What to Order at a Pakistani Restaurant: A Beginner’s Guide

Charsi chicken karahi

A Pakistani restaurant menu looks different from a curry house menu. There is more meat, more grilling, bigger sharing dishes and fewer creamy sauces. If you are not sure where to start, this guide walks through the menu section by section and tells you what to order, whether you like it mild or hot.

What to order at a glance

  • First visit: a karahi to share, seekh kebabs, a naan each and a daal
  • Mild options: kebabs, pulao, white karahi and chicken tikka
  • For something special: nihari, paya or haleem
  • For a crowd: a big biryani or pulao
  • Pakistani food is halal, and many Pakistani restaurants don’t serve alcohol

Grills and kebabs

Pakistani restaurants are known for their grills. Start here if you like smoky, spiced meat without much sauce.

  • Seekh kebab. Spiced minced lamb, beef or chicken shaped around a skewer and grilled.
  • Chicken tikka. Chunks of chicken marinated in yoghurt and spices, then grilled.
  • Lamb chops. Marinated and grilled until charred. A favourite in Pakistani grill houses.
  • Chapli kebab. A flat, crisp beef patty from Peshawar with coriander seeds, tomato and pomegranate seeds. Try Aamna’s Peshawari beef chapli kebab.

Karahi

Karahi is the dish to order if you only order one. Meat is cooked hard on a high heat with tomatoes, ginger, garlic and green chillies in a wok-like pan, and often brought to the table in the same pan. Some places sell it by weight, by the half kilo or kilo, to share.

  • Chicken karahi. The classic. Try Aamna’s masala chicken karahi cooked over charcoal.
  • Lamb or mutton karahi. Richer, with meat on the bone. See her lamb karahi.
  • White karahi. A pale, mild karahi with black pepper, garlic and ginger, finished with yoghurt instead of tomatoes and red chilli. Try her white lamb karahi.
  • Charsi karahi. A street style with no onions and no spice mixes, just black pepper, tomatoes and green chillies. Try Aamna’s charsi chicken karahi, ready in 30 minutes.

See all of Aamna’s karahi recipes.

Slow-cooked specials

  • Nihari. Shank cooked for hours in a spiced gravy, topped with ghee, ginger and chillies. See what is nihari?
  • Paya. Trotters simmered into a rich, sticky broth. See what is paya?
  • Haleem. Wheat or barley, lentils and meat cooked for hours and beaten into a thick paste, finished with fried onions, ginger, lemon and chillies. A Ramadan favourite that many places sell all year.

Rice

  • Biryani. Spiced meat layered with rice. Karachi biryani is tangy and spicy, cooked with tomatoes, potatoes and often dried plums or apricots. Try Aamna’s Karachi chicken biryani.
  • Pulao. Rice cooked in meat stock with whole spices. Milder than biryani and very good with kebabs. Try her Peshawari chicken pulao.
  • Kabuli pulao. An Afghan rice dish with carrots and raisins, popular in north west Pakistan. Here is her kabuli pulao with lamb shanks.

More in our biryani recipes.

Daal and vegetables

  • Daal. Lentils, often finished with a tarka of garlic and cumin fried in ghee.
  • Chana. Chickpeas in a spiced sauce, also served as street-style chole chaat.
  • Saag. Slow-cooked leafy greens, often mustard leaves, eaten with makki roti.
  • Aloo. Potatoes cooked in a dry spiced masala.

Breads

  • Naan. Soft and puffy, baked on the wall of a tandoor. Order one each.
  • Roti. Thinner wholemeal bread, lighter than naan.
  • Paratha. Layered with ghee and pan-fried, sometimes stuffed. Try Aamna’s mini keema parathas.

Breakfast

Many Pakistani cafes do a weekend breakfast. The classic is halwa puri: deep-fried puris with chickpea curry, potato curry and sweet semolina halwa. Nihari and paya are breakfast dishes too. Try Aamna’s sooji halwa to make the sweet part at home.

Drinks and desserts

  • Lassi. A yoghurt drink, sweet, salted or mango. It also cools down a hot karahi.
  • Kheer. Rice pudding with cardamom and nuts. Here is Aamna’s royal kheer.
  • Chai. Strong, milky, spiced tea.

If you don’t like spicy food

Pakistani food is not all hot. Pashtun dishes from the north west, like kebabs and pulao, are traditionally mild, and a white karahi is creamy rather than fiery. Chicken tikka and seekh kebabs are well spiced but not very hot. You can also ask for any karahi to be made mild. For more help, see the curry heat guide.

Tips for your first visit

  • Share. Order a karahi, a grill and a daal for the table, with bread and rice.
  • Eat with naan. Tearing bread and scooping is the normal way to eat karahi.
  • Check about drinks. Many Pakistani restaurants don’t serve alcohol, and some let you bring your own.
  • Go early for specials. Nihari, paya and haleem can sell out.

FAQs

What is the most popular Pakistani dish?

Karahi and biryani are the dishes most people know, with nihari and seekh kebabs close behind.

Is Pakistani food spicy?

It varies by region. Karachi food is known for being bold and spicy, while Pashtun and Sindhi cooking is traditionally milder.

Is Pakistani food halal?

Yes. Pakistani cooking uses halal meat.

What is the difference between a Pakistani restaurant and an Indian restaurant?

Pakistani restaurants focus on grills, karahi and slow-cooked meat dishes. Many British Indian restaurants follow the curry house menu. See Pakistani vs Indian food.

What should I order at a Pakistani restaurant for the first time?

A chicken karahi to share, seekh kebabs, a daal, naan and a lassi.

More dish guides