Food Cultures of Pakistan – A Tantalizing Thali of Surprises!

By luckyfatima


Pakistan is roughly the same size as France or Texas, and has a wider variety of available cuisines than an outsider may ever have imagined. I love to learn about food and culture and wanted to share with you a few interesting aspects of Pakistani cuisine based on regional features of the country that few may know about.


Is Noodle Soup a Pakistani Food?
In parts of Pakistan, the languages are actually related to Tibetan (some are mutually intelligible with Ladhakhi). Noodle soups are eaten there. You can google 'Hunza dodo' to see the way this soup is prepared in the region of Hunza, for example. Also, you can look into the cuisine of Baltistan if you are interested.


Is There South Indian Food in Pakistan?
People of South Indian origin reside in Pakistan. Besides the large amount of Hyderabad Indian origin people in Karachi, there are other people whose families are originally from various parts of South India. Almost all of these people will be found in Karachi. There is a neighborhood in Nazimabad, Karachi called 'Madrasi Colony.' It is just a center where some Tamils settled after partition. The majority ethnicity in Pakistan is Punjabi. Pakistan is very diverse, and in each province, there are distinct indigenous communities. In major urban centers, there are many people whose families came from India at Partition, and one can find many of the same diverse groups that are in India, Marathis, Konkanis, Burmese-Gujaratis, Biharis, Bhopalis, U.P. origin people, and so on…their family heritage adds distinct particularities to their food preferences and home cooking styles.


Is There Pakistani Vegetarian Food?
Though non-vegetarian food is what comes to mind when someone mentions Pakistani food, there are a range of vegetarian options including karhi pakora, lauki daal, mungori, and many other dishes that would be shared with Northern and North Western India. North Indian vegetables can also be found in Pakistani markets, including karela, lauki, arvi, turai, tinda, kaddu, all the greens, among others. All of the typical North Indian vegetable dishes are consumed in Pakistan.


What is a Traditional Pakistani Meal?
A "proper" full meal will have a meat dish (or two), one or two sabzis, daal, pickles, fresh sliced vegetables, rice, and roti or some other flat bread. What people will be eating specifically will depend on region, the season, and so on. Poorer people (the majority of people) often eat vegetarian, not due to religious reasons but only economic constraints. Villagers in Pakistan would be eating the same plain rice, daal, salt, onions, and green chiles as villagers in North India.


Conclusions
The iconic dishes of Pakistan are mainly meaty. But what is "Pakistani cuisine"? There is no such thing. Just like there is no such thing as "Indian cuisine" in any real sense. Like, the foods of Indian Punjab are not like the foods of Tamil Nadu. And within Tamil Nadu, the foods of Chennai are distinct; the foods of Iyers are different from the foods of Chettiyaar communities, different from Iyengars, different near the Kerala border, different for the multiple distinct communities of Muslims, and so on. Because of this it is hard to pin down "Pakistani food."

With all that being said, I have tried my best to share with you some of the lesser known aspects of Pakistani food and culture. I am happy to learn more by reading your insightful comments posted on this blog.



Thank you for reading.

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Paneer Makhani - Fried Homemade Cheese Cubes in Flavorful Cream Sauce by Srivalli

Srivalli from Cooking 4 All Seasons has graciously allowed me to reprint this recipe in it's entirety on my blog.

I am sharing this with you, my readers, to introduce you to Srivalli and her amazing cooking and photography talents- both tempt the tastebuds. Recently, Srivalli has published an e-book with some really unique and simple-to-make Indian recipes. I will share that with you tomorrow!! Srivalli is amazing creative!! Thanks for sharing this, Srivalli.



Preparation Time : 10 mins
Cooking Time : 20 - 30 mins
Serves - 4-5

Ingredients Needed:

Paneer - 250 gms
Onions paste - 1 cup
Tomato Puree - 2 cups
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp
Cashew nut paste - 3 tbsp
Cream - 1 cup
Bay Leaf - 1 (opt)
Salt to taste
Butter - 3 tsp
Saffron - 5-6 strands
Milk - 50 ml.

Method to prepare:

You can use Home made Paneer or can use store bought. Cut into cubes and fry them in butter till golden colour. Remove and keep aside.

Warm milk and soak saffron in it.

Make Onion puree and Tomato puree separately. Keep aside.

In a pan, heat butter. You can use the same pan that you used for frying Paneer. Add the bay leaf, then fry Onion paste till its pink. add the ginger garlic paste. Fry both till the onion paste turns till brown.

Then add cashew paste along with all the spice powders. Simmer and allow it to cook well. Then add the tomato puree.

Add about 1/2 cup water and bring to boil. Then simmer and cook till it thickens. When the gravy is thick enough, add the cream and simmer for another 10 mins. Finally add the milk that has the saffron. Optionally, you can add orange food colour if you want richer colour.

When the gravy is ready, finally add the fried paneer and cook for 5 mins.

This tastes great with Ghee Rice, Jeera Rice or Naans.


Original Post on Srivalli's Blog.

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