All Pakistani Recipes
Browse 342 authentic recipes across 122 dishes — from everyday weeknight daal to special-occasion dum biryani.
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All Dishes
Biryani
Pakistan's crown jewel — fragrant layered rice with spiced meat, saffron, and caramelised onions. Every region has its own fiercely defended variant.
Nihari
A slow-cooked breakfast stew of beef shank and bone marrow, simmered overnight with over a dozen spices. Old Lahore's gift to the world.
Chicken Karahi
Chicken cooked in a wok with tomatoes, green chillies, and ginger. Simple, fast, and the most-cooked dish in Pakistani homes.
Haleem
A thick, slow-cooked stew of wheat, barley, lentils, and shredded meat — Pakistan's ultimate comfort food, especially during Ramadan.
Chapli Kebab
Flat, round minced-meat patties from Peshawar, loaded with tomatoes, coriander, and pomegranate seeds. Cooked in bone marrow fat.
Seekh Kebab
Spiced minced meat moulded onto skewers and grilled over charcoal. A cornerstone of Pakistani street food and BBQ culture.
Daal
Lentil curry — the daily staple across Pakistan. Chana, maash, moong, masoor — each lentil, a different dish.
Chicken Tikka
Yoghurt-marinated chicken chunks grilled in a tandoor until charred and smoky. The foundation of tikka masala.
Sajji
Whole marinated lamb or chicken, skewered and slow-roasted over coals. Balochistan's signature dish.
Paya
Slow-cooked trotters in a rich, gelatinous gravy. A cold-weather favourite served with naan at dawn.
Halwa Puri
The iconic Pakistani Sunday breakfast — semolina halwa, deep-fried puri bread, and chickpea curry.
Paratha
Layered, flaky flatbread — plain, stuffed with potato, keema, or gobhi. The everyday Pakistani breakfast bread.
Naan
Tandoor-baked leavened bread — plain, butter, garlic, or stuffed. No Pakistani meal is complete without it.
Korma
Rich, yoghurt-based curry with tender meat and aromatic spices. The centrepiece of Pakistani wedding feasts.
Qeema
Spiced minced meat cooked with peas or potatoes. A weeknight staple that's ready in 30 minutes.
Pulao
One-pot spiced rice — lighter than biryani, equally beloved. Kabuli, yakhni, chana — each a meal in itself.
Shami Kebab
Smooth, pan-fried patties of boiled meat and split chickpeas. A tea-time classic found in every Pakistani home.
Samosa
Crispy triangular pastry filled with spiced potatoes or meat. The ultimate Pakistani street snack.
Pakora
Battered and deep-fried vegetables or chicken. The first thing Pakistanis make when it rains.
Gajar Ka Halwa
Grated carrots slow-cooked in milk with sugar, cardamom, and nuts. Winter's most-loved Pakistani dessert.
Kheer
Creamy rice pudding with cardamom, saffron, and pistachios. Made for every celebration in Pakistan.
Gulab Jamun
Deep-fried milk dumplings soaked in rose-scented sugar syrup. Impossibly sweet, universally loved.
Jalebi
Crispy, pretzel-shaped sweets dripping with saffron syrup. Best eaten hot from the karahi.
Lassi
Thick churned yoghurt drink — sweet, salty, or mango. Punjab's answer to everything.
Chai
Pakistan runs on chai. Milky, sweet, cardamom-scented — from Kashmiri pink chai to Peshawari kahwa.
Mutton Karahi
Mutton cooked in a karahi wok with tomatoes, ginger, and green chillies. Drier and more intense than chicken karahi — the BBQ restaurant classic.
Chicken Handi
Creamy, mild chicken curry cooked in a clay pot (handi). Rich with cream and butter — Pakistan's answer for those who can't handle the heat.
Achar Gosht
Tangy pickle-spiced meat curry — achari masala, whole spices, and a sour kick that cuts through the richness. A Punjabi home-cooking favourite.
Namkeen Gosht
Salt-and-pepper meat with minimal spices — the Pashtun philosophy of letting quality meat speak for itself. Deceptively simple, deeply flavourful.
