- Good morning, hope you're having an amazing day. It's Mark Wiens, I'm in Chabahar in the Baluchestan state of Iran. The food is incredibly delicious, and there's amazing landscapes. We're next to the Gulf of Oman. There's beaches, it's beautiful. And today, we're gonna go on a tour of Chabahar. We're gonna go to some beautiful places. We're gonna eat some amazing food. We're gonna go to the bazaar, and we're gonna eat some street food, and I'm gonna share this entire tour of Chabahar with you in this video. (groovy music) Drove into the center of Chabahar. We're gonna start walking around. We're gonna go to the bazaar, go to the market, walk around, explore, and eat. Already loving the action, the energy, the people here. Well, I'm, oh man, walking down this market street, just the aromas are filling the air. You smell the big pots of biryani rice. That's the aroma of fried onions. Oh, bread is frying. Oh man, the aromas are incredible. Yes, one of the, in this entire region of the world, one of
the greatest breakfasts is dough slapped out into layers, formed into circles, fried in oil over a hot plate. And I believe that they called it a prata here too but that just smells incredible. He works them, he flops them around. He scoots them around. They just like slide. They glide on the hot plate. They skate on the ice, on the hot plate until fully cooked, until golden, and I love that pass smooth at the end. He stacks them up, passes them to be served. So they're making for us, a special prata with egg inside, and they envelope it inside. They put one prata down, put an egg and chili mixture in, and then another prata on top to just fold it in there. (hot plate sizzles) (crowd chatters faintly) - Okay, so local Chabahar breakfast, prata, egg prata. We got other prata. We got fried eggs, we got chickpeas, and we got dhal, which are lentils, all freshly cooked, all hot. Looks oily and delicious. It's one of those things
that never gets old. The crispy, gooey, oiliness of it. They're so soothing. Well, well, incoming tea, okay. (laughs) And I'll dip that next into the chickpeas. (moans) Horse-shma-saz, tomato with goodness. Just wrap it in the starchy chickpeas. Is it liver? - [Hamid] It's livers, yeah. - [Mark] Yeah, awesome. (crowd chatters faintly) - Yeah, I'll take some more of the prata and dip it into the liver. (moans) - [Hamid] Oh man. - [Man] Yeah. - [Hamid] But the flavor's amazing. I like the tenderness of the tomatoes and spices, the Baluchi spices. - Okay, go for the keema next. Oh wow. Oh, the keema is the best. Oh, it's oily, like minced meat. It's wrapped up in a gravy of spices, and deliciousness, and oil. (crowd chatters faintly) (Mark moans) - Oh wow. (crowd chatters faintly) (Mark moans) (blender whirring) - So Chabahar is the one place in Iran, where mangoes grow. This region, because of
the tropical climate. And so, we're having a mango shake next to finish off breakfast. He blended it up with milk, and I believe a bunch of sugar. Wow, sweet but good. It almost has a melon flavor to it. And very creamy as well from the milk. (groovy music) Breakfast was fantastic, and there's just like
big onion everywhere, just lining the street. We're on our way to the main part of the bazaar now to walk around some more and maybe, eat some more. (groovy music) Thank you. (crowd chatters faintly) - Getting into the bazaar now. Entering into the covered
part of the bazaar, and it's just the busyness, the colors, there's everything here from clothes to cups,
to everyday essentials, to nail clippers, and food. Here's a man selling the stamps, which is very famous in Baluchestan for the different cloth patterns. The women wear beautiful clothes, with brightly colored patterns, and these stamps make those
patterns on the cloth. (sewing machine whirring) We came into an embroidery shop, where they put the stamps onto that cloth. And then, that's how they're sewing it. (groovy music) Baluchestan is known for the biryani. And so he's, Hamid opened the pot. - [Hamid] Yeah. (laughs) I felt it.
- [Mark] And it was full. And so we had to stop for
some biryani, chicken biryani. You can see the rice underneath. When he opened the pot, it's so fragrant. And then, this is like a saucy version. The chicken is very like, almost like a chicken curry on the top of the rice. - We should get those. - Oh well, we gotta eat it immediately. The sauciness of that chicken. - [Hamid] Look at that. - [Mark] It's like chicken curry, almost. - [Hamid] Yeah, it is. That looks good. (laughs) - [Mark] Yeah. (Hamid speaks in foreign language) - And best part about this biryani is it's hot and fresh. First serving of the day. I think that's the first
serving of the day, right? - Yeah. - So we got here at the right time. It smells so good. You smell the cinnamon, you smell that.
