RAWALPINDI: Residents of the garrison city usually head out in search of a good, traditional breakfast on the weekends. Early on weekend mornings, restaurants start preparing golden puris, sweet halwa and aloo channa.

Kulcha and halwa break f asts are preferred to puris and in the summers, people like having lassi with their kulcha and halwa.

One of the popular breakfasts is puray and suji ka halwa.

Made from semolina fried in oil, and garnished with cardamom, raisins and almonds, suji ka halwa is eaten with puri, nan and kulcha or by itself.

The halwa is made into small biscuits and fried to make puray which many people have along with their evening tea and many shops in Kashmiri Bazaar, Bhabara Bazaar and Kartarpura specialise in thesweet.

Many restaurants in the narrow lanes of Bhabra Bazaar and Kashmiri Bazaar have set up seating spaces outside where people enjoy a breakfast of puray and suji ka halwa and with the change in weather; the seating arrangement is also suited for having afternoon tea.

`We have been making puray and halwa for 50 years. Puray are made from halwa and were first started in Lahore. We introduced the dish in Rawalpindi,` said Mohammad Qasim, the owner of a sweet shop in Kashmiri bazaar.

He said the small biscuits are made f rom suji ka halwa.`Many people want the halwa friend till it is crisp on the outside,` he said.

`I did not know what puray were, When I moved to Nayya Mohallah near Raja Bazaar, some of my friends suggested I get them from Kashmiri Bazaar. Now, I getthe fried halwa for my children every weekend,` said a resident, Bilal Shah.

He said the delicacy can be had at any time and also as dessert af ter lunch or dinner and that it is available in the market early in the mornings. He said qatlama filledwith halwa is also popular with his family for breakfast.

Ali Safdar, a resident of Ratta Amral, said one can find the best halwa and puray in Kashmiri Bazaar and that he also brings them for guests visiting from abroad.A customer in Raja Bazaar, Qasim Mir said halwa puray used to be made for Shab-i-Barat only but it is now made on weekends as well.

But few people know how to fry the halwa just right to make the perfect puray, he said.