Pakistani Appetiser & Starter Recipes
Pakistani starters arrive at the table like an overture — samosas, seekh kebabs off the grill, and golgappay (pani puri) assembled to order. These are the dishes that start arguments about who makes them best.
35 recipes
Peshawari Chapli Kebab
Flat, sizzling meat patties from Peshawar — loaded with tomatoes, coriander, and pomegranate seeds, fried in bone marrow fat until crispy on the outside, juicy within.
Chicken Malai Tikka
Cream and cheese-marinated chicken grilled until charred and smoky — Lahore's favourite non-spicy appetiser that melts on your tongue.
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.
Lahori Chicken Tikka
Lahori chicken tikka — yoghurt and spice-marinated chicken pieces grilled in a tandoor until smoky, charred, and deeply flavoured. This is not the pale orange mild tikka of British-Indian restaurants; this is the real thing: fiery, caramelised, and smoky with a yoghurt-based marinade that has been doing its job overnight.
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.
Malai Boti
Malai Boti is Pakistan's most indulgent BBQ dish — tender cubes of chicken or mutton marinated in a rich cream-cheese marinade, skewered and grilled until just charred at the edges. Mild, melt-in-mouth, and dangerously easy to eat too many of.
Charcoal Beef Boti
Beef Boti is the cornerstone of Pakistani BBQ — spiced cubes of beef threaded onto seekhs (skewers) and grilled over live charcoal until smoky, charred, and deeply flavoured. This is street-food BBQ at its most honest: bold spices, high heat, and that irreplaceable smell of meat over coal.
Lahori Tikka Boti
Lahori Tikka Boti is the smoky, spiced mutton centrepiece of Pakistani BBQ culture — bone-in chunks marinated in yoghurt, spices, and raw papaya, then grilled over coal until charred and juicy. The real one comes from the coal, not the oven.
Lahori Gola Kebab
Lahore's most beloved kebab — silky ground beef and lamb balls skewered on wide seekhs, kissed by charcoal, and finished with dhungar smoke. A wedding staple and dhaba legend.
Bihari Boti — Karachi's Partition Kebab
Paper-thin strips of beef tenderloin, pounded flat, marinated overnight in mustard oil and poppy seeds, skewered flat and grilled. A Karachi classic born from the Bihari community's journey at Partition.
Kashmiri Tabak Maaz
The showstopper Wazwan starter — lamb ribs boiled in spiced milk until tender, then fried in their own reduced milk and ghee until golden-crispy outside and meltingly soft inside. A 500-year-old double-cook technique.
Honey Chilli Chicken
The showpiece Pakistani Chinese starter — shatteringly crispy chicken cubes in a glossy, fiery-sweet glaze that is all heat first, honey second, and completely impossible to stop eating.
Salt and Pepper Chicken
The cleanest dish on any Pakistani Chinese menu — bone-in chicken stir-fried at blistering heat with cracked black pepper, green chillies, and spring onion. No gravy, no sauce, no apologies.
Chicken Lollipop
Chicken wingettes with the meat pushed down the bone into a dramatic lollipop shape, marinated in chilli-ginger-soy, battered crimson, and deep-fried to a crackling crisp. The showstopper starter of every Pakistani Chinese menu.
Beef Seekh Kebab Lahori
Lahori Beef Seekh Kebab is the street food king of the Punjab — minced beef packed with fresh herbs and spices, skewered and grilled over coal until charred outside and juicy within. This is the kebab that defines Lahori food culture.
Chicken Seekh Kebab
Chicken Seekh Kebab is the lighter, equally delicious cousin of the beef original — minced chicken thigh meat seasoned with fresh herbs and subtle spices, grilled to juicy perfection. Perfect for those who prefer white meat without compromising on flavour.
Mutton Seekh Kebab
KP Mutton Seekh Kebab is the finest expression of the seekh kebab form — minced mutton with mountain herbs and Peshawari spicing, cooked in a tandoor to a spectacular char. Rich, smoky, and unforgettable.
Malai Seekh Kebab
Malai Seekh Kebab is the luxurious white sibling of the classic seekh — mince marinated in cream, cheese, and mild spices, then grilled to a pale golden perfection. Mild, melt-in-your-mouth, and spectacularly good.