(Hamid speaks Iranian) (man speaks in foreign language) (both moans) - [Hamid] Spicy. - Yeah, it's like a, it is like chicken curry almost, with the rice.
- It is. - And very frothy. - It's exactly like curry.
- Yup. (Hamid moans) - You got the eyebrow. Got the Hamid's eyebrow, Mr. Taster's eyebrow approval. (groovy music) (man speaks in foreign language) - And some of the fruit stalls here at the market. This market is just incredible. The bazaar, the colors, the fruits and vegetables, the mix of things from Baluchestan. And something that's interesting is that guavas are called zaitun, which is the same name for olive. - As they told me, in Iran, it means olive. - [Mark] Yeah, so that's the same name for guava, right? - Yeah, for this. - [Mark] Yeah, that's interesting. - [Man] Yeah. - [Mark] Thank you very much. - There you go. (man speaks in foreign language) - Yeah. - Oh, my goodness. - Oh, the texture is amazing. - Horse-shma-saz. - Horse-shma-saz. Oh, they're just sweet
and perfectly balanced with the sourness but I love bananas. (groovy music) Step into here. This is the most famous
spice shop in Chabahar. The aroma of the spice is just, it actually goes through your nostrils, almost to the back of your throat. You smell the chili, the turmeric, the coriander, the cumin. There's dried limes, there's beans. Like the AC fumes are
just filled with spice. All of these different spices, and ingredients, and just flavorings are what go into Baluchi cuisine, and make it so good. But they, one of the main seasonings that they use is Baluchi curry powder, which is a blend, which is a mix. You can see turmeric in there. There's chili, there's
definitely coriander, and cumin, and just a blend, and he just offered us some tea. (Hamid laughs)
- He just offered us some tea. - For you.
- Thank you, thank you so much. Best aroma to smell while
drinking a cup of tea. (moans) Very good. (chatter in foreign language) - Oh man, just love
the aroma in that shop, just filling the air. I could stand in that shop all day long. Jumped into van. We are on our way next on this Chabahar tour to
the Martial Mountains, which are unique geological
mountain formations, only in Baluchestan, in Iran. And we're driving there now to see this just amazing moon-worthy site. (groovy music) Paralleling, we're driving paralleling the coast. We went from, it was quite barren but still beautiful, and now, more like shrubs. And there's a couple of camels walking across the road. (groovy music) It is otherworldly. It is straight up moonscapes or-- - [Man] Actually, these
are the sedimentary. - [Mark] Sedimentary. - Yeah, and it shows, and it is a proof that it was under the water. - [Mark] Oh okay, okay. - For millions of years. But in recent period, it got out of the water, and then, we got the area dried. And then, because of the erosion. - [Mark] Oh yeah. - And these are called
badlands in geology. - Badlands.
- Badlands, it means that nothing to grow. You see no greenery. - [Mark] Yeah, completely barren. - [Man] Yeah. - It's just a spectacularly unique, just dry, barren of sand and sediment, and there's tons of fossils
within the mountains, within the cracked mud, and cracked sand. It's a fairy-tale
landscape of jagged peaks. We're going down now to the basin in this car. Salam. - [Man] Hi there. - Yes, salam. - Salam. - [Man] Salam-wa-ji. - You could also take the camel transportation down as well. It really is Martian Moon, Mars. Mars-scapes. We're down in the basin now. And you can just see how it's just like cracked, so dry, so barren. Almost zero plants. And just like cracked, baked, it's baked. - [Man] Good morning. - [Mark] Good morning. - Good morning.
- Hello, hi there. - Hi Mark. - Oh, this is fantastic. We're driving around on Mars. (car door thudding) (footsteps clocking) This landscape is amazing. Just straight up like a baked Mars. And here's one of the
rock formations, up close. We can actually feel what it is. Really, it's just like, it feels like a combination
of mud and sand. Just layers upon layers, the sediment. It's so fragile too. - Yeah.
- It's like so crumbly. - You see the plateau here. Would be full of mountains. The height of these
mountains would be higher. These small hills here will get higher. - [Mark] Continuing to just build up. - Yeah, of course.