Chicken Malai Tikka
Cream-marinated chicken grilled until meltingly tender. The milder, richer cousin of regular tikka — a BBQ menu staple.
Malai Boti
Tender beef or mutton cubes marinated in cream and mild spices, skewered and grilled. Melt-in-your-mouth BBQ perfection.
Beef Boti
Spiced beef cubes grilled on skewers over charcoal. The backbone of Pakistani BBQ — smoky, charred, and addictive.
Bun Kebab
Karachi's street burger — a spiced lentil or meat patty in a soft bun with chutney, onions, and a fried egg. The original Pakistani fast food.
Gol Gappay
Crispy hollow shells filled with tangy tamarind water, chickpeas, and potatoes. Pakistan's most addictive street snack — you can't eat just one.
Chana Chaat
Spiced chickpeas tossed with onions, tomatoes, green chillies, chutney, and yoghurt. Tangy, crunchy, and found on every street corner.
Dahi Bhalla
Soft lentil dumplings dunked in cool yoghurt, topped with tamarind and mint chutney. Sweet, sour, and spicy in every bite.
Channay
Spiced chickpea curry — the essential partner to halwa puri and the ultimate comfort food. Every household has its own secret recipe.
Karahi Gosht
The original karahi — bone-in goat meat cooked fast and hot with tomatoes and green chillies. No onions, no yoghurt — Pashtun purity.
Rabri
Thickened sweetened milk with layers of cream, flavoured with cardamom and saffron. The base for falooda and the king of Pakistani milk desserts.
Falooda
Layered dessert drink — rose syrup, vermicelli, basil seeds, rabri, and ice cream. Pakistan's ultimate summer indulgence.
Sheer Khurma
Eid morning's signature dish — vermicelli cooked in sweetened milk with dates, nuts, and cardamom. No Eid is complete without it.
Zarda
Sweet saffron rice studded with nuts, raisins, and cardamom. The festive rice dish served at weddings and celebrations.
Aloo Gosht
Meat and potato curry — the everyday Pakistani comfort meal. Simple, hearty, and the first curry most Pakistanis learn to cook.
Saag
Slow-cooked mustard or spinach greens mashed with butter and spices. Punjab's winter soul food, best with makki ki roti.
Tikka Boti
Spiced mutton or beef chunks marinated in yoghurt and grilled on skewers. The smoky, charred centrepiece of every Pakistani BBQ spread.
Gola Kebab
Finely ground mince shaped into round balls, skewered and slow-cooked over charcoal. Lahore's most tender, silkiest kebab — finished with the dhungar smoke technique.
Bihari Kebab
Pounded beef tenderloin strips marinated in raw papaya, mustard oil, and poppy seeds then grilled on skewers. Karachi's most beloved kebab, brought by the Bihari community at Partition.
Shinwari Karahi
The Shinwari tribe's karahi — cooked in lamb tail fat with salt, black pepper, and green chillies only. No onions, no tomatoes, no garam masala. Pashtun minimalism at its most flavourful.
Safed Karahi
White karahi — no tomatoes, no red chilli powder. Chicken or mutton in a cream and yoghurt gravy, spiced only with white pepper and green chillies. The gentle giant of Pakistani curries.
Katakat
Lahore's most theatrical street food — offal and meat chopped rhythmically on a hot iron plate with spices. The 'kata kata' of the spatula is the sound of Lahore's food streets.
Khausa
Karachi's most unique noodle dish — a Burmese khow suey adapted by the Memon community who fled Burma in the 1960s. Coconut milk curry over noodles with a dozen crunchy toppings.
Dhansak
Karachi's Parsi community treasure — slow-cooked lamb with five lentils, pumpkin, and fenugreek in a sweet-sour-spicy broth. Served with caramelised brown rice. One of Karachi's rarest, most complex dishes.
Dampukht
Balochistan's slow-cooked sealed pot — meat layered with yoghurt and whole spices, sealed in dough and steamed in its own juices. Almost no English recipes exist. The cooking is entirely in the steam.
Mantu
Steamed dumplings filled with spiced minced meat and onion, served on a bed of seasoned yoghurt with tomato-based sauce. Peshawar's Afghan inheritance — eaten at every Afghan-Pashtun gathering.
