The Ultimate Bakra Eid Menu — From Offal to Qorma
Bakra Eid is the one time a year when no cut goes to waste and every household has more meat than it knows what to do with. This collection covers the essential Pakistani Eid al-Adha dishes — slow-cooked nihari, silky korma, seekh kebabs, and the classic paya — everything you need across three days of feasting.
10 recipes in this collection
Classic Lahori Nihari
The ultimate slow-cooked breakfast stew — beef shank and bone marrow simmered overnight in a dozen spices. Old Lahore's most legendary dish.
Shahi Chicken Korma
Shahi Chicken Korma is the crown jewel of Pakistani wedding food — rich, creamy, fragrant with whole spices, and built on a base of fried onions and whisked yoghurt. 'Shahi' means royal, and this curry earns the title.
Lahori Paya — Slow-Cooked Trotters
Lahori Paya is a slow-cooked dish of goat or beef trotters simmered for 6-8 hours until the collagen melts into a rich, gelatinous, deeply spiced gravy. It is traditionally eaten for breakfast (yes, breakfast) in Lahore's old city, served with naan from the tandoor, and considered the ultimate cold-weather restorative.
Lahori Seekh Kebab
Juicy, spiced minced meat kebabs grilled on skewers over live charcoal — the smell alone will bring your entire neighbourhood to the gate. Lahori seekh kebab is richer and spicier than its Peshawari cousin, packed with herbs and fried onion for moisture and depth.
Punjabi Haleem
The Ramadan staple — shredded beef slow-cooked with wheat, barley, and lentils into a thick, silky stew, crowned with fried onions, ginger, lemon, and a drizzle of hot oil.
Lahori Shami Kebab
Lahori Shami Kebab are silky-smooth pan-fried patties made from slow-cooked beef and split chickpeas — spiced, herb-flecked, and crispy at the edges. The quintessential Pakistani tea-time snack.
Lahori Mutton Karahi — Restaurant-Style Wok Curry
Lahori mutton karahi is the king of Pakistani restaurant cooking — bone-in mutton cooked fast and furiously in a heavy steel karahi (wok) with tomatoes, ginger, green chillies, and a final flourish of fresh coriander and cream. Bold, fiery, and deeply satisfying.
Classic Aloo Gosht
Pakistan's everyday comfort curry — tender mutton and golden potatoes simmered in a tomato-onion masala. The dish every Pakistani mother makes differently, and every version is correct.
Yakhni Pulao
Yakhni Pulao is fragrant, one-pot rice cooked in a slow-simmered meat broth (yakhni) with whole spices. Lighter and more delicate than biryani, this is the dish that proves understated can be unforgettable.
Kashmiri Rogan Josh
The crown jewel of Kashmiri cooking — a slow-braised lamb curry in a gorgeous mahogany-red gravy that gets its colour from Kashmiri chillies and alkanet root, not from heat. Aromatic, rich, and unlike any curry you've made before.