- It's continuing to build up, build up, build up.
- Yeah. We are getting the Saudi Arabian plateau under the Iranian plateau. So it would be a lot of pressure. And in the future, we would have-- - [Mark] It's pushing. - Yeah, pushing up and pushing up. And we would have lots of mountains in Iranian soil. - Wow, so this whole landscape, this whole place is
just a geological dream. (cultural instrumental music) - Absolutely stunning, the more you look, the more you see, and you can see, you can actually see rocks and sediments forming. And you can see the different layers, the different almost like lines of things coming together. We're gonna move on and continue driving. (groovy music) - [Man] Can stop. Can you please? (jazzy music) - We've come across a
little pool of water. Looks like rain water that just collected here. And again, it's just
gonna dry out completely, and bake, and like turn crusty. (jazzy music) And again, this section is so unique. It look like, it look like it just rained or hailed down stones 'cause covering the top, it's like a snowcap of just hard rock, totally different to have the rock than the white mud, which is covering the peaks here. Looks like it just hailed down. I am king. (laughs) - [Man] Where have you seen that? (groovy music) - Yeah! Yeah. (chatter in foreign language) - I fell asleep actually the entire drive back. But stepped out of the van, immediate aroma of kebabs, grilling over a hot flame. I've never been so happy to see another kebab. He has such a unique way of grilling the kebabs. He kinda like fans them over the flame, dripping the juices,
letting the flame rise, and then, catching that
flame in the kebab, and really like rhythmically. But it only takes like literally like two minutes for the kebabs to finish grilling, on such a hot fire, with a leaf-blower, fanning the flame. (engine whirring) (crowd chatter faintly) - Nice.
(Hamid laughs) Salam Chabahar. - [Man] Got some ulam here. - [Man] We want more. - He's brought us up the like garnishing plates. I love how they serve your whole sour orange, lemon, onions, mix of herbs, and that's the yogurt cucumber mix? - [Hamid] It's mas-to-khiar. - Mas-to-khiar? - Yeah, it's cucumber, garlic, and yogurt. - Nice, and it's like the most cooling, refreshing dip that can
be used on many things. And I love how this restaurant is just completely family-run. It's every, his mom, his dad. The son is now like managing but it's a completely family-run business. Oh nice, that's the way, okay. Bread. - [Hamid] Yeah. - [Mark] Some of the mas-to yogurt. - [Hamid] Mas-to-khiar. - [Mark] Mas-to-khiar. - Yeah.
- And there's some springs of like green onion, and parsley, and things, wow.
- Yeah. (crowd chatter faintly) (Mark moans) (Hamid speaks in foreign language) Means koobideh and fish. - Koobideh and fish. - Koobideh and fish. - Yeah. (men laugh) - You like it? - [Mark] Yeah, great. (chatters in foreign language) - [Hamid] Oh yes, big devil on the plate. - [Man] Yeah. - I got the fish and koobideh. Koobideh is the minced
kebab plate with rice. I think Iran is the only
country in the world where I will add butter to my rice. Oh and sumac too? Okay. (chatters in foreign language) - Butter and sumac on the rice. Mix that into the hot rice. Add on a little more sumac. Again, sour orange on the koobideh. Have to begin with that one, it's hot and fresh. (moans) Oh wow. - Two day, we have koobideh. - Just been too long without koobideh. Like two days, I think, right? (Hamid groans) We cannot survive for too many days without eating kebab koobideh. And always chase it with onion. (munching) Oh, it's superb. Okay, I'm gonna try to finish this. Oh, look at how meaty that is. Oh, that's just a whole fish steak. Smells extremely fresh, and we are right along
the ocean coast stall. Squeeze this little
bit of lemon this time. (chatter in foreign in language) - [Man] It's very good. (Mark moans) - [Mark] That's just a
solid meaty piece of fish. - [Hamid] It's lionfish. - [Mark] It's lionfish? - [Hamid] Yeah. - [Man] Oh yeah. - [Hamid] They're not a
secret at all, beautiful. (chatter in foreign language) (groovy music) - You can just cap it. Cap it with an onion. Okay, that is a perfect bite. (moans) Wow, that is solid good home-cooking. That is what I'm looking for. At the end of your meal, it's common to take your spoon and squeeze in the sour orange. A little bit of sprinkle of salt. (groans) Oh, that's good. (moans) Sour, salty. (Hamid and Mark laugh) That washes it all down. - Yeah.
