Pakistani Cuisine

Pakistani cuisine is a blend of regional cooking styles and flavors drawn from across the Indian subcontinent and Central and West Asia, reflecting Indo Aryan, Turko Persian, Iranian and Arab influence and shaped throughout by Muslim dietary practice, which forbids pork and alcohol. The cuisine is traditionally meat centered, though lentils, rice and vegetables often substitute for meat for economic reasons, and dishes are notably aromatic and generously oiled, seasoned with spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, black pepper, cumin, chili powder and turmeric. Goat, lamb, mutton, beef and chicken are the preferred meats, and rice and wheat breads form the dietary foundation, appearing in dishes such as nihari, a slow cooked beef stew, biryani, a spiced rice dish, kebabs, karahi, a wok cooked curry, and pulao, accompanied by naan, paratha and roti. Pakistan's ethnic and geographic diversity produces distinct regional traditions, among them Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi and Pashtun cuisines, each with its own characteristic preparations.