Chapshuro
Hunza's meat-filled flatbread — minced beef or mutton with local herbs baked directly on a hot stone or griddle. Called the 'Hunza pizza' by travellers. One of the few Gilgit-Baltistan recipes in English.
Gushtaba
The grand finale of the Kashmiri Wazwan feast — hand-pounded mutton meatballs in a creamy yoghurt and fennel gravy. Served last, symbolising the end of a 36-course celebration meal.
Tabak Maaz
Kashmir's showstopper appetizer — lamb ribs slow-boiled in milk and spices then shallow-fried until crispy. A mandatory course in the Wazwan feast. Crunchy outside, meltingly tender inside.
Rogan Josh
Kashmiri slow-cooked lamb in a deep red gravy from Kashmiri red chillies — not paprika, not red food colour. The characteristic red comes from ratan jot (alkanet root). The most famous dish of the Wazwan tradition.
Sohan Halwa
Multan's most famous export — a hard, brittle confection of wheat starch, sugar, ghee, and cardamom studded with nuts. Sent as gifts across Pakistan. Different from every other halwa — it snaps, doesn't melt.
Sindhi Kadhi
Sindh's gram flour curry — tangy with tamarind, loaded with vegetables (drumstick, potato, cluster beans), and thickened with besan. Completely different from Punjabi kadhi. Served over rice.
Sai Bhaji
Sindh's beloved spinach-lentil-vegetable mash — slow-cooked until completely unified. A Sindhi-Hindu recipe preserved by Sindhi Muslims. The most comforting side dish in the province.
Koki
Sindh's spiced whole wheat flatbread — loaded with onions, green chillies, and coriander, cooked on a tawa with ghee. The Sindhi breakfast staple that could replace paratha any day of the week.
Gurgur Chai
Hunza's butter tea — black tea churned with yak butter and salt in a wooden cylinder. Shocking to outsiders, essential to Gilgit-Baltistan life. The 'gurgur' is the sound of the churn.
Chicken Manchurian
Pakistan's most-ordered Chinese dish — crispy fried chicken tossed in a fiery red ketchup-and-chilli-sauce gravy. The crown jewel of desi Chinese cooking, born in Karachi's Chinese restaurants in the 1960s.
Chowmein
Pakistani-style stir-fried egg noodles with chicken, capsicum, and cabbage — spicier, oilier, and more peppery than any Chinese original. The comfort food of Pakistani desi Chinese restaurants and street stalls.
Chicken Corn Soup
Pakistan's most beloved Chinese-inspired soup — chicken broth with sweet corn and egg ribbons, served with the iconic three-condiment set: soy sauce, chilli vinegar, and red chilli paste.
Hot and Sour Soup
The spicier sibling of chicken corn soup — tomato-ketchup-red, fiery with chilli, and tangy with white vinegar. A Pakistani reinvention so different from the Chinese original it deserves its own category.
Egg Fried Rice
Pakistani-style fried rice made with basmati — not jasmine — tossed with eggs, vegetables, soy sauce, and sesame oil. The universal companion to Chicken Manchurian on every Pakistani Chinese restaurant menu.
Honey Chilli Chicken
Crispy fried chicken glazed in a sticky, fiery, sweet-sour sauce of honey, red chilli paste, and soy sauce. The showiest starter on any Pakistani Chinese menu — and the most requested.
Salt and Pepper Chicken
Dry-fried chicken with onions, green chillies, and an aggressive hit of black pepper and salt. No gravy, no sauce — just heat, crunch, and the most satisfying stir-fry on the Pakistani Chinese menu.
Spring Rolls
Crispy golden tubes of chicken, cabbage, and carrot wrapped in thin pastry and deep-fried. Pakistan's halal take on the Chinese classic — served with chilli garlic sauce, not plum sauce.
Chicken Lollipop
Chicken wingettes with the meat pushed to one end to form a lollipop, coated in a spicy batter and deep-fried. An Indo-Chinese invention that Pakistan made its own — found at every restaurant and party spread.