- That helps aids in the digestion. But it also tastes so good and just like clears the mouth. (groovy music) (groans) That completes my meal. (speaks in foreign language) Thank you. (smooches) Amazing, thank you. Salam, salam, salam. (Hamid speaks in foreign language) - Salam, what was it? (chatter in foreign language) - Assalamualaikum. - Salam, awesome, so we are getting started this evening at a stall. He has a huge pot. I can already smell the spices. (chatter in foreign language) - [Hamid] Indian haleem. (stall owner speaks in foreign language) - They call it's Indian, Indian haleem. But it's good for me because I've got cold, so.
- Yes. - [Mark] Oh well, chili is in it, yes. - [Hamid] Oh my God. (laughs) - [Mark] Yes. (chatter in foreign language) - [Hamid] Lemon. - Indian style haleem, which is, it is made with wheat? This one is made with wheat and like? (stall owner speaks in foreign language) - [Hamid] Yeah, wheat. - Wheat and maybe some-- - [Hamid] And lentil. - Lentil, wheat and lentils. (stall owner speaks in foreign language) - [Hamid] Would you like
to have it like hot now? - [Mark] It's very hot, yeah. Very hot, very spicy.
- Normal? - Very spicy.
- Very spicy? - [Mark] Very spicy, yes. (Hamid laughs) All the green chilies, yes. - Okay. - [Mark] Green chili, yes, yes, yes. (laughs) (chatter in foreign language) - [Mark] Okay, yes. (chatter in foreign language) (Hamid laughs) - [Mark] Thank you. - [Stall Owner] You are welcome. Go for it. - Oh, this smells so good.
(Hamid laughs) It smells so good. - [Stall Owner] Please don't lose that. (chatter in foreign language) (moans) - Wow. - It's so hot. (laughs) - Okay?
- Awesome. Oh, it's so good. Yeah, like pasty, sticky texture. I love the combination
of the green chilies, the crispy onions, the coriander, and the lemon juice. - It's so hot. - It's so good. (chatter in foreign language) - Those toppings are
what make it fantastic. All about those toppings. - Yeah, especially the chili. - The chili and the fried onions. - Yeah. - Oh, it's amazing, yeah. I like the chilies and the onions. - Yeah, you came from which country? - From Thailand. - Thailand huh?
- Yes, yes. - Very nice. - Yes, from Thailand. (chatter in foreign language) - One small one? - [Mark] That's so good, I need seconds. (groovy music) Okay, very good. Extra chilies. - [Stall Owner] Extra chili? - Extra chilies please. - [Hamid] Wow! (chatter in foreign language) - [Stall Owner] Okay? - [Mark] Okay, thank you. Yeah, I love chilies. My favorite food is chilies. (laughs) - [Stall Owner] Lemon juice? - Yes, please. Oh, that topping is so good. Thank you. It's so good, I could not stop at one. And really, it's all about those toppings. With chilies and the fried onions. The coriander and the
lemon juice in there. That's what makes it just spectacular. Awesome, it's so good. Thank you. - You are welcome. It's my pleasure. (chatter in foreign language) - [Hamid] Yeah, you? - Okay, the greatest porridge ever. Okay, that's one dish that you cannot stop at just one bowl. And then again, those toppings are just what blow your taste buds away. The onions, the coriander, the green chilies, and the lemon juice. (chatter in foreign language) - [Mark] So he said that in Farsi, right? - [Hamid] Farsi, yeah. - [Mark] He said if it's
not spicy, not eating. - [Hamid] Yeah. (laughs) - [Mark] That's awesome. - Nice to meet you.
- [Mark] Nice to meet you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
- Sure, it was nice. - Our next step right on
the corner of the street, we're stopping in literally, it's just like a hundred
meters down the road from where we ate the haleem is a man, you can smell the smoke from the grill, from the meat. You know he's grilling something. And there's guys sitting around. There's a couple of tables out. The smoke is coming from the grill. Oh, I can't wait to eat. You know it's what's next. (motorcycle whirring) (grill sizzling) (chatter in foreign language) - [Hamid] So it was kebab he-za-gi before. It means 1,000 tomans. - [Mark] He-za-ri means 1,000 tomans. - [Hamid] Yeah, 1,000 tomans. - [Mark] Okay. - But the price increased. So they changed it to two he-za-gi. - Which means 2,000. - 2,000. - 2,000 tomans per skewer. - And now, it's 2,500. But it's still two he-za-gi. Maybe they change it later to three, yes.
