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Pakistani food
Pakistani cooking abroad starts with a few things from home: a box of Shan masala for biryani or karahi, granular Tapal tea for doodh patti, a bag of kasuri methi, Khewra pink salt. Add Multan’s sohan halwa, Hunza’s sun-dried apricots and chilgoza pine nuts from Balochistan, and you have the Pakistani pantry.
Many supermarket listings are Indian brands with similar names, which taste different. Each page below explains how to find the Pakistani product, what it is used for and which sellers ship it.
11 things
Pakistani spice mixes, one dish per box
Biryani, nihari and karahi from a Karachi box, with the recipe printed on the back.
Green ice cream soda
Karachi’s bright green ice cream soda.
Rose and herb syrup for cold drinks
The ruby-red syrup that opens the fast in every Pakistani home.
Photo: Miansari66The real thingStrong black tea for milky Pakistani chai
The strong, granular tea behind Pakistan’s milky, sugary doodh patti.
Long pine nuts, roasted in the shell
Winter’s most prized snack, from the pine forests of the Suleiman mountains.
Photo: Jahanzaib ZaiThe real thingPakistan’s famous summer mangoes
Sweet, fibre-free and fragrant: the mango Pakistanis argue is the best in the world.
Dense sweet made with ghee and nuts
Multan’s dense, nutty sweet, sold in round tins.
Photo: Miansari66The real thingDried fenugreek leaves
The dried leaves that make a curry smell like a restaurant kitchen.
Rock salt from the Salt Range
The pink salt sold worldwide as “Himalayan” comes from one range of hills in Punjab.
Green tea with cardamom
Green tea with cardamom, poured in Peshawar’s Storytellers’ Bazaar.
Sun-dried apricots and apricot oil
Sun-dried on rooftops in the valley below Rakaposhi.
Guides
Gifts & guides
What to bring back from Pakistan, what to send to someone who misses it, and what to order if you have never been. Twenty-eight gifts, from a two-dollar box of spices to an heirloom quilt.
Food & drink
A spoonful of ruby-red syrup, a glass of cold water or milk, and the fast is broken. The story of Rooh Afza, why there are three of them, and how Pakistanis drink it.
Food & drink
No spices, no tea bags, no shortcuts: strong granular tea, whole milk and sugar, boiled until the colour is just right. Here is how Pakistanis make the tea they drink five times a day.
Food & drink
The pink salt in kitchens from Texas to Tokyo is dug out of one range of hills in Punjab. Here is the mine, the 600-million-year-old sea behind it, and what the label leaves out.
Craft & culture
Peacocks, flying horses, eyes against envy and a line of poetry on the tailgate. How Pakistan’s working trucks became the country’s most famous folk art.
Questions
South Asian grocers and Amazon stock Pakistani brands such as Shan, National and Tapal in most countries. Search by the brand name and look for “Product of Pakistan”, because generic searches return mostly Indian brands.
A box of Shan Chicken Karahi masala, a Shan Biryani mix and a bag of kasuri methi cover most first dishes. Our Shan masala guide explains which box makes which dish.
Yes. Almost all of it is mined in the Salt Range of Punjab, Pakistan, mainly at the Khewra mine.
For makers in Pakistan
If you already sell abroad, on Etsy, Amazon, your own shop or Instagram, we would like to tell your story. Listing is free.
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One story from Pakistan each month, with where to find the thing it is about.
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