Pakistani Dessert & Mithai Recipes
Pakistani mithai (sweets) are dense, unapologetic, and built for celebration. Gulab jamun soaked in rose syrup, kheer simmered for hours, and sheer khurma served at Eid. These are recipes that mark milestones.
31 recipes
Sheer Khurma
The Eid morning vermicelli pudding — toasted sevaiyan simmered in sweetened milk with dates, pistachios, almonds, and cardamom. No Eid is complete without it.
Gajar Ka Halwa — Classic Pakistani Carrot Dessert
Gajar ka halwa is Pakistan's most beloved winter dessert — slow-cooked grated carrots in full-fat milk, sugar, and cardamom, finished with a shower of nuts and a knob of ghee. Rich, aromatic, and impossibly comforting, it turns a humble root vegetable into something genuinely spectacular.
Doodh Chawal Kheer — Pakistani Rice Pudding
Kheer is the quintessential Pakistani celebration dessert — rice slow-cooked in full-fat milk until creamy and thick, perfumed with cardamom and saffron, and crowned with pistachios and silver leaf. It appears at every eid, wedding, and birth celebration across the country.
Gulab Jamun — Soft Milk Dumplings in Rose Syrup
Gulab jamun are soft, spongy milk dumplings deep-fried to a deep golden-brown and soaked in a fragrant sugar syrup perfumed with rose water and cardamom. Pakistan's most popular mithai (sweet), found at every wedding, celebration, and chai break.
Homemade Jalebi — Crispy Saffron Syrup Spirals
Jalebi are Pakistan's most theatrical street sweet — crispy, pretzel-shaped rings of fermented batter deep-fried until crackling and immediately dipped into hot saffron-scented sugar syrup. Best eaten scorching hot, sticky fingers and all.
Traditional Rabri
Traditional Rabri is slowly reduced sweetened milk layered with thick cream, perfumed with saffron and cardamom — Pakistan's most regal milk dessert. Each spoonful is dense, intensely flavoured, and unapologetically rich.
Karachi Falooda
Karachi Falooda is Pakistan's most theatrical dessert drink — layered with rose syrup, chewy falooda vermicelli, plump basil seeds, cold rabri, and topped with a scoop of ice cream. Every sip is a different texture. Every glass is a full event.
Shahi Zarda
Shahi Zarda is the jewelled sweet rice of Pakistani celebrations — fragrant basmati tinted gold with saffron, studded with dry fruits, nuts, and cardamom. A Mughal-era dish that still anchors every walima and mehndi spread.
Multani Sohan Halwa
Multan's legendary brittle confection — a hard, snapping slab of caramelised sugar, wheat starch, ghee, and whole nuts. Nothing like soft halwa. This one shatters. And it is magnificent.
Phirni
A silky, chilled rice pudding that is the definition of elegant simplicity — creamy full-fat milk slowly thickened with coarsely ground soaked rice, perfumed with cardamom and saffron, and set in traditional clay shikoras (bowls) that give it an earthy, cool quality no modern container can replicate. Phirni is the dessert you serve when you want guests to feel truly looked after.
Shahi Tukda
The royal bread pudding of the Mughal kitchen — thick slices of day-old white bread fried until shatteringly golden, soaked in fragrant sugar syrup, then generously drowned in saffron-and-cardamom-scented rabri (thickened sweetened milk) and finished with silver leaf and pistachios. Every bite is rich, sweet, and unapologetically indulgent.
Kulfi
The original South Asian ice cream — denser, richer, and more intensely flavoured than anything you'll find in a tub. Made from full-fat milk slowly reduced to one-third its volume, sweetened and perfumed with cardamom and pistachios, then frozen solid in conical moulds. A single kulfi contains the concentrated goodness of three glasses of milk.
Nankhatai
Pakistan's beloved shortbread cookie — crumbly, ghee-rich, and subtly fragrant with cardamom — made from a mix of besan (gram flour), maida (all-purpose flour), and suji (semolina) that produces a melt-in-the-mouth texture no ordinary butter biscuit can match. They look pale and delicate coming out of the oven, then harden to perfection as they cool.
Besan Ka Halwa
A deeply satisfying Punjabi halwa made by slowly roasting gram flour in ghee until it turns a warm golden-brown and fills your kitchen with a nutty, almost butterscotch-like aroma — then enriched with fragrant sugar syrup and cooked until glossy and pulling away from the sides. Rich, warming, and wildly good.
Pinni
Punjabi winter energy balls made by slow-roasting whole wheat flour in ghee until toasted and golden, then mixed with powdered sugar, dried ginger, cardamom, and a generous handful of chopped nuts, and rolled into firm round balls while still warm. Dense, wholesome, and impossible to eat just one.
