Vegetarian
Daal Chawal
Lentils simmered to a thick, soft texture and finished with a tarka of whole spices, served with steamed rice as an everyday meal.
RECIPE COLLECTION
Vegetarian recipes
Vegetarian food is the daily default in most Pakistani households, not a separate category reserved for special diets — Daal Chawal (lentils with steamed rice) is one of the most-cooked meals in the country, valued for being fast, inexpensive and forgiving of substitution. The technique that defines Pakistani vegetarian cooking is the tarka (or baghaar): a small amount of oil or ghee heated with whole spices, garlic or dried chilli until fragrant, then poured over the finished lentils or vegetables right before serving. It's a finishing step, not a base, which is why it can transform the same pot of daal into a noticeably different dish depending on what goes into the tarka. Beyond daal, vegetarian cooking covers sabzi (spiced vegetable dishes) built on the same onion-tomato-ginger-garlic base as meat curries, just without the meat — which is also why many meat recipes on this site convert easily to a vegetarian version by swapping the standard protein for potatoes, chickpeas or paneer.
Vegetarian
Vegetable Samosa
A firm, flaky pastry made with plenty of fat, wrapped around a spiced potato and pea filling and fried slowly until crisp.
Vegetarian
Spinach Pakora
Chopped spinach and onion in a thick, spiced gram-flour batter, fried in spoonfuls until crisp and eaten straight away.
Vegetarian
Dahi Puri
Crisp, hollow puri shells cracked open and filled with potato and chickpeas, then cool sweet yoghurt, chutneys and sev.
Vegetarian
Pani Puri
Golgappay: hollow shells filled with potato and chickpeas, then dipped in chilled, sour, mint-and-cumin water and eaten in one bite.
Vegetarian
Halwa Puri
The classic weekend breakfast: puffed fried puri with a spicy chickpea curry and sweet semolina halwa.
Vegetarian
Sarson Ka Saag
Punjabi winter greens: mustard leaves and spinach simmered soft, thickened with maize flour and finished with a garlic tarka and butter.
Vegetarian
Palak Paneer
Cubes of paneer in a smooth, mildly spiced spinach gravy, finished with fresh ginger and a little butter.