Pakistan is home to many unique and flavorsome dishes that are famous all over the world. Pakistani food is a blend of various regional cooking traditions of Central Asia, and South Asia as well as elements from its Mughal legacy. Pakistani food and Indian food have a lot of commonalities, however, you can still distinguish between the two based on their taste, aroma, and presentation.
You can divide Pakistani cuisine based on the foods in various regions. The administrative units of Pakistan consist of four provinces (Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh), two autonomous territories (Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan) and one federal territory (Islamabad Capital Territory). All these regions have their unique dishes.
This article specifically covers Sindhi cuisine and Sindhi cooking style as some of the most famous Pakistani food options.
SINDHI CUISINE
Sindhi cuisine refers to the native cuisine of the Sindhi people from Sindh, Pakistan. It is the third biggest province of Pakistan. Sindhi people are quite famous for their traditional food items. Their food mostly contains a flatbread of wheat with rice and curry. The dishes which they prepare are exclusive in taste as well as in the names. Today, Sindhi food is eaten in many countries including India, where a sizable number of Hindu Sindhis migrated following the independence in 1947.
The arrival of Islam in South Asia influenced the local cuisine to a great degree. Since Muslims are forbidden to eat pork or consume alcohol, Muslim Sindhis focus on ingredients such as beef, lamb, chicken, fish, vegetables, and traditional fruit and dairy. Hindu Sindhi cuisine is almost identical except for the exclusion of beef.
FAMOUS SINDHI FOODS
Below are some of the most famous Sindhi dishes that people love to have no matter what the occasion.
1. SAI BHAJI
Healthy and wholesome, this delicious Sindhi-style spinach Subzi tastes awesome with rice. This dish is one of the best ways to include spinach in your diet and is, therefore, full of health benefits. It is a type of curry that has split Bengal gram, spinach, potato, cauliflower, carrot, tomato, garlic, cumin seeds, ginger, and onion as some of the ingredients. If you have it with some traditional Sindhi pickle, you will want to have more and more.
2. DAAL PAKWAN
Dal Pakwan is another delicious cuisine from the province of Sindh and is a breakfast item. It is a combination of spicy chana dal or Bengal gram. It has chopped onions and lemon wedges as garnish with green chutney as a side dish. You eat it with crispy, flaky fried bread that includes cumin and carom seeds. This fulfilling breakfast will take your taste buds on a joy ride because it’s that amazing!
3. KADHI CHAWAL
Kadhi Chawal is Sindh’s signature dish. The dense curry is a mixture of gram flour and water. It also has other important ingredients such as okra, cluster beans, turmeric, drumstick, and curry leaves. This mouth-watering curry is eaten along with steamed rice and sweet boondi (small fried gram flour mixture balls).
4. CHAAP CHOLA
The Sindhi chaap chola is a popular street food. This dish has two elements that are chaap (deep or shallow fried potato or split chickpeas cutlet, seasoned with green chilies and salt) and chole (boiled chickpeas masala). The base is of the chaap whereas the chole masala is the topping. The dish has diced tomatoes, sliced onion, and fresh green coriander as garnish.
5. THANDAI
As most of Sindh is arid, cool drinks are very popular there. One such drink is thandai. It is not just thoroughly refreshing but is very healthy as well. The main ingredients include almonds, pistachios, green cardamom, milk, poppy seeds, fennel seeds, and rose petals. By soaking the ingredients overnight, they become soft enough for grinding the next day. After grinding and mixing water, sugar, and rose water, you have to strain it. You can repeat this process so that all the goodness is thoroughly strained from all these amazing ingredients. Chill this healthy drink and enjoy it with family and friends.
Thandai is not just a wholesome drink, it is also very easy to make. Follow this link for the list of ingredients and instructions on how you can make Thandai.
We bet you are craving some delicious Pakistani food after reading about all these delectable and wholesome dishes. Why not head over to Usmania Fine Dining, we have a range of wonderful Pakistani cuisines from all over Pakistan. If you are ever in Devon Street, Chicago, and wondering “Where can I find the best Pakistani food near me?”, we invite you to try us out. Our extensive menu and scrumptious dishes will leave you asking for more and more. For further information and reservations, you can reach us at (773) 262 1900.
