Pakistan Cuisine

Pakistan Cuisine

Pakistani cuisine is a refined blend of various regional cooking traditions of South Asia. Pakistani cuisine is known for its richness and flavor.
Within Pakistan, cuisine varies greatly from region to region, reflecting the country's ethnic and cultural diversity. Food from the eastern provinces of Punjab and Sindh and Mughlai cuisine are similar to the cuisines of Northern India and can be highly seasoned and spicy, which is characteristic of the flavors of the South Asian region. Food in other parts of Pakistan, particularly Baluchistan, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, involves the use of mild aromatic spices and less oil, characterizing affinities to the cuisines of neighboring Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia.
International cuisine and fast food are popular in the cities. Blending local and foreign recipes (fusion food) such as Pakistani Chinese cuisine is common in large urban centers. Furthermore, as a result of lifestyle changes, readymade masala (mixed and ready to use spices) are becoming increasingly popular. However, given the diversity of the people of Pakistan, cuisines generally differ from home to home and may be totally different from the mainstream Pakistani cuisine.

Regional cuisines

Baluchistan

Kashmir

Wazwan is a dish in Kashmiri cuisine

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA

Main article: Pashtun cuisine

Pashtun cuisine is very similar to Persian cuisine, Afghan cuisine and Central Asian cuisines. Rice dishes and kebabs feature prominently in Pashtun cuisine. Lamb meat is more often eaten in the Pashtun cuisine then other Pakistani cuisines. The Pashtun cuisine and the Balochi cuisine are traditionally non-spicy.

Muhajir

Main article: Muhajir cuisine

Muhajir cuisine refers to the food of the Muhajir people who migrated to Pakistan from other areas of the Indian subcontinent. Muhajir cuisine is an amalgamation of several regional Indian cuisines, such as Hyderabadi cuisine, Bihari cuisine, Gujarati cuisine, Rajasthani cuisine, and the cuisine of Uttar Pradesh - reflecting the diversity of different Muhajir immigrants and the tastes they brought.

Punjab

Main article: Punjabi cuisine

The Punjabi cuisine mostly refers to mughlai and lahori cuisine. Usually it contains spicy dishes full of aroma. The Mughalai cuisine represents royalty of the old Mughal kings, their life style and their taste. Lahori cuisines are mostly spicy dishes, which are full of taste. These dishes like nehari, paye, raan, karahi and others which have gravy are eaten with kulchay, roti, Nan, khameri roti, tandoori roti or pathani roti. In most of the Punjabi cuisines onions garlic as well as ginger are used which gives a very nice aroma and taste to the dish.

Sindh

Eating Habits

A Punjabi/Sindhi style wooden woven plate for chapati (flat bread)

Pakistanis generally eat three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. During the evening, many families have tea without sugar which goes along with baked/fried snacks from local bakery (or prepared at home). During the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the eating patterns change to: Sheri and iftar. It is considered proper to eat only with the right hand as per Islamic tradition (also a tradition in many other Asian cultures). Many Pakistani families, particularly when guests are too many to fit at a table, eat sitting at a cloth known as Dastarkhān which is spread out on the floor. In NWFP, many street eateries serve food on a takht, in a style similar to Iran & Afghanistan. A takht is raised platform on which people eat their food sitting cross-legged, after taking their shoes off. Most Pakistanis used to eat on a takht. Pakistanis often eat with their hands, scooping up solid food along with sauce with a piece of the baked bread, naan, or rice.

Breakfast

A typical Pakistani breakfast, locally called nāshtā (ناشتہ), consists of eggs (boiled/scrambled/fried/omelette), a slice of loaf bread or roti, parathas, sheermal with tea or lassi, kulcha with chole, qeema (minced meat), fresh seasonal fruits (mangoes, apples, melons, bananas etc.), milk, honey, butter, jam, shami kebab, and/or nuts. Sometimes breakfast includes baked goods like bakarkhani and rusks. During holidays and weekends, halwa poori and chick peas are sometimes eaten. In Punjab, sarson ka saag (mustard leaves) and maakai ki roti (cornbread) is a local favourite. Punjabi people also enjoy khatchauri, a savory pastry filled with cheese. Pakistan is quite atypical in the sense that meat dishes are eaten as breakfast especially on holidays. A traditional Sunday breakfast might be Siri-Payay (the head and feet of lamb or cow) or Nihari (a dish which is cooked overnight to get the meat extremely tender. The name "Nihari" comes from the Persian word "Nihar" meaning "Day" or "Day break".).Many people used to take "Bong" (Shank curry) in their Sunday brunch. This breakfast is typically accompanied by a sweet or sour yougurt drink called "Laasi" which is made by adding milk and water to yogurt.

