Pulao Recipes

Yakhni Pulao

Punjab

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.

2h 10m medium

Kabuli Pulao (Afghan-Peshawari Rice)

KP

Afghanistan's national dish — long-grain basmati rice cooked in rich lamb stock, crowned with caramelised julienned carrots, plump raisins, and slivered almonds. Mildly sweet, deeply fragrant, impossibly elegant.

2h 30m medium

Chana Pulao

Punjab

Fragrant basmati rice cooked with whole boiled chickpeas — no meat, loads of flavour. An economical, filling pulao made for large gatherings and beloved across Punjab.

1h 5m medium

Zafrani Pulao (Saffron Rice)

Punjab

Mughal festive rice — long-grain basmati perfumed with saffron-soaked milk, cooked in ghee, and crowned with dry fruits fried until golden. Mildly sweet, deeply fragrant, no meat. Served at weddings alongside korma or nihari.

1h 10m medium

Home-Style Chicken Pulao

Punjab

Home-Style Chicken Pulao is the everyday hero of Pakistani rice cooking — simpler than biryani, quicker to make, and delivering all the comfort of a one-pot meal. Chicken cooks right in the rice, infusing every grain with flavour.

1h 5m easy

Lahori Mutton Pulao

Punjab

Lahori Mutton Pulao is the city's answer to a one-pot celebration meal — tender mutton cooked until the stock is deeply fragrant, then basmati rice finished in that stock until every grain tells the story of the gosht below.

1h 50m medium

Kashmiri Sweet Pulao

KP

Kashmiri Sweet Pulao is a fragrant, gently sweetened rice dish that bridges the border between savoury and dessert — saffron-kissed rice topped with dry fruits, nuts, and a hint of sugar makes this the most festive and unusual pulao in Pakistan.

1h easy

Matar Pulao

Punjab

Matar Pulao is a simple, fragrant pea rice that transforms a handful of ingredients into something that outshines many more complicated dishes. Green peas cooked with basmati in cumin-scented water creates a go-to side dish that works with almost anything.

40m easy

Sindhi Peas and Carrot Pulao

Sindh

This Sindhi Peas and Carrot Pulao is a colourful, warming rice dish that combines sweet gajar (carrots) and matar (peas) in a lightly spiced, fragrant basmati. A vegetarian side dish that holds its own against any main course.

50m easy

Sindhi Pulao

Sindh

Sindhi Pulao is a rich, distinctive rice dish that sets itself apart with a masala base of fried onions, whole spices, and a generous hand with the ghee. More flavourful than most one-pot rice dishes, this is Sindhi cooking at its confident, satisfying best.

1h 55m medium

Balochi Beef Pulao

Balochistan

Balochi Beef Pulao is a hardy, deeply satisfying rice dish from Pakistan's largest province — slow-cooked beef in an aromatic stock that gives the rice a depth of flavour as vast and rugged as the Balochi landscape itself.

2h medium

KP Chicken Pulao

KP

KP Chicken Pulao is the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa household staple — simple, deeply aromatic, and made with the confidence of a tradition that knows exactly what it's doing. Less spice, more flavour, and a generosity of ghee that makes every grain taste like a celebration.

1h 10m easy

Degi Mutton Pulao

Punjab

Degi Mutton Pulao is the grand-scale celebration pulao of Punjab — slow-cooked in a large deg, scaled for dozens, and carrying the unmistakable flavour of a dish that's been made the right way since the Mughal era. Brought down to family size without losing any of its soul.

2h 30m hard

Aloo Gosht Pulao

Punjab

Aloo Gosht Pulao combines Pakistan's most beloved curry — aloo gosht — with fragrant basmati in one pot. The potatoes absorb the spiced gosht stock, creating pockets of soft, flavourful aloo throughout the rice that make every bite a small discovery.

1h 50m medium

Moong Dal Pulao

Punjab

Moong Dal Pulao is a comforting, protein-rich one-pot dish that combines split green lentils with basmati rice in a lightly spiced tarka — a humble Pakistani classic that's as good for the body as it is satisfying to the soul.

50m easy

Qeema Pulao

Sindh

Qeema Pulao is a quick, flavourful rice dish where spiced minced meat is cooked directly with basmati rice, creating a deeply satisfying one-pot meal that's ready in under an hour and tastes like it took much longer.

1h easy

Wedding Pilau (Dawat Wala Pulao)

Punjab

Wedding Pilau is the ultimate celebration pulao of Punjab — the dish that appears at every mehendi, baraat, and walima, scaled for crowds and made with a generosity of ghee and spices that marks every grain as something special. This home version captures that celebratory magic.

3h 10m hard

Tahri (Aloo Chawal)

Punjab

Tahri is Punjab's beloved spiced potato rice — the vegetarian one-pot meal that generations of Punjabi families have eaten for weekday lunches and simple dinners. Vibrant with turmeric and whole spices, tahri is comfort food in its purest form.

50m easy

Sindhi Rice Khichdi

Sindh

Sindhi Rice Khichdi is the ultimate comfort food of Pakistan's Sindh province — rice and lentils cooked together with warming spices and finished with a sizzling tarka of garlic, cumin, and ghee that brings everything to life. Nourishing, healing, and deeply satisfying.

40m easy

KP Rice with Gosht (Chawal Gosht)

KP

KP Chawal Gosht is the provincial home-cooking classic — mutton cooked in aromatic yakhni that then becomes the cooking medium for fragrant basmati rice. Simple in approach, extraordinary in flavour, and deeply representative of how KP cooks think about food.

1h 50m medium