©2003 Ashy Macbean.
The Hunza Valley is a fertile ribbon surrounded by jagged barren mountains. The valley links the Northern territories of Pakistan with Kashgaria in North West China and was once a branch of the Great Silk Road which stretched all the way from the Mediterranean to South East China, splitting up and meandering through Central Asia. There is a motorable road through the valley nowadays but the season is short and the road is frequently washed away even in summer. It's one of the highest roads in the world, crossing the Kunnerjab Pass on the border at almost 5 000 metres above sea level. Glaciers come down almost to the road and the weather can be ferocious at any time of the year but despite this, the farmers in the valley manage to raise large crops of fruit and vegetables. Farming methods are traditional and labour intensive, relying on ancient irrigation systems bringing nutrient rich glacial water out of the high valleys.
The Hunza valley is beautiful place to visit at any time of the year but most accessible in summer, when you can walk and hitch the full length of the valley, camping or staying with local families in rustic guest houses. There are many side valleys which offer great hikes and you could spend weeks exploring. I stopped for a week at Baltit, half way between the plains and the head of the valley, to do some trekking, exploring and birding. The Baltit and Karimabad area is especially fertile and is one of the places where the famous Hunza apricots are grown. You can see a couple of photos of the area around Baltit and further up the valley in my mountains page. One day when I came down tired and hungry from a hard days walking in a high valley, my landlord had made a huge dish of apricot custard. It was fantastic. Absolutely delicious. The only problem was there wasn't enough. I could have eaten ten times as much.
Here's the recipe, or my version of it. If you can find Hunza apricots, use them. If you can't any dried apricots will do. The quantities I give here will make four portions.
Ingredients
3 handfuls of dried apricots
3 cups of water
600-700cl of milk
2 fairly heaped tablespoons of custard powder
2 tablespoons of sugar
Put the apricots and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until most of the water has been absorbed by the fruit. Start making the custard after the apricots have been simmering for ten or fifteen minutes.
Mix the custard powder and sugar in a cup with a little milk. Mix it well to make sure there are no lumps of dry powder. Heat the rest of the milk in a saucepan and when it starts to boil, stir in the mixture from the cup. Bring the custard back to the boil and simmer and stir it for a few minutes. That's it ready, so switch off the heat. Your apricots should also be about ready and when they are, split them equally between four bowls and then add custard. Leave to cool for five or ten minutes before serving.
Custard is also rather good served cold. If you want to try that, fill the bowls as above, while the custard is hot, then when they cool, leave them in the fridge with a bit of cling-film or aluminium foil over the top until needed. Try cold apricot custard for breakfast. It's good.