A variety of Pakistani dinner cuisines – Starting from the left: gobi aloo, seekh kebab, and beef karahi

Lunch

A typical Pakistani lunch consists of meat curry or rotis along with rice. Baal chawal are also among the most commonly taken meal. Breads such as roti or naan are usually served for dinner but have become common during the day so that rice maybe served for dinner. Popular lunch dishes may include aloo gosht (meat and potato curry) or any vegetable with mutton. Chicken dishes like chicken karahi and chicken korma are also popular. Alternatively, roadside food stalls often sell just lentils and tandoori roti, or masala stews with chapatis. People who live near the main rivers also eat fish for lunch, which is sometimes cooked in the tandoori style.

Dinner

Dinner is considered the main meal of the day as the whole family gathers for the occasion. Food which requires more preparation and which is more savory (such as nihaari, pulao, kofte, kebabs, qeema, korma) are prepared. Lentils are also a dinnertime staple. These are served with roti or naan along with yogurt, pickle and salad. The dinner may sometimes be followed by fresh fruit, or on festive occasions, traditional desserts like kheer, gulab jamun, shah i tukray, gajraila, qulfi or ras malai.

Snacks and Fast Foods

Main articles: Pakistani snack foods and Pakistani fast food

Pakistani snacks comprise food items in Pakistan that are quick to prepare, spicy, usually fried, and eaten in the evening or morning with tea or with any one of the meals as a side-dish. A given snack may be part of a local culture, and its preparation and/or popularity can vary from place to place. These snacks are often prepared and sold by hawkers on footpaths, railway stations and other such places, although they may also be served at restaurants. Some typical snacks are dahi bhala, chaat, chana masala, pakora, and papar. Others include katchauri, pakoras-either neem pakoras or besan (chickpea) pakoras,gol gappay, samosas—vegetable or beef, bhail puri or daal seu and egg rolls. Nuts, such as pistachios and pine nuts, are also often eaten at home.

Main course

In Pakistan, main courses are usually served with wheat bread (either roti or naan), or rice. Salad is generally taken as a side dish with the main course, rather than as an appetizer beforehand. Assorted fresh fruit or sometimes desserts are consumed at the end of a meal. Meat plays a much more dominant role in Pakistani food, compared to other South Asian cuisines. According to a 2003 report, an average Pakistani consumed three times more meat than an average Indian. Of all the meats, the most popular are goat or mutton, beef and chicken and is particularly sought after as the meat of choice for kebab dishes or the classic beef shank dish nihari. Seafood is generally not consumed in large amounts, though it is very popular in the coastal areas of Sindh and the Makran coast of Baluchistan.

Curries, with or without meat, combined with local vegetables such as bitter gourd, cauliflower, eggplant, okra, cabbage, potatoes, rutabaga, saag, and peppers are most common and cooked for everyday consumption. A typical example is aloo gosht or literally "potatoes and meat", a homestyle recipe consisting of a spiced meat and potato stew, and is ubiquitously prepared in many households. Korma is a classic dish of Mughlai origin made of either chicken or mutton, typically eaten with nan or bread and is very popular in Pakistan.

Vegetable and legume dishes

Main articles: Pakistani vegetable dishes and Pakistani legume dishes

The vegetable and legume dishes are popular in Pakistan. The dishes such as: Baingan bartha and Sarson da saag are eaten in most homes.

Meat dishes

A variety of dishes cooked under the barbecue method

Meat plays a much more dominant role in Pakistani and Afghan cuisine compared to the other South Asian cuisines. The meat dishes in Pakistan include: bovine, ovine, poultry and seafood dishes. The meat is usually cut in 3 cm cubes and cooked as stew. The minced meat is used for Kebabs, Qeema and other meat dishes. The meat dishes are also cooked with pulses, legumes and rice.

Barbecue and kebabs

Seekh kebab – one of the famous Pakistani food specialties

Meat and grilled meat has played an important part in Pakistan region for centuries. Kebabs are a staple item in Pakistani cuisine today, and one can find countless varieties of kebabs all over the country. Each region has its own varieties of kebabs but some like the Seekh kebab, Chicken Tikka, and Shami kebab are especially popular varieties throughout the country.