- To three. These are 2,500 tomans. - Yeah, yeah.
- Kebabs. And it looks like chicken.
- [Hamid] This one is chicken. - [Mark] Chicken, it looks like chicken. Okay, chicken and you can just-- (chatter in foreign language) - Oh man, the spices that like yell, the spices are just caked up on it. - [Hamid] It's Baluchi spice. - [Mark] Oh, that mix
of spices is probably. (chatter in foreign language) - They take the kebab. He puts it into bread with a little bit of cabbage, I believe, and a little bit of sauce, and then rolls it up. So that's how it's easier to eat. That's how you can eat it standing up. You can eat it on the go. Or standing around the grill. It's amazing.
(Hamid laughs) All right. - Ready? (Mark and Hamid moan) - Oh yeah. Oh, it's wonderful. - It's the spices, isn't it? - Yeah, the spices, and like the citrusy-ness of it. It's the lemon or the lime. - Yeah, and the Baluchi spice as well. - The mixture of spices. The turmeric in there. And then, we look at
that crunch of cabbage. - The spices on that chicken, and they're just like the fresh charcoal roast. You taste that charcoal. You taste that flame in every bite. But I really wanna try one of those skewers on
its own with no bread. Merci. (chatter in foreign language) (Mark moans) - Oh wow.
(Hamid laughs) Oh, that's when you
taste the real chicken, only the chicken. - Whoa. - Oh, it's hot, yeah. Don't put your lips on that skewer. It'll burn your lips. Oh, but that's so good. And again, just down the street from where we were before. There's another stall, where they're grilling up kebabs, grilling up, I think mostly chicken. And that grill is impressive. It has an entire like roof structure and chimney system for
the outside street stall. Okay, so actually what we're gonna be eating here is all grilled chickens. And they're already marinated. You can see the thick spice blend. He's putting them into the grill grate. And that's gonna roast over hot charcoal. Already, even before they start grilling, it smells good. (chatter in foreign language) (groovy music) - It's like half a chicken. Off the grill, they take
it out of the grate, they take it out of the grill onto a piece of bread.
I mean he picks it up using a piece of bread. Then serve with a green chili and a slice of lemon. And you could just smell that spice on the chicken. - [Man] Yes. - Awesome. (chatter in foreign language) - Yes, and my favorite method of sitting. These elevated entire like bench tables. And this one is just on
the side of the road. The fresh breeze of Chabahar. And they're putting out
a plastic tablecloth, and they also brought us out some plates of tomato, cabbage, onion, and then some extra bread, and then also some of the doogh. - Yeah, doogh. - Which is the yogurt, yogurt beverage. Which pairs perfectly
with anything grilled. But we gotta start with
that grilled chicken. - [Hamid] Yeah. (Mark laughs) Just like that. - So freshly grilled. So oh, so juicy. And that marinate. Just the drumstick first. Oh, it just falls off the bone actually. (Mark and Hamid moans) Oh, it's amazing. Just that spice blend. The turmeric in there. The saltiness and kind of like an acidity. - Yeah.
- The way they marinate it actually all goes all the way to the bone. - [Hamid] Yeah. - [Mark] It goes all the way to the bone. - And you can feel
Baluchi spice everywhere. - Exactly, and then I think you can garnish with like the lemon. You can garnish with other, with the chili, you can eat it with bread. Actually with bread, it
will be perfect as well. I'm gonna add this whole piece of chicken. Thank you. Oh tomatoes, chicken. (man speaks in foreign language) - [Mark] Oh yes, thank you, Hamid. Oh, that's a long one. Yes, oh that's beautiful.
- Squeeze it out. - Full of chicken, lemon juice, the whole chili, and the whole tomatoes, and onions in there. What a beautiful wrap-up. That is spectacular. Chili, chili forward. To make the first bite count. (moans) With the green chili, it's incredible. The juiciness of the tomato. (groovy music) Yeah, that's what you wanna be eating late at night in Chabahar. And then, the doogh to chase it all down. (man speaks in foreign language) - Okay.
