Food in Pakistan – Here’s What You Can Expect When You Visit Pakistan!

Food in Pakistan

Pakistani is known for its vivid landscapes, beautiful rivers, and lush mountains. It is also known for food. Food is something really special. It is treated as a celebration instead of just something to nourish the body. Food is a very important part of Pakistani culture. Whether it is a celebration or a time of mourning. Food is something that remains constant everywhere in Pakistan.

Unlike many cultures and nations, we don’t eat just one or two types of dishes. Pakistani Food is vibrant, dynamic and has a personality to it. Being influenced by many cultures all around the globe because of the number of people that resided in Pakistan. Food has taken a bizarre but a fun and delicious turn. We have dishes coming from Indian routes to Italian routes. Two hugely different cultures have a place in Pakistani food.

Pakistani cuisine consists of burgers, curry, pizzas, and even Pakistani pancakes. Each of these items is nothing like what they are in the west, but they can easily be called the Pakistani versions. There is a huge Pakistani food scene in Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar and in every other city in Pakistan. Each city is known for specific dishes and everything is available everywhere in Pakistan.

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What types of food are in Pakistan?

I will take you through what you can expect from Pakistan.

Street Food In Pakistan

Food in Pakistan - Here's What You Can Expect When You Visit Pakistan!

Source: Culture trip

Let’s begin with the first thing that is going to be the staple of anyone’s tour of Pakistan; the street food. The street food is one of the first things you will encounter during your visit to Pakistan. There is a lot of street food to explore during your stay. each city has its specialties of street foods, but some of the street food is universally good.

Karachi specializes in Bun Kebabs and chana chaat, while Lahore is known for its lassi and gol gappay. Peshawar has the juicy chapli kebabs, while Quetta has you in chicken skewers. Each of these places has their own taste and their own way of doing things.

Karachi

In Karachi around every corner, you can find a Bun kebab stall. You will be able to fill your stomach for 100 rs which is less than a USD. The same thing with Channa chaat, you can get it anywhere. There are also french fry stalls, bbq stalls, and even Biryani stalls. You can have anything your heart desires on the street. From light desserts like kulfi to heavy dinners like Biryani. So street food in Karachi is similar to places of South East Asia and still different.

A side note if you are in Karachi or in Pakistan, try the gola ganda.

Lahore

Street food vise Lahore has you completely covered because of its huge food street. During the day the food street of Lahore is nothing but a long road where people can be seen cutting vegetables, cleaning meat and sharpening their knives. All of this is to prepare for the onslaught of foodies that are going to appear as the sun goes down.

The food street offers a variety of dishes, karahis, biryanis, whole chickens, hareesa, haleem and the usual street foods like bun kebab and chaat and stuff. All of it is delicious but I cannot say that all of it is hygienic, but that is the give and take relationship with street food.

Quetta

Quetta is not known for street food but it does have some things to offer in terms of it. I mean, it is a part of Pakistan and street food is something that runs in the Pakistani culture. On the streets in Quetta, you can get the world-famous sajji and the amazingly delicious chicken and beef skewers. If you leave Quetta without having Sajjji then my friend you cannot say that you visited Quetta.

Peshawar

Peshawar is a treat to behold because it has to be one of the few places something sweet is one of the main street foods. The Pukhtun town is filled with places you can eat for cheap. People there are hospitable and will make sure that you are well fed. The specialty of Peshawar is Peshawari ice cream and chapli kebab. There is almost a place around every corner that sells chapli kebab. It is best eaten hot and with tandoori naan.

So enjoy the people and the food Peshawar has to offer.

Everyday Food

Street food is delightful and all but that is not all that Pakistan has to offer. There is a lot more fun in terms of food that can be had whilst in Pakistan. What I mentioned in the article earlier was just the tip of the iceberg. The real fun is yet to be had.

There is a lot of different kinds of items available up for grabs in Pakistan. I would like to divide them into three sections.

Section 1 – Pakistani Rice items

Food in Pakistan - Here's What You Can Expect When You Visit Pakistan!

Source: Spend with pennies

This section is pretty self-explanatory. There are not a lot of items that are made from rice in Pakistan because we mostly have curry and roti items. But there are few that will get your appetite going.

A few of the most common rice items are; Biryani, Pulao, Salan Chawal, Daal Chawal, and Akni. These are the items that you should be having if you are looking for good rice items.

Moving forward to section 2

Section 2 – Pakistani Roti Items

Food in Pakistan - Here's What You Can Expect When You Visit Pakistan!

Source: Great British chefs

Roti and curry are the most famous and widely eaten thing in Pakistan. In every household, the rice item is only made once a week while the roti item is made almost every day. So, for that reason, there are a lot more roti items than there are rice items.

The roti items available in Pakistan are; Nihari, Paye, Kunna, Karahi, Handi, Peshawari karahi, Curry, Makhni Handi, and Reshmi Handi. There are more items because all of this can be made from mutton, chicken, and beef. On top of that, there is pepper Karahi and non-spicy karahis as well. There is a lot of innovation that goes into roti items in Pakistan.

Let’s move to the final section of the food in Pakistan.

Section 3 – Foreign cuisines

Food in Pakistan - Here's What You Can Expect When You Visit Pakistan!

Source: fmze95

This is the last thing you can expect from

Pakistan. You will be able to find cuisines from your home town and several different places as well. Whether you are Chinese, Italian or American. Pakistan has you covered if you feel a little homesick. Of course, everything will have a little Pakistan twist to it, meaning it will be more tangy and spicier than you are used to. But, I promise it will be delicious.

So no matter where ever you are from, you can find a piece of home in Pakistan.

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