The Archive

Every entry, searchable. Browse by course, or filter by the household it came from — the archive is filed both ways on purpose.

1 of 55 entries are written so far. The rest are the catalogue of what is being worked through — each one publishes only once it has been cooked twice, tested and photographed. Entries still in progress are greyed out and cannot be opened yet.

Aloo Gosht
Punjabi · Everyday

Aloo Gosht

Lamb and potato salan. The most-cooked dish in the country and the least written down.

Living
Read the recipe
Punjabi · Everyday

Achar Gosht

The same base as aloo gosht, redirected entirely by pickling spice.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Punjabi · Sunday

Chicken Karahi

The white, dhaba-style karahi. No cream, no food colour, no apology.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Karhi Pakora
Punjabi · Sunday

Karhi Pakora

The yogurt-and-besan curry — not to be confused with karahi, which is a different dish entirely.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Nihari
Muhajir · Winter

Nihari

Six hours, shank and marrow, and an honest account of the Delhi-to-Karachi lineage.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Korma, wedding-style
Muhajir · Wedding

Korma, wedding-style

Brown onion base, tempered yogurt, and the highest stakes in the household repertoire.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Sarson ka Saag
Punjabi · Winter

Sarson ka Saag

The slow method. Every shortcut version tastes like grass.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Bhindi Gosht, dry
Punjabi · Everyday

Bhindi Gosht, dry

Okra cooked dry, and a straight answer to why yours went slimy.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
General · Everyday

Masoor Daal

The everyday daal, and the doctrine page on tarka that half the archive links back to.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Sai Bhaji
Sindhi · Everyday

Sai Bhaji

Greens cooked down with daal. One of the best everyday dishes in the country.

First documented here
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Pashtun · Occasion

Namkeen Gosht

Meat, fat, salt, time. Almost nothing else, and that restraint is the dish.

First documented here
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Kashmiri · Winter

Kashmiri Harissa

Pounded overnight, eaten at dawn, and genuinely disappearing.

Fading
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Bohri · Occasion

Bohri Smoked Keema

Dhungar — a burning coal set under the lid — over a thaal tradition.

First documented here
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Balochi Sajji
Balochi · Occasion

Balochi Sajji

Whole salted lamb, slow-turned. Balochistan is the biggest blank space in Pakistani food writing.

First documented here
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Sindhi Biryani
Sindhi · Wedding

Sindhi Biryani

Sharper and more sour than the Bombay version. The difference is the whole point.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Kabuli Pulao
Pashtun · Occasion

Kabuli Pulao

Carrot, raisin and lamb-stock rice. Contested with Afghanistan, and we say so.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Memon · Everyday

Memoni Akni

The Memon one-pot rice — a whole community's everyday cooking, barely recorded.

First documented here
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Zarda
Punjabi · Wedding

Zarda

Sweet saffron rice, the dish that tells you someone got married.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Sindhi · Everyday

Koki

Onion and chilli worked into the dough. Eaten every morning across Sindh, invisible in English.

First documented here
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Hunza · Everyday

Chapshuro

A stuffed meat bread from households closer to Central Asia than to Lahore.

First documented here
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Balochi · Occasion

Balochi Kaak

Bread baked hard against a heated stone.

First documented here
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Makki ki Roti
Punjabi · Winter

Makki ki Roti

Cornmeal bread that fights you the whole way, and the saag that requires it.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Balti · Everyday

Mamtu

Balti steamed dumplings. Proof of how wide “Pakistani food” actually is.

First documented here
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Punjabi · Sunday

Halwa Puri Nashta

All three components — the halwa, the cholay and the puri — in one entry.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Khagina
General · Everyday

Khagina

Five minutes, enormous everyday relevance, near-zero competition.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Paye
Punjabi · Sunday

Paye

Trotters, overnight. A breakfast that requires planning the day before.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Chapli Kebab
Pashtun · Occasion

Chapli Kebab

Real Peshawari proportions — pomegranate seed, a great deal of tomato, a coarse grind.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Shami Kebab
Muhajir · Everyday

Shami Kebab

Chana daal binding, the grind, and the rest that makes it hold together.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Bun Kebab
Muhajir · Street

Bun Kebab

The home method, not the stall version. Karachi in a bread roll.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Dahi Baray
General · Ramadan

Dahi Baray

The soaking step is where everyone fails, and nobody explains it.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Bohri · Ramadan

Bohri Keema Samosa

Thinner pastry, different fold, entirely different result.

First documented here
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Punjabi · Winter

Gajar ka Halwa

Two hours of reduction. The honest version says so and lets the shortcuts lose.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Sohan Halwa
Multani · Eid

Sohan Halwa

Multan's difficult, brittle, deeply specific sweet.

Fading
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Sheer Khurma
Muhajir · Eid

Sheer Khurma

Vermicelli, dates and milk. The first thing eaten on Eid morning.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Rabri
Punjabi · Occasion

Rabri

Milk reduced until it gives up, with the skin folded back in.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Gulab Jamun
General · Wedding

Gulab Jamun

Khoya-based, fried low and slow, and a straight answer to why yours went hard.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Ras Malai
General · Wedding

Ras Malai

The paneer discs, the saffron milk, and the squeeze that decides everything.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Punjabi · Street

Jalebi

The fermented batter nobody mentions, and the syrup temperature that matters more than the shape.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
General · Everyday

Suji ka Halwa

The halwa of halwa puri, of births, of every small celebration.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Matka Kulfi
Muhajir · Summer

Matka Kulfi

Set in clay, no churning, no cream. Denser than ice cream by design.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
General · Summer

Pista Kulfi

The metal cone version, and how to get it out in one piece.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Falooda
Muhajir · Summer

Falooda

Sev, basil seed, rose syrup and ice cream. Assembly is the whole skill.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Sindhi · Summer

Mango Kulfi

Chaunsa season, condensed into a frozen block.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Punjabi · Summer

Kulfa

Kulfi and falooda served together in one glass — a Lahore summer institution.

Fading
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Punjabi · Summer

Sweet Lassi

The Lahore version — thick enough that the spoon means something.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Namkeen Lassi
Punjabi · Summer

Namkeen Lassi

Salted, with roasted cumin. The one people from outside never expect.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Kashmiri Chai (Noon Chai)
Kashmiri · Winter

Kashmiri Chai (Noon Chai)

Why it turns pink, and why yours didn't. Actual chemistry, not folklore.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Doodh Patti
General · Everyday

Doodh Patti

No water at all. The tea that runs the country.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Sardai
Punjabi · Summer

Sardai

Almond, melon seed and fennel, ground on stone. A cooling drink that is quietly vanishing.

Fading
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Sindhi · Summer

Mango Shake

Two ingredients, and a strong opinion about which mango.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Punjabi · Summer

Doodh Soda

Milk and 7Up. Ridiculous, beloved, and genuinely a Punjabi household staple.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
General · Winter

Badam Milk

Almond milk in the old sense — ground nuts, saffron, served hot.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Aam ka Achar
Punjabi · Summer

Aam ka Achar

The mango pickle that gets made in June and eaten for two years.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
General · Everyday

Podina Chutney

Mint, coriander, yogurt or not. The argument is about the yogurt.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested
Muhajir · Ramadan

Imli Chutney

Tamarind and jaggery, the sharp thing under every chaat.

Living
Not yet written — being cooked and tested

Most of these are in production. Entries publish as they are cooked, tested and photographed. Nothing appears until it has been made twice from the written version.

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