Schezwan Chicken
Pakistani-style Sichuan chicken — diced chicken in a fiery red sauce made from dried chillies, ginger, garlic, and Schezwan chutney. No Sichuan peppercorns, but plenty of heat. Pakistan's interpretation, not China's.
Bannu Beef Pulao
KP's most famous rice dish — whole beef cuts simmered in a deeply flavoured yakhni broth with whole spices, then layered with rice. Bannu's answer to Karachi biryani. Simpler, beefier, and utterly magnificent.
Charsi Tikka
Peshawar's most controversial and celebrated tikka — whole chicken marinated in little more than salt and cooked over high charcoal heat in mutton fat. No yoghurt, no colour, no masala. Named after the charas smokers who first popularised it on Namak Mandi food street.
Peshawari Siri Paye
Peshawar's legendary pre-dawn breakfast of slow-cooked head (siri) and trotters (paye) — a KP version heavier on bone marrow richness and whole spices than its Lahori cousin. The fuel of Peshawar's early risers since the Mughal era.
Kahwah
KP and Kashmir's ceremonial green tea — simmered with cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and saffron, served with almonds and honey. Drunk from small cups called 'chai ka pyala'. Pakistan's most aromatic, most elegant drink.
Hareesa
KP's ancient winter dish — whole wheat grain slow-cooked with mutton until completely broken down into a thick, silky porridge. The original haleem, before lentils were added. KP's most ancient recipe still in daily use.
Lahori Chargha
Lahore's whole-bird masterpiece — an entire chicken steamed with citric acid and spices until cooked through, then deep-fried to a crackly mahogany exterior. The technique is what separates chargha from all other fried chicken.
Tawa Chicken
Bone-in chicken stir-fried on a massive iron tawa (griddle) with tomatoes, green chillies, and butter. A Lahori street food staple — cooked loud, hot, and fast. What happens when tikka meets karahi.
Kadhi Pakora
Punjab's beloved sour yoghurt curry with gram flour dumplings — the tarka of cumin and red chilli poured dramatically at the table. A day-old kadhi is always better. Pakistan's original comfort food.
Phirni
Ground rice simmered in full-fat milk with cardamom and saffron, set in clay bowls (shikoras) until softly solid. Lahore's most elegant dessert — heavier than kheer, lighter than rice pudding. Always served cold.
Shahi Tukda
Mughal-era bread pudding — thick bread slices deep-fried and soaked in sugar syrup, then drowned in thickened saffron-cardamom cream. The most indulgent, most royal dessert in the Pakistani kitchen.
Kulfi
Pakistan's original frozen dessert — slow-churned thickened milk with pistachios, saffron, and cardamom, frozen in conical moulds. Denser, creamier, and more complex than any gelato. Every kulfi shop has a secret recipe.
Nankhatai
Pakistan's beloved shortbread cookies — made with ghee, gram flour, and cardamom, sprinkled with pistachios, baked in a wood-fired oven. The scent of nankhatai baking is the smell of every Pakistani bazaar in the afternoon.
Besan Ka Halwa
Roasted gram flour cooked slowly in ghee with sugar and milk until it turns into a fudge-like, nutty, deeply aromatic halwa. A Punjab winter tradition — made when someone is sick, when there's good news, or just when ghee is abundant.
Pinni
Punjab's winter energy ball — ground wheat flour roasted in ghee with sugar, dried ginger, and nuts, rolled into dense round sweets. Traditional 'health food' for new mothers and the cold season. One pinni = one hour of warmth.
Dahi Baray Chaat
Lahore's most beloved chaat — soft urad dal fritters soaked in water, squeezed dry, and buried under cool yoghurt, tamarind chutney, mint chutney, chaat masala, and crispy papri. The city's most chaotic, most perfect snack.
Dal Pakwan
Sindh's Amil Hindu community's signature breakfast — crispy, sesame-studded deep-fried flatbread (pakwan) served with chana dal, tamarind chutney, and green chutney. The most festive breakfast in Karachi, kept alive by the Sindhi-Hindu diaspora.