Sindhi Seekh Kebab
Sindhi Seekh Kebab brings the bold, spice-forward character of Sindhi cuisine to this classic form — with distinctive additions like dried mango powder (amchur) and extra green chilli that create a seekh unlike anything you've had before.
Karachi Chicken Tikka
Karachi Chicken Tikka is marinated overnight in a signature red-orange spiced yoghurt, then grilled over coal or broiled to achieve a charred exterior and impossibly juicy interior. This is the tikka that made Karachi's BBQ culture legendary.
Punjabi Chicken Tikka
Punjabi Chicken Tikka is the template from which all tikka derives — generously spiced, boldly marinated with yoghurt and mustard oil, and cooked in a clay tandoor for a smoky char that defines Pakistani BBQ culture.
Karachi Tikka Boti
Karachi Tikka Boti is the city's beloved bite-sized BBQ — small cubes of marinated chicken threaded on skewers and grilled to perfection. Quick to cook and impossible to stop eating, this is Karachi's favourite party food.
Balochi Tikka
Balochi Tikka is a minimalist masterpiece — small pieces of marinated meat cooked on coal with just a handful of spices, letting the quality of the meat and the power of the charcoal fire create something remarkable.
Beef Tikka Boti
Beef Tikka Boti is Punjab's rugged BBQ heavyweight — cubes of marinated beef char-grilled to a caramelised crust with a juicy, flavourful centre. For those who believe everything is better with beef, this is the definitive answer.
Lahori Malai Boti
Lahori Malai Boti is the creamy, mild, utterly addictive BBQ that has taken Lahore by storm — boneless chicken marinated in a rich cream and cheese mixture, grilled to silky golden perfection. The kebab that converted spice-phobic relatives everywhere.
Gola Kebab Karachi
Karachi's Gola Kebab is the rotund, juicy cousin of seekh kebab — round mince patties cooked on a tawa (griddle) or grill with a distinctive jerk-and-spin technique that Karachi grill cooks have turned into performance art.
Punjabi Gola Kebab
Punjabi Gola Kebab has a distinctly Lahori spice profile — more garam masala, more ginger, and the characteristic Punjabi love of fresh mint — producing round, beautifully flavoured kebabs that are Lahore's favourite tawa snack.
Beef Chapli Kebab
Beef Chapli Kebab is Peshawar's most famous export — a flat, disc-shaped kebab packed with beef, tomato, pomegranate seeds, and whole spices, shallow-fried in beef tallow to produce a crispy edge and juicy centre that is genuinely addictive.
Chicken Chapli Kebab
Chicken Chapli Kebab brings the iconic Peshawari flat kebab tradition to white meat — all the pomegranate seeds, whole coriander, and aromatic complexity of the original, adapted for chicken with extra care for moisture and binding.
Chicken Malai Tikka Karachi
Karachi's Chicken Malai Tikka is the city's most popular mild BBQ — bone-in chicken pieces marinated in a luxurious cream and cream cheese marinade, then grilled to silky golden perfection. Rich, mild, and completely irresistible.
Afghani Chicken Tikka
Afghani Chicken Tikka from KP brings the cooking traditions of the Pak-Afghan frontier — whole spices, yoghurt, and aromatic herbs create a pale, fragrant tikka that's deeply flavourful without a single dried chilli powder in sight.
Tabak Maaz — Crispy Kashmiri Rib Chops
Kashmiri wazwan's beloved fried lamb ribs — par-boiled in a spiced milk broth until tender, then pan-fried in ghee until the exterior is caramelized and crackling. A dish of extraordinary textural contrast.
Lahori Shami Kebab — A Classic Variation
Classic Lahori-style shami kebab made with beef mince and chana dal slow-cooked with whole spices, ground and shaped into patties and fried to a golden crust. Served with green chutney and salad, this is Punjab's favourite kebab — at every dawat table from Lahore to Faisalabad.
Sindhi Shami Kebab — with Potato
Sindhi-style shami kebab sets itself apart by incorporating boiled aloo (potato) into the mince mixture, making it softer, more economical, and distinctly texturally different from Punjabi versions. Cooked with a Sindhi spice profile and served with Sindhi-style green chutney.
Chicken Shami Kebab
Light and flavourful chicken shami kebab made with chicken mince and chana dal, seasoned with fresh herbs and whole spices. A leaner alternative to the classic beef version that is quicker to cook, easier to shape, and just as delicious with green chutney.