A few years ago, I found out that I was one of the growing number of people with food sensitivities including wheat intolerance. I learned that industrial-milled mass-produced wheat had been linked to chronic digestive and inflammatory illnesses in many people like me.
But since I still craved the taste and texture of foods made with wheat, I decided to take a chance and try the Baltistani version of donuts called “arzuq” during my trip to the northern part of Pakistan last summer. Locals told me they were made from organic wheat grown in the valleys of the Karakoram Mountains.
To my surprise and delight, I was able to eat the deliciously rich, lightly sweet, flaky pastries in arguably one of the most scenic places in the world, without the usual side effects of stomach cramps and nausea.
