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Bordered by China, Afghanistan, Iran and India – and with a population of more than 200 million people – it is no surprise that Pakistan is a geographically and linguistically diverse country.
However, there are commonalities in Pakistani food.
Pakistanis are passionate about their cuisine, full of flavor and full of color. And they love to eat.
Here are some of the best dishes to try:
These crispy, easy-to-make fried fritters are a classic snack served as a starter or side dish.
The vegetables are thinly sliced before being soaked in a seasoned and spiced chickpea flour batter and then fried for a few minutes.
Grab them while they're hot. If you prefer a meatier option, fish pakoras are also a favorite.
Served as a snack or appetizer, there are many types of kebabs in Pakistani cuisine.
There's the popular seekh kebab, which consists of ground beef grilled on skewers.
We also recommend the chapli kebab – so called because it is believed to be shaped like a chappal (sandal) – and the shami kebab, which consists of small burgers made with minced meat mixed with split chickpeas, finely chopped onion, mint, green chili and egg for keep it all together.
This popular street food was once sold by street vendors who chanted its presence while hawking their wares. While the arrival of more fast food restaurants has made this less common, the popularity of gol gappa has not diminished.
The round shell is made from semolina and fried. Once it cools and becomes brittle, a hole is created and filled with a mixture of tamarind chutney, chilli, chaat masala, potato, onion and chickpeas. Served with a bowl of spicy tamarind sauce.
This rice dish is believed to have developed in the royal kitchens of the Mughal Empire from the 16th to 19th centuries and is often served on special occasions.
It can be made with lamb or beef, but chicken biryani is a favorite.
The meat and rice are cooked separately before being layered and cooked together with a variety of spices.
Warm and comforting, this dish may seem simple enough, but a combination of lentils, wheat, barley and minced beef (or another preferred meat) is simmered for hours with mild spices.
The sticky consistency is achieved by stirring constantly.
Paya literally translates as trotters and this warm goat curry, with a soup-like consistency, is often eaten on cold winter mornings.
Again, slow cooking will ensure that all the spices have been infused into the perfectly tender meat.
This Pakistani favorite, often served to guests on special occasions, consists of slow-cooked leg of lamb, including the bone marrow.
In the past it was left to cook over low heat overnight to be served at dawn.
Nowadays, most people cook it for a few hours, but the longer the better.
Pakistani cuisine may seem meat-heavy, but there are plenty of great vegetarian options. The word “tarka” refers to the process used to finish a lentil dish, so in essence, tarka daal can be made with several different daals.
When the lentils are cooked well, the tarka is applied: the onions, cumin seeds and crushed garlic cloves are fried until golden brown in a separate pan and added to the daal without stirring. It should make a sizzling noise as the tarka mixture hits the lentils.
Packed with protein and fiber, black-eyed pea (lobia daal) curry is a particularly healthy and tasty option.
The peas are soaked overnight for best results and the curry is made with a tomato base.
It is best eaten with roti (flatbread), in which case the curry sauce should be kept a little thicker, or with rice.
Bitter melon is believed to have a variety of health benefits including purifying the blood, lowering blood sugar and boosting the immune system, which is why most Pakistanis have childhood memories of their Parents persuaded them to eat it despite its bitter taste.
In Pakistan, it is cooked with onion, red chilli powder, turmeric, salt, coriander powder and a pinch of cumin seeds.
Eggplant curry is very simple and quick to make.
A masala base is created by frying onions, garlic and ginger, mixing them with chili powder, salt, turmeric and cumin seeds. Then add the chopped eggplant, the potatoes if desired and the water before letting the concoction cook for 15-20 minutes.
Pre-roasting the eggplant in the oven gives the dish a smoky flavor.
Just as simple and a Pakistani favorite, this potato and cauliflower curry is from the province of Punjab.
The trick is to make sure the potatoes and cauliflower florets are cooked at the right time.
Cutting the latter to a size slightly larger than the potatoes ensures that the florets do not disintegrate before the potatoes are cooked.
Pakistanis make a variety of perfect, melt-in-your-mouth flatbreads, including roti and naans, but the paratha, made with clarified butter, is a particularly delicious treat.
For breakfast, you can go for the plain option, but there are also several fillings to choose from, such as minced meat, potato or mooli paratha, made with radish filling.
Also known as gajar ka halwa, this dish is made with a combination of grated carrots, nuts, milk, sugar and clarified butter.
This tasty but light dessert, best served with a scoop of ice cream on the side, often appears at weddings and parties.
Traditionally served on special occasions, this brightly colored sweet rice is a Pakistani favorite.
Made with sugar, milk and food coloring and flavored with cardamoms, raisins, pistachios and almonds, zarda is yellow or made with various food colorings to give it a multicolored effect.
Keer is another dessert eaten at weddings or celebrations such as Eid al Fitr, the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
This is a thick and creamy rice pudding type dish that is slow cooked with milk, rice and sugar and infused with cardamom.
It's topped with crushed pistachios and tastes equally delicious whether eaten hot or cold.
Poor halwa and channa
A breakfast of champions, this combination of light and fluffy poori (fried bread) is served with richly flavored halwa (made with wheat semolina, sugar and butter) and channa (a chickpea curry).
It is often consumed on the morning of Eid, but can also be found as a street food breakfast or brunch option.
In the intense heat of summer, this refreshing dessert is a popular choice. An unusual concoction made with a variety of ingredients including milk, rose syrup, ice cream and gelatin, and also contains noodles and basil seeds.
Basil seeds are believed to have a cooling effect on the body.
Pink tea, also known as Kashmir tea, is a traditional drink made with tea leaves, salt, milk and a pinch of baking soda to give it its characteristic pastel color.
It is often topped with crushed pistachios and served with walnuts and dried fruits.
This dessert disguised as a drink offers the perfect excuse to pack several during a meal.
Lassi is yogurt based and can come in a variety of flavors, but there is nothing as refreshing as a cold mango lassi on a hot day.