(groovy music) (men laugh) The milk mustache. The chicken, the mix of
different vegetables, the onions, the chilies. And then just sitting out here on the sidewalk, on the elevated platform, bench slash table, perfect. Next up on this food tour of Chabahar. - We're going to Pla-ro-san Restaurant, which is they got kalle. Kalle is really famous stew in this area. - [Mark] Awesome. - Let's go. - [Mark] Salam. - Salam. - That's Farid, same as mine. - Wow, restaurant is huge and set up like an entire roundabout. There's an entire roundabout of food here. (groovy music) And just this entire
floor space, it's huge. Like you could have a party of like 200 sitting around in here on carpets, on pads, on the sofa seating. (Hamid and Mark laugh) Yes. (fire sizzles) Okay. We are here to eat a number
of different curries, cooked in a rounded skillet pan, which is called the karahi or karehi. And oh man, he's adding
in the ingredients, the spices, the aroma, the blend, which the owner mix
himself his own spices. So we got the white curry, we got the chicken karahi, and also the shahi keema, which is chicken, it's chicken right? The shahi keema. That's what I gotta try first. Look at that color, look at that spice, and coriander on top. - [Man] Yes. (Mark moans) - Oh, that's hot. Oh yeah, that's different. That's different from what I've had before because of the pal-me-ry paste. They're like sweet and
sour flavor immediately, and then a little spice, and then just like wrapped up. Oh, it's so good. Okay, this one is white karahi. This is like so flavorful. Yeah, next up for the chicken karahi. Break off a piece of that chicken. The mellow spice is just
all mingled together. All three totally different tastes. All three delicious. - How is the feeling eating without me? (laughs) - It's not the same. It's not the same. You need to take a bite now. (Hamid laughs)
Immediately. - On food? (laughs) (groovy music) (man speaks in foreign language) - [Man] Is it ghee? - [Man] Yes. - [Hamid] It's natural. (man speaks in foreign language) - Natural.
- Let me have this. That's ghee. - [Man] Yes? - That's ghee. - [Mark] Oh yes. - Yeah.
- Very good ghee. - Very good ghee. (men laugh) Ah, okay. Okay, next up,
(oil sizzles) he is frying some fish. This is a special type of fish that comes to Chabahar Bay, only during this season. It's rare, it's hard
to find, it's seasonal. So we have a special
opportunity to try it. The fish is marinated in this like red, like heavy marination, and deep-frying right now. (oil sizzles) All right, this is the fried fish. (crunches) (laughs) Oh yeah, that's hot. Very tasty. (wok sizzles) (chatter in foreign language) - Next dish is beef chili dry. He added in some sauces. He added in some chilies, fried that beef down, simmered it, and then eat it with rice. And that's gonna be flaming hot again. (groovy music) (moans) It's pretty tasty. - Just ate that. (men laugh) (chatter in foreign language) (Mark moans) - That's gonna complete
this tour of Chabahar, this food tour. Chabahar moves at a little
bit of a slower pace. It's so relaxing. People are so incredibly hospitable. And I fully enjoyed Chabahar, and I wanna say a big thank you to both Dor Baluch, the eco lodge, where we stayed as well as Salam Chabahar, the amazing agency, who planned our trip to Chabahar, and who organized it. For hosting us in Chabahar, and then to Ghasr Setareh for arranging our entire trip to Iran, and to Mr. Taster, for also arranging, and to Alijan, and I'll have all the information in
the description box. But everyone who helped out, I am extremely grateful. And Chabahar is just
such a beautiful place. I fully, fully loved it. And so that's gonna be it for this video. Thanks again for watching. And please remember to give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it. If you haven't watch all the videos in this Iran Food and Travel series, I'll have a link in the description box. You can check out all the amazing food. And thanks again for watching. I will see you on the next video.
Watched an earlier video of this guy in Iran and couldn't stand his reactions to eating food
Also, was curious as to why he was given that gift of the portrait?
As an ignorant Englishman, if anyone could answer it would be much appreciated.
When he got the picture, the guy was like ‘thank you for what you’ve done’, I couldn’t find anything online specifically addressing this. Is he referring to some sort of positive publicity of Iran? Or something else?