Pashtun cuisine

Pashtun cuisine (Pashto: پښتنۍ خواړه) refers to the cuisine of the Pashtun people and is covered under Afghan, Central Asian and South Asian cuisines. It is largely based on meat dishes including mutton, beef, chicken, and fish, as well as rice and some other vegetables. Accompanying these staples are dairy products (yogurt, whey, cheeses), various nuts, local vegetables, and fresh and dried fruits. Peshawar, Kabul, Herat, Bannu, Quetta and Mardan are centers of Pashtun cuisine.

Afghan Pashtun cuisine

Breakfast items include kachala boiled turnips served with chukni; chickpeas; kidney beans; and liver, often served with naan.

Traditional Pashtun cuisine

Breakfast items include green tea with cardamom (kahwa), boiled eggs and malai.

At other meals, some of the following may be served:

Bannu pulao

Chapli kebab

Chicken karahi

Dum pukht

Naan

Peshawari kheer

Other common food items

The following is an incomplete list of food items that Pashtuns eat often.

Afghan burger

Aush (handmade noodles)

Aushak (vegetable- and chive-filled dumplings topped with tomato and yogurt sauces)

Bannu pulao, from the Bannu district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The dish is made with beef, aromatic rice, and a blend of local spices.

Bolani, also called piraki in some parts of Afghanistan

Badenjan (cooked eggplant in oil with potatoes and tomatoes)

Bhindi (cooked okra in oil with potatoes and tomatoes)

Biryani

Chapli kabab

Chopan kabab (lamb chops, skewered and grilled on charcoal)

Dodai (flatbread made in vertical clay ovens called tanoor in Pashto and tandoor in Urdu and Hindi)

Shomleh or shlombeh, also known as triwai in Kabul (a drink made by mixing yogurt with water and shaking it extensively before adding optional dried mint leaves and a small amount of salt)

Fried fish with kachumar raita (diced onion, tomatoes, cucumbers in masteh or dahi) and naan

Ghatay rujay or ghatay wrejay (literally "fat rice"; a rice dish resembling risotto prepared in Charsadda, Mardan, Pirpiai, and other villages of the region where short-grain brown rice is grown)

Kabuli palaw

Kaddo borwani (sweet pumpkins)

Kichrei (sticky rice with mung beans and onions topped with melted qurot sauce, mostly eaten during winter)

Londei, also known as tarshay (lamb or beef jerky cooked with rice)

Pakora, also known as pikora

Paratha

Pukhtay or pekhteh (beef or mutton ribs)

Penda or sohbat, a traditional dish consisting of pieces of posthi (a thin bread) dipped in meat soup, typically served with raita and salad.