Pakistan Food
Basic Subsistence:
At its simplest, Pakistani food today consists of staple ingredients which are
cheap and abundant. Wheat and other flour products are the mainstay of the
diet, one familiar form being CHAPATI, an
unleavened bread akin to a Mexican tortilla. This is made with dough prepared
from whole wheat flour.
Another basic Pakistani food is LASSI, milk
from which curds and butterfat have been removed. Vegetables, usually seasonal,
lentils are commonly used. Families with larger incomes eat more meat, eggs and
fruits. And the more affluent cook with GHEE, which is clarified butter,
instead of with vegetable oil.
From the earliest times, the imaginative - and sometimes heavy - use of spices, herbs, seeds,
and flavorings and
seasonings have helped
cooks transform rather
ordinarystaple Pakistani foods into an exotic cuisine.
Consider some of the most common of these in wide use in Pakistan today: chilli
powder, turmeric, garlic, paprika, black pepper, red pepper, cumin seed, bay
leaf, coriander, cardamom, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, saffron, mace, nutmeg,
poppyseeds, aniseed, almonds, pistachios, and yogurt.
Their use in a wide range of pickles, chutneys, preserves, and sauces, together
with curries of all descriptions and special treatment for meats, sea, food,
vegetables and lentils, gives Pakistani food much of its distinctive character.
Cultural influences, whether religious precepts, practices, and ceremonies or
local traditions, or even esthetic preferences, have made their contribution
toward the evolution of Pakistani cuisine.
The Influence Of Islam:
The spread of Islam to what is now Pakistan, starting in the Eighth Century,
has given a basic character to the food of Pakistan. The Quranic injunctions
against eating pork or drinking alcoholic beverages has channeled tastes and
appetites in other directions. Lamb, beef, chicken and fish are basic foods,
although their consumption by persons of low income is modest and often
ceremonial.
Some of the Muslim feasts involve special dishes. Eid-ul-Adha, which
commemorates the Prophet Ibrahim's readiness to obey God even to the point of
being willing to sacrifice his son, is observed by the sacrifice of a goat, a
lamb, or a cow from which special dishes are made.
On Eid-ul-Fitr, which
marks the end of RAMZAN, the
month of fasting in the Islamic Calender, the serving of a special dessert of
vermicelli cooked in milk is a must. Almond and pistachios are added as
decorations as is the silver foil. The latter is so thin that it will
disintegrate unless it is immediately transferred from the protective layers of
paper onto the dish.
Food And The Moghul Emperors:
Another major influence in the development of Pakistani food cookery was the
establishment of the Moghul Empire starting in 1526. The opulent tastes
exhibited by such Emperors as Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb
in art, architecture, music, dance, and jewelry was also extended to food.
A style of cookery called Moghlai' evolved at the Moghul court and even today
it remains centered in Lahore. Some latter-day and widely known survivors of
court cookery are, for example, chicken tandoori, a dish in which chicken is
cooked at low temperatures in special ovens called TANDOORS, and
murgh musallum' in which the whole chickens are roasted with special spices and
ingredients. SHAHI
TUKRA, a dessert of sliced bread, milk, cream, sugar and saffron, is
another left-over from the days of the Moghuls.
Perhaps the ultimate Moghul cuisine was reached when the imperial chefs
perfected the recipes for desserts made from ginger and garlic. Ginger and
garlic puddings are still made in some homes for truly special occasions.
Fruit drinks, squeezed from pomegranates, apples, melons, and mangoes, and
called SHARBAT, are
an important part of the Moghlai cuisine and, indeed, the inspiration for
American "sherberts."
Other Influences:
Cookery in Pakistan has always had a regional character, with each of the four
provinces offering special dishes. In the Punjab, for example, the Moghlai'
cuisine using tandoor ovens and elaborate preparations is important. In
Baluchistan, cooks use the SAJJI method of barbecuing whole lambs and stick
bread in a deep pit.
BUNDA PALA (fish)
is a well known delicacy of Sind. The fish is cleaned and stuffed with a paste
made from a variety of spices and herbs, including red pepper, garlic, ginger,
and dried pomegranate seeds. It is then wrapped in cloth and is buried three
feet deep in hot sand under the sun. There it stays baking for four to five
hours from late morning to early afternoon. THANDAL,
made from milk and a paste of fresh almonds, is a popular drink.
Cooking in the Northwest Frontier Province is a great deal plainer and involves
the heavy use of lamb.
Ceremonial occasions such as weddings have inspired a number of fancy dishes. A
traditional dish at marriage feasts, for example, is chicken curry with either
PILAU or BIRYANI. FIRINI, made from cream of rice and milk, is an equally
traditional wedding dessert. It is served in clay saucers topped by silver
foil. At Zoroastrian (Parsi) weddings, which are not frequent because so few
followers of this ancient Iranian religion live in Pakistan, a special fish
dish is served. This is PATRANI MACHCHI, consisting of sole, plaice, or a local
fish called pomfret, wrapped in banana leaves, steamed or fried, and then baked
slowly for half an hour.