Karachi Halwa (Cornflour Halwa / Bombay Halwa)
A jewel-bright, translucent, gloriously chewy halwa made from cornflour, sugar, and an extravagant amount of ghee — cooked in one pot with relentless stirring until it transforms into a bouncy, glistening confection the colour of liquid amber or emerald. Set in a greased tray, cut into diamonds, and decorated with pistachios, it looks like something from a confectionery museum. It is also utterly, devastatingly delicious.
Sewaiyan Kheer (Vermicelli Pudding) for Eid
Silky sewaiyan kheer made with roasted vermicelli slow-cooked in full-fat milk, sweetened with sugar and fragrant with cardamom and rose water. A beloved Eid staple that fills every Pakistani home with warmth and celebration. Ready in under an hour and guaranteed to impress.
Badam Kheer (Almond Milk Pudding)
Luxurious badam kheer made with blanched almonds ground into a paste, simmered in full-fat milk with saffron and cardamom for a rich, nutty Pakistani dessert. Thicker than regular kheer and utterly indulgent, this is the dessert you serve when you want to impress.
Chawal Ki Kheer — Sindhi Slow-Cooked Rice Pudding
Traditional Sindhi-style chawal ki kheer made by slow-cooking basmati rice in whole milk until the grains dissolve and the pudding turns thick and creamy. Scented with cardamom and rose water, this is the patient cook's reward — simple ingredients, extraordinary results.
Zarda — Pakistani Wedding-Style Sweet Rice
Vibrant Punjabi wedding-style zarda made with fragrant basmati rice cooked in sugar syrup with saffron, fried in ghee and loaded with nuts, raisins and khoya for an indulgent celebration rice dessert. The showstopper at every Pakistani walima and mehndi.
Sindhi Zarda — Fragrant Sweet Rice with Coconut
Sindhi-style zarda sets itself apart with the addition of fresh coconut and a heavier hand with rose water, creating a fragrant sweet rice dessert with a distinctly coastal character. Made for Sindhi celebrations and eid gatherings, this version is lighter on ghee but big on flavour.
Shahi Tukda — Karachi Double Ka Meetha Style
Karachi's beloved shahi tukda features golden-fried bread soaked in saffron sugar syrup, then topped with thick condensed rabri and a crown of pistachios and silver leaf. Mogul-era luxury you can make at home in under an hour. Rich, sweet and completely unforgettable.
Bread Shahi Tukda — Easy Punjabi Home Style
Simple Punjabi home-style shahi tukda made with pan-toasted bread instead of deep-frying, dipped in cardamom-rose syrup and topped with a luscious quick rabri. All the royal flavour without deep-frying guilt — ready in 30 minutes for weeknight sweet cravings.
Gajar Ka Halwa — Quick Stovetop Version
Quick stovetop gajar ka halwa made with juicy red carrots grated and cooked with whole milk, sugar and ghee until thick and fudgy, finished with cardamom and nuts. Ready in 45 minutes instead of hours — all the halwai flavour, fraction of the time.
Creamy Rabri — Lahori Style
Lahori-style rabri made by slow-simmering full-fat milk for over an hour, constantly collecting the creamy skin layers to create a thick, textured, intensely flavourful condensed milk dessert. The base of countless Pakistani sweets and perfect eaten straight with a spoon.
Kulfi Falooda — Classic Street Style
Street-style kulfi falooda with dense, creamy cardamom-saffron kulfi served alongside chilled falooda sev, rose syrup and soaked basil seeds in cold milk. The ultimate Pakistani frozen dessert experience — richer than ice cream, more complex than a sundae.
Mango Kulfi — Aam Wali Kulfi
Luscious mango kulfi made with Chaunsa or Sindhri mango pulp blended into a condensed milk and cream base — no cooking, no stirring, freeze and serve. Captures peak mango season in every mold and delivers pure Pakistani summer joy.
Phirni for Eid — Saffron Rice Pudding in Clay Pots
Creamy Punjabi phirni made with coarsely ground rice cooked in full-fat milk until silky, set in traditional clay pots (matke) and chilled overnight with saffron and cardamom. The dessert that tells guests they are truly welcome — set in matke and garnished with silver leaf.
Multani Sohan Halwa — Gift Box Style
Authentic Multani sohan halwa — the legendary South Punjab confection made by reducing wheat starch with sugar and ghee into a glossy, firm disc studded with pistachios and almonds. The GI-protected sweet of Multan, traditionally gifted in ornate tins. Challenging but deeply rewarding to make.
Instant Jalebi — Crispy Homemade in 30 Minutes
Crispy, bright orange instant jalebi made with a quick yeast-free batter that's ready in 15 minutes, piped into hot oil in concentric circles and soaked in saffron-cardamom sugar syrup. Breakfast, snack, or dessert — jalebi never asks for permission.
Soft Gulab Jamun — Perfect Every Time
Melt-in-your-mouth gulab jamun made from khoya and flour, deep-fried to a deep brown and soaked in saffron-rose sugar syrup until plump and syrup-soaked. The most universally loved Pakistani dessert — at every wedding, eid, and celebration table for a reason.