Pulses

Main article: Pakistani lentil dishes

Various kinds of pulses, or legumes, make up an important part of the Pakistani dishes. While lentils (called daal), and chick peas (called Channa) are popular ingredients in homestyle cooking, they are traditionally considered to be an inexpensive food sources. Because of this reason, they are typically not served to guests who are invited for dinner or during special occasions. Combining meat with lentils and pulses, whether in simple preparations or in elaborate dishes such as haleem, is also a distinctively Pakistani touch not commonly seen in neighboring India where a substantial number of its population are vegetarians.

Beans such as black-eyed beans (lobia) and kidney beans (rajma) are sometimes served in a tomato based masala sauce, especially in Punjab.

Rice dishes

Sindhi biryani

Pakistan is a major exporter and consumer of rice. Basmati is the most popular type of rice consumed in Pakistan.

Dishes made with rice include many varieties of pulao:

• Murgh pulao - Chicken and stock added. Creates a brown rice.
• Yakhni pulao - Meat and stock added. Creates a brown rice.
• Matar pulao - Pulao made with peas.
• Maash pulao - A sweet and sour pulao baked with mung beans, apricots and bulghur (a kind of roughly milled cracked wheat). Exclusively vegetarian.

Biryani is a very popular dish in Pakistan and has many varieties such as Lahori and Sindhi biryani. Tahiri, which is also a form of vegetarian biryani, is also popular. All of the main dishes (except those made with rice) are eaten alongside bread. To eat, a small fragment of bread is torn off with the right hand and used to scoop and hold small portions of the main dish. Pickles made out of mangoes, carrots, lemon, etc. are also commonly used to further spice up the food.

In the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, feasts using mountains of spiced rice combined with pieces of slowly roasted lamb are often served for guests of honour. These kind of pulaos often contain dried fruit, nuts, and whole spices such as cloves, saffron and cardamom. Such rice dishes have their origins in Central Asia and the Middle East.

Varieties of bread

Peshwari naans freshly made in the tandoor (open oven)

Pakistanis eat breads made of wheat flour as a staple part of their daily diet. Pakistan has a wide variety of breads, often prepared in a traditional clay oven called a tandoor. The tandoori style of cooking is common throughout rural and urban Pakistan and has strong roots in neighboring Iran and Afghanistan as well. Some of these are:

• Chapati - Most common bread made in urban homes where a tandoor is not available. Chapatis are cooked over a flat or slightly convex dark colored pan known as 'tava'. Chapatis are made of whole wheat flour and are thin and unleavened. Tortillas are probably the most common analogous to chapatis, though chapatis are slightly thick. A variant, known as 'romali roti' (lit: handkerchief bread) is very thin and very large in size.
• Roti - These are extremely popular all over Pakistan. Tandoori rotis are baked in a clay oven called tandoor and are consumed with just about anything. In rural Pakistan, many houses have their own tandoors while the ones without use a communal one. In urban Pakistan, bread shops or "nanbai"/"tandoor" shops are fairly common and supply fresh, tandoor baked breads to household customers as well.
• Paratha - A flat, layered bread made with ghee and generally cooked on a 'tava'. However, a 'tandoor' based version is also common in rural areas. Parathas are very similar to pastry dough. Parathas most likely originated in the Punjab where a heavy breakfast of parathas with freshly churned butter and buttermilk was commonly used by the farmers to prepare themselves for the hard day of work ahead. However, parathas are now a common breakfast element across the country. Along with the plain layered version, many stuffed versions such as 'Aloo ka Paratha' (Potato Stuffed Parathas), 'Mooli ka Paratha' (Radish stuffed parathas) and 'Qeemah stuffed paratha' (Ground meat stuffed paratha) are popular.
• Naan - In Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, the word Naan means bread. Unlike chapatis, naans are slightly thicker, typically leavened with yeast and mainly made with white flour. Some varieties like the Roghani and Peshwari may also be sprinkled with sesame seeds. Naans are seldom, if ever, made at home since they require tandoor based cooking and require prep work. Numerous varieties of plain as well as stuffed naans are available throughout Pakistan and each region or city can have their own specialty. Naan is a versatile bread and is eaten with almost anything. For instance, 'sad naan' or 'plain naan' are often served with Sri-Paya (Cow's head and totters) or Nihari (slow cooked beef stew) for breakfast in many parts of the country.
• Kulcha - This is a type of naan usually eaten with chickpeas and potatoes and mostly popular in urban centers of Punjab.
• Roghani Naan - (lit. Buttered Naan) It is a preferred variety of Naan sprinkled with white sesame seeds and cooked with a small amount of oil.
• Sheer-maal - It is a festive bread prepared with milk ('sheer') and butter with added candied fruits. Sheermal is often a vital part of food served in marriages, along with taftan. It is often sweetened.
• Taftan - This is a leavened flour bread with saffron and small amount of cardamom powder baked in a tandoor. The Taftan made in Pakistan is slightly sweeter and richer than the one made in neighboring Iran.
• Kandahari Naan - Long, salty naan originating in Western Pakistan and commonly eaten with Peshawari Karahi or Chapli Kebab.
• Puri - This is a breakfast bread made of white flour and fried. Typically eaten with sweet semolina halwa and/or gravy (made out of chickpeas and potatoes). Puri is a fairly urban concept in Pakistan and puris are not part of rural cuisine anywhere in Pakistan. However, Halwa Puri has now become a favored weekend or holiday breakfast in urban Pakistan where it is sometimes sold in shift carts or in specialty breakfast shops.
• Sheermal