Pallo Machli
Sindh's sacred river fish — the pallo (hilsa/shad) migrates up the Indus every year and its arrival is celebrated like a festival. Stuffed with coriander-tomato masala, wrapped in leaves, and baked in a clay oven. Sindh's most seasonal, most cherished dish.
Seyal Maani
Sindh's 'leftover bread curry' — day-old rotis torn and cooked in a spiced tomato and onion gravy until they absorb all the juices. The dish that proves Sindhi cooking wastes nothing. Humble origins, outstanding results.
Bhee Aloo
Sindh's prized lotus stem cooked with potatoes in a tangy masala — a vegetable that Sindh cultivates in its lakes and turns into a crunchy, unusual, uniquely Sindhi side dish. Unknown outside the province. Unmissable inside it.
Aloo Tuk
Sindh's most addictive snack — twice-fried potatoes with a squeeze of lime, red chilli powder, and amchoor (dry mango powder). The first fry cooks them through, the second fry shatters the skin. Zero skill, maximum impact.
Karachi Halwa
Also called 'Bombay halwa' or 'corn halwa' — a jewel-coloured, chewy, translucent confection of cornflour, sugar, and ghee. Not remotely like gajar ka halwa. This is halwa as a candy, not a pudding. Karachi's most distinctive sweet.
Balochi Rosh
Balochistan's elegant mutton curry — whole pieces of goat slow-cooked in their own fat with a small number of whole spices and minimal water. The meat releases its own gravy. No tomatoes, no onion paste — just meat, fat, and patience.
Khaddi Kabab
Balochistan's most spectacular dish — a whole lamb marinated and slow-roasted in a sealed underground clay pit (khaddi) for 4-6 hours. The heat from above and below creates steam that bastes the meat in its own juices. Balochistan's answer to Dum cooking.
Kaak
Balochistan's stone-baked unleavened bread — a flat disc of wheat dough baked directly on hot river stones. So hard it must be soaked in tea or water before eating. Shepherds have carried it for centuries. The most durable bread in Pakistan.
Landhi
Balochistan's ancient preserved meat — goat or sheep air-dried and salted for the winter months, then rehydrated and cooked in a simple stew. One of the world's oldest food preservation methods, still practised in Balochi households every autumn.
Roghni Naan
Lahore's most festive naan — brushed lavishly with egg wash and oil before baking in the tandoor, then sesame-seeded and sprinkled with nigella seeds. Shinier, richer, and softer than plain naan. The bread at every Lahori wedding.
Garlic Naan
The most requested naan at every Pakistani restaurant — tandoor-baked leavened bread brushed with minced garlic butter straight from the oven. The garlic scorches slightly against the tandoor wall. That char is everything.
Keema Naan
Spiced minced meat stuffed inside leavened bread, sealed, and baked in a tandoor until the crust blisters and the filling steams inside. The most satisfying thing you can eat with raita. A meal and a bread in one.
Kashmiri Naan
Pakistan's most extravagant stuffed bread — leavened dough filled with khoya, coconut, dried fruits, and nuts, baked in the tandoor. Sweet, fragrant, and completely unlike any other naan. The bread of festivals and winter mornings.
Peshawari Naan
KP's legendary thick, leavened flatbread — made in enormous wood-fired tandoors, wider and fluffier than Punjabi naan. Brushed with butter straight from the oven, eaten with karahi or just on its own. Peshawar's contribution to bread history.
Kulcha
Lahore's cousin to naan — leavened bread baked on the floor of a tandoor rather than the walls, giving it a flatter base and a puffier dome. Stuffed with potatoes, or plain and buttered. Anarkali's oldest bread stall has been making the same kulcha since 1947.
Sheermal
Lahore's royal saffron bread — leavened dough enriched with milk, ghee, and saffron, baked in the tandoor until golden and fragrant. Sweet, rich, and eaten with nihari or korma. A Mughal-era recipe that survived partition and prospered in Lahore.
Bakarkhani
Lahore's layered, flaky breakfast biscuit-bread — multiple thin layers of dough laminated with ghee, flavoured with cardamom and sugar, baked until crisp. Eaten dunked in morning chai. Mughal Lahore's most enduring bakery tradition.
