.
It is huge.
Wow.
Oh my gosh.
I'm going to get hit by a car here.
Yeah.
And now what we're going to do is go to the Border Restaurant and eat some Pakistani food.
I've actually eaten that once in Miami but never in a real Pakistani spot.
Hahaha.
Oh my gosh.
So this is Sarhat which means Border.
Pakistani food.
Let's eat.
Oh my gosh.
Hello.
Alright so we're starting with two appetizers.
We have like a chicken seekh kebab.
And then this one what is it?
Dahi kebab.
Yogurt kebab.
I've never had yogurt kebab.
It looks like a fried little patty with yogurt inside.
Yeah.
Okay.
And then next to it we have some mint chutneys.
Oh my gosh.
I can't wait.
I'm so hungry right now.
Let's dive in.
Okay.
Dig in boys.
One for you.
One for me.
One for you.
Thank you.
One for you.
One for me.
And then we'll get.
Let's get one of these in front.
So we just put it here.
Yeah.
Perfect.
Oh.
I love the seekh kebabs.
They're so good.
You going with that?
I'm just going to go with this.
Oh.
Spicy.
A little bit.
Mint chutney spicy.
Maybe it's the spices in this right?
Let me try this alone.
Very tender.
Full of herbs.
It actually feels like poached chicken.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Very soft.
This is amazing.
Okay.
So here we have yogurt kebab.
Never had yogurt kebab.
It actually looks like a potato fritter right?
Yeah.
See.
Mmm.
Has some herbs inside.
You can see the white.
That's all yogurt.
Cut some here.
It's really crispy.
Mmm.
The yogurt.
You don't even taste the yogurt.
It feels more like potato.
How is the mint chutney?
Oh.
These are sauces.
And obviously Pakistan is next door so.
With Pakistani food you would think it.
You wouldn't think it's too different.
But it's completely different.
Spicy.
Only the mildness of the spices.
Yeah.
Not spicy.
Wow.
Look at this.
This is my happy place.
I know.
Oh.
Pakistani curries.
We got some naans.
That's garlic naan.
Garlic naan.
Okay.
That's the Lahori naan.
So this is the Lahori naan.
And it has like.
What is it?
Some seeds?
Onion seeds.
Wow.
That looks great.
I'm going to put that here.
Okay.
And which is this one?
That's the Peshawari naan.
Peshawari naan.
It contains dry fruits.
Dry fruits.
Wow.
Like almonds, raisins, cashews.
Oh.
It's going to be delicious.
It's going to be like a sweet naan.
And then next up we're going to get the curries.
Right?
Yeah.
So now we have the pork curries on here.
We have mutton.
Mutton.
Chicken.
And daal.
Lentils.
So this is daal.
Miyaji ki daal.
Lahori handi mud.
Nihari gosht.
And then this is mutton.
This is mutton.
This is chicken.
And this is daal.
Oh my God.
And you know what's the best part?
They put a red chili right on top.
Just to make it a little spicier.
Wow.
Oh my God.
Look at that.
Whoa.
Okay.
We just dropped the yummiest piece of lamb.
Hold on.
You missed the pepper dude.
Oh.
I'm not joking when I like pepper.
That's really spicy actually.
That's a joke.
I'll not get the pepper.
It's only one pepper per dish.
So.
How is the lentil stew?
Perfect.
Look at that.
All yellow daal.
That is a nice looking plate.
I've got to say.
India man.
It is all about it.
It is all about these sauces.
Daal.
So how do you want to start?
Whoa.
Serve yourself.
Yeah.
Hahaha.
I forgot about you.
Hahaha.
So what will David have first?
I think I'm going to go with a little bit of that.
Mutton?
The mutton.
Yeah.
I'm going to move the pepper.
It is just falling off the bone.
Yeah.
It is literally falling off the bone.
This is amazing.
Wow.
You put it here right?
Yeah.
Oh God.
Are you ready?
Yeah.
Three.
One.
Oh.
So tender.
So juicy.
Mmm.
And that sauce.
Mmm.
India just knows how to make sauce.
You know?
Indian Pakistan.
Yeah.
The Indian food ninja.
Hahaha.
Did you make that up?
No.
Oh.
Okay.
Oh my gosh.
That's amazing.
Mmm.
I love the crunch of the naan with the seeds.
Next up I'm going with the chicken curry.
Gravy.
And so with this sauce is wow.
Mmm.
So many flavors.
The chicken is really nice too.
Super tender.
Go ahead man.
It is going to be spicy.
My favorite is alive.
Is Daver going to survive?
I've already burnt all my taste buds.
But now I've got to go with this one, the Peshawari naan, the Peshawari naan, look at
this.
Fruits, he's going to put some of this chicken curry.
Chicken, I'll go with the daal.
Okay.
Insane.
So sweet.
Raisins, almonds, cashews, and other dry fruits also.
Wow.
I mean it's really a sweet naan.
It's awesome.
I've barely had that.
I think the only other sweet naan I've had is from Kashmir.
This is just like a hit.
That huge delicious meal, now we've got dessert.
Pakistani dessert.
It's like vanilla ice cream and cookies.
Not cookies, it's called khatai.
Khatai.
Yeah.
It looks really crunchy.
Yeah.
And there's like some chocolate syrup on top.
That's not a chocolate syrup.
The syrup actually comes from Pakistan.
From Pakistan?
Yeah.
Okay.
Khalifa.
The fruit is called Khalifa from its name.
Khalifa.
Yeah.
Okay, so let's try it.
Yeah.
Get some of this.
Oh.
Okay.
Cheers, my friend.
Oh, this is amazing.
I can eat this alone, but obviously the ice cream on top is just like for good measure.
Guys, I hope you love this video.
Today we went to the Indian-Pakistan border.
We saw the ceremony, the flag ceremony.
It's really a show.
It's really exhilarating.
The whole time you feel the pride, love.
The patriotic pride from the country.
And as you can see, the India side is huge.
Pakistani side is small.
But it's really cool.
You gotta go there.
Definitely recommend doing it at least one time when you come to Amritsar.
It's 5 to 5.30.
Just try to head out around 2.30 from Amritsar so you can get there in time.
Get good seats.
Try to get VIP tickets for sure.
And yeah, this food was amazing as well.
Love Pakistani food.
I guess I'll have to go to Pakistan next.
One day.
For sure.
My friend, thank you so much for your support.
We wouldn't have been able to do this without you.
It's been a great day.
If you love this video, give me a thumbs up.
Leave me a comment below.
Subscribe to my channel.
Follow him on Instagram.
Follow my boys Sam and Audrey right behind you.
And I'll see you on the next travel food adventure in incredible, delicious freaking India.
It just doesn't want to get here.
I can't get it.
Damn.