Desserts

Gulab jamun

Popular desserts include Peshawari ice cream, sheer khurma, kulfi, falooda, kheer, rasmalai, phirni, zarda, shahi tukray and rabri. Sweetmeats are consumed on various festive occasions in Pakistan. Some of the most popular are gulab jamun, barfi, ras malai, kalakand, jalebi, and panjiri. Pakistani desserts also include a long list of halvah such as multani, sohan halvah, and hubshee halvah.

Kheer made of roasted seviyaan (vermicelli) instead of rice is popular during Eid UL-Fitr. Gajraila is a sweet made from grated carrots, boiled in milk, sugar, green cardamom, and topped with nuts and dried fruit. It is popular in Pakistan, as well as in other parts of South Asia including Afghanistan.

Tea varieties

Main article: Pakistani tea culture

Pakistanis drink a great deal of tea, which is locally called "chai." Both black with milk and green teas are popular and are popular in different parts of Pakistan.

• Doodh Pati Chai is made by cooking tea leaves with milk and sugar and sometimes cardamom for fragrance . Extremely sweet, this is a local variation of a builder's tea.

• "Sabz chai" and "kahwah", respectively. Kahwah is often served after every meal in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Pushtu belt of Baluchistan and with saffron and nuts in Kashmir.

• Sulaimani chai is black tea served with lemon.

• Kashmiri chai or "noon chai", a pink, milky tea with pistachios and cardamom, is consumed primarily at special occasions, weddings, and during the winter when it is sold in many kiosks.

• In northern Pakistan (Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan), salty buttered Tibetan style tea is consumed.  Beverages

A bottle of Pakistani Rooh Afza

Besides tea, there are other drinks that may be included as part of the Pakistani cuisine. All of them are non-alcoholic as the consumption of alcohol is prohibited by Islam. During the 20th century, drinks such as coffee and soft drinks have also become popular in Pakistan. It is very common to have soft drinks nowadays with Pakistani meals.

• Lassi - Milk with yoghurt, with an either sweet or salty taste
• Gola ganda - Different types of flavors over crushed ice
• Sugarcane juice (Ganney ka ras)
• Lemonade (Nimbu pani)
• Sherbet (A syrup mixed in water)
• Sikanjabeen - Lemonade (Mint is also added)
• Almond sherbet
• Sherbet-e-Sandal - Drink made with the essence of sandal wood
• Kashmiri chai/Gulabi chai - a milky tea known for its pink colour, with an either sweet or salty taste
• Qehwa - Green tea with cardamom
• Sathu - Famous drink from Punjab
• Thaadal - A sweet drink from Sindh
• Sardai - Mixture of different nuts and kishmish.

Foreign influences

Pakistani dishes are also taking a lead in the western direction, as many Pakistanis are trying out new and modern foods. Many westernized restaurants and fast food outlets are dotted in all parts of Pakistan. The Punjab and Sindh provinces, where the majority of urban, western culture has been greatly advanced and has chains of many American, European and British chains in many metropolitan cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Hyderabad, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Multan, Rawalpindi, and many others. Marketing and advertisements have made these a haven for social and modern spots for all Pakistanis to try out.

Outside Pakistan, Pakistani cuisine is prevalent in countries which have large Pakistani communities. The Balti curry is a British dish that is claimed to have origins in the Kashmir region of Pakistan.