Local Dishes

1. بریانی

   biryānī

   Biryani (spiced layered rice)

   Usage

   Rice layered with spices and meat or vegetables — the dish you can find at almost any eatery. Regional styles differ, for example Sindhi and Hyderabadi biryani

2. پلاؤ

   pulāo

   Pulao (pilaf)

   Usage

   Milder and paler than biryani — rice cooked in meat stock rather than layered with masala. At Peshawari and Afghan places ask for qabuli pulao, topped with raisins and carrot

3. نہاری

   nihārī

   Nihari (slow-cooked shank stew)

   Usage

   A rich meat stew simmered overnight and eaten with naan. The name comes from Arabic nahār, "early morning" — it is a breakfast dish, and the specialist shops open early

4. حلیم

   halīm

   Haleem (wheat-and-meat porridge)

   Usage

   Wheat, lentils and meat pounded for hours into a paste. The Arabic root means "soft". Especially eaten to break the fast in Ramadan

5. پایا

   pāya

   Paya (trotter stew)

   Usage

   Paya means "legs" — the trotters of cow, buffalo, goat or sheep, stewed. ⚠ Shop signs usually show the plural form سری پائے (siri paye, "head and trotters")

6. سجی

   sajjī

   Sajji (Balochi roast lamb)

   Usage

   The signature dish of Balochistan: lamb or goat rubbed with salt and roasted. Barely spiced, so a good choice if you cannot take chilli. Served with kaak, the stone-baked bread

7. کڑاہی

   kaṛāhī

   Karahi (wok-cooked curry)

   Usage

   Strictly the name of the wok-shaped iron pan, and by extension what is cooked in it: meat seared with tomato and green chilli. The chicken version is chicken karahi

8. قورمہ

   qorma

   Qorma (yoghurt-based curry)

   Usage

   A soupy Mughal-style curry built on yoghurt and fried onion — a fixture at weddings. English menus usually spell it korma

9. آلو گوشت

   ālū gosht

   Aloo gosht (meat and potato curry)

   Usage

   The archetypal home-cooked curry, and a common daily special. گوشت is meat in general — mutton, goat or beef depending on the shop. Ask "kaunsa gosht?" to find out which

10. سیخ کباب

    sīkh kabāb

    Seekh kebab (skewered minced meat)

    Usage

    Minced meat moulded onto a metal skewer and grilled over charcoal. سیخ is the word for the skewer itself. Comes with naan, raw onion and mint chutney

11. چپلی کباب

    chaplī kabāb

    Chapli kebab (flat Peshawari patty)

    Usage

    The signature kebab of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: minced meat with tomato, pomegranate seed and coriander, flattened into a disc and fried.

12. شامی کباب

    shāmī kabāb

    Shami kebab (minced meat and lentil patty)

    Usage

    Minced meat ground together with split chickpeas, shaped into small discs, dipped in egg and pan-fried. Milder than the skewered seekh kebab

13. بن کباب

    bun kabāb

    Bun kebab (Karachi street burger)

    Usage

    A patty in a bread roll. A local-style burger, cheap and tasty. A Karachi speciality

14. تکہ

    tikka

    Tikka (charcoal-grilled meat pieces)

    Usage

    Marinated chunks of meat grilled over charcoal. The chicken version is murgh tikka. Whole birds baked in the tandoor are tandoori chicken, a different dish

15. کٹاکٹ

    kaṭākaṭ

    Katakat (griddled offal)

    Usage

    A Karachi dish. The contents are testicles, brain, kidney, heart, liver and tongue, cooked in butter on a flat griddle. ⚠ Avoid if you do not eat offal. The name is the sound of the cleavers on the griddle

16. سرسوں کا ساگ

    sarson kā sāg

    Sarson ka saag (stewed mustard greens)

    Usage

    A Punjabi winter dish: mustard greens stewed down and mashed, eaten with makai ki roti, the maize-flour flatbread. Meat-free

17. دال

    dāl

    Daal (lentil stew)

    Usage

    The word covers both the pulse itself and the stew made from it. The most reliable thing to ask for when you want a meat-free plate. Order it with roti or rice

18. نان

    nān

    Naan (tandoor-baked bread)

    Usage

    Leavened bread slapped onto the wall of the tandoor. Eaten with kebabs and nihari. ⚠ The thin unleavened griddle bread is روٹی (roti) — a different, cheaper item

19. پراٹھا

    parāṭhā

    Paratha (layered griddle bread)

    Usage

    Dough folded with fat and fried on a griddle so it comes out in layers — a breakfast staple. There is also the potato-stuffed aloo paratha

20. حلوا پوری

    halwā pūrī

    Halwa puri (fried bread with sweet semolina)

    Usage

    A breakfast set: puffed fried bread with sweet semolina halwa and a chickpea curry. A famous breakfast dish. Traditionally eaten on Friday and Sunday mornings

21. سموسہ

    samosa

    Samosa

    Usage

    A fried triangular pastry stuffed with potato, lentils or minced meat. Usually sold alongside pakora, vegetables in gram-flour batter

22. گول گپے

    gol gappe

    Gol gappay (pani puri)

    Usage

    Hollow fried spheres filled with chickpea and potato, then flooded with sour spiced water and eaten whole. ⚠ That water is often untreated — skip it if you have a delicate stomach

23. کھیر

    khīr

    Kheer (rice pudding)

    Usage

    Rice simmered in sweetened milk with cardamom and nuts, served cold.

24. گلاب جامن

    gulāb jāmun

    Gulab jamun (syrup-soaked dough balls)

    Usage

    Balls of reduced-milk dough, deep-fried and steeped in rose-scented syrup. Very sweet. گلاب is "rose" and جامن is the java plum, which the balls resemble

25. جلیبی

    jalebī

    Jalebi (syrup-soaked spirals)

    Usage

    Batter piped in spirals into hot oil, then dunked in sugar syrup — "a sweet soaked in sugar syrup". Often sold in the morning next to halwa puri

26. قلفی

    qulfī

    Qulfi (dense frozen milk dessert)

    Usage

    Reduced milk frozen in a mould. No air is whipped in, so it is denser than ice cream. Often served together with falooda

27. سوہن حلوہ

    sohan halwā

    Sohan halwa (Multan's dense sweet)

    Usage

    Multan's speciality: a hard, chewy disc of nut-studded sweet, sold in tins and made for taking home.

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