Taftan
Karachi's Persian-heritage leavened bread — milk-enriched dough flavoured with saffron and cardamom, topped with poppy seeds, baked in the tandoor. Softer and sweeter than naan, more fragrant than kulcha. Karachi's Persian communities brought it 200 years ago.
Lachha Paratha
Multi-layered flaky paratha made by folding dough repeatedly with ghee to create dozens of crisp, separated layers — like a bread-meets-croissant. The most satisfying tear-and-dip bread in Pakistani cooking. Every layer is a separate pleasure.
Mooli Paratha
Grated radish (mooli) squeezed dry, seasoned with green chillies, ajwain, and coriander, stuffed inside whole wheat paratha and cooked on a tawa with ghee. Winter's most pungent, most comforting breakfast. Polarising to some, deeply beloved to most.
Gobi Paratha
Cauliflower (gobi) grated, spiced, and stuffed into whole wheat paratha — cooked on a tawa until golden and spotted. Served with makhan (white butter) and dahi. Winter's most popular stuffed paratha after aloo. Deceptively simple, impossible to stop eating.
Keema Paratha
Spiced minced meat stuffed into whole wheat paratha and cooked on a tawa — the breakfast that crossed into lunch territory decades ago. The most protein-rich morning meal in Pakistan. Served at every dhaba from Karachi to Khunjerab.
Anday Wala Paratha
Lahore's most iconic street breakfast — a half-cooked paratha cracked open and a beaten egg poured inside, sealed and cooked until the egg sets in the layers. The egg becomes part of the bread. A 5-minute miracle from every Lahori breakfast dhaba.
Methi Paratha
Fresh fenugreek leaves (methi) kneaded directly into whole wheat dough, cooked with ghee on a tawa. The slight bitterness of methi is the counterpoint to the richness of ghee. A winter-only paratha — methi doesn't grow in the heat.
Chapati
Pakistan's daily bread — whole wheat rotis rolled thin and cooked on a tawa until brown spots appear, then puffed directly over the flame. The foundation of every Pakistani meal. 98% of Pakistani homes eat chapati every day.
Tandoori Roti
Whole wheat roti slapped onto the inside wall of a red-hot tandoor — puffed, charred, and ready in 90 seconds. What happens when the simplest bread meets the most extreme heat. Crispier than chapati, more honest than naan.
Missi Roti
Gram flour and whole wheat blended into a spiced flatbread — onions, green chillies, ajwain, and coriander in every bite. Punjab's winter roti that doubles as a snack. Higher protein than regular chapati. Eaten with makhan and achaar.
Khameeri Roti
Lahore's naturally leavened flatbread — dough fermented overnight with a small amount of yeast (khameer), giving it a slight tang and a soft, pillowy texture. The middle ground between chapati and naan. Available at specialist roti shops only.
Makki Ki Roti
Punjab's winter staple — unleavened cornmeal flatbread cooked on a tawa. Denser and slightly gritty, it holds up to being dipped in sarson ka saag. The pairing of makki ki roti and saag is Punjab's most iconic winter meal. Inseparable.
Bajra Roti
Pearl millet flatbread from rural Sindh and South Punjab — coarser, earthier, and more nutritious than wheat roti. Cooked in clay ovens or on open fires. The traditional bread of Pakistan's farming communities, now rediscovered by health enthusiasts.
Rumali Roti
The handkerchief bread — thin as paper, large as a tablecloth, draped dramatically over an inverted wok (karahi) to cook. Rumali means 'handkerchief' in Urdu. The showiest flatbread in Pakistani cooking — all skill, no equipment.
Phitti
Hunza's ancient breakfast — dry-roasted buckwheat flour mixed with apricot oil and salt into a thick porridge. Eaten before the day's farm work in the Karakoram mountains. One of the oldest foods in Gilgit-Baltistan, unchanged for 500 years.
Mitho Lolo
Sindh's sweet festive flatbread — whole wheat dough enriched with jaggery (gurr), ghee, and fennel seeds, cooked on a tawa. Made for Eid, weddings, and births. The sweetest bread in Pakistani cooking — dessert disguised as bread.