Balti Food: Traditional Dishes of Baltistan

Balti food is the home cooking of Baltistan, the Skardu, Shigar and Khaplu valleys: mild, filling mountain food built on wheat and buckwheat, hand-made noodles, walnuts and apricot oil, with salty butter tea on the side. The dishes to look for are marzan, a grain dish eaten with apricot oil; mamtu, steamed meat dumplings; prapu, noodles with a walnut and herb paste; and balay, the family of noodle and wheat soups. In Skardu, the surest places to try them are Nangsoq village behind Kharpocho Fort, the palace hotels at Shigar and Khaplu, and any guesthouse that will cook for you if you ask a day ahead.

This guide explains each dish, how Balti cooking differs from what you eat at home, and how to get it cooked for you on a short trip.

Balti food or balti curry?

If you have lived in Britain, or searched from there, "balti" may mean something else: a curry cooked and served in a steel bowl. That dish was developed by Pakistani restaurateurs in Birmingham in the 1970s, and the name probably comes from the word for bucket, after the pot it is cooked in. The food writer Colleen Taylor Sen put it plainly: the food eaten in Baltistan bears no resemblance to it.

This guide is about the real thing, cooked in the valleys around Skardu.

What Balti cooking is like

Balti is a Tibetan language, and Balti cooking has more in common with Ladakh and Tibet than with Punjab. Local writers describe it as closer to Central Asian food than to the rest of Pakistan.

A few things set it apart:

• Little chilli. Traditional dishes are mild. The flavour comes from meat, grain, walnuts, mint and mountain herbs, and chilli sauce is usually on the side.
• Noodles and grain. Hand-made noodles, wheat and buckwheat do the work that rice and naan do further south.
• Apricots in everything. Apricot kernel oil finishes many dishes, and dried apricots are eaten all year.
• Home cooking first. Most of these dishes are made at home and take time, so they are more often offered to guests than printed on a menu.

The dishes to look for

Marzan

Marzan is the dish most particular to Baltistan, and local writers describe it as found only here and in Tibet: a mound of grain dough served with a bowl of apricot oil in the centre of the plate. Local accounts differ on the grain. Some describe it as made from buckwheat, others from sprouted wheat flour, and recipes vary between families and valleys.

It takes time to prepare, so it is cooked for guests and occasions more often than for an ordinary meal. It is also meat-free, which makes it one of the Balti dishes vegetarians can eat without worry.

Mamtu

Mamtu are steamed dumplings of minced meat and onion in thin dough, eaten across Gilgit-Baltistan. They usually come with yoghurt, vinegar or chilli sauce to dip into. Of all the dishes here, mamtu is the one you are most likely to find without ordering ahead, which makes it the natural first taste of Balti food.

Prapu and muskut

Prapu (also spelt prapo) is a dish of hand-made wheat noodles eaten with muskut, a paste of ground walnuts, mint and mountain herbs. It is rich, nutty and very filling, and it is one of the dishes local cooks name first when asked about Balti food. Like marzan, it contains no meat.

Balay

Balay is less a single dish than a family of soupy, warming meals, made most often in the colder months.

• Tras balay is hand-made noodles in broth with herbs, and meat when there is meat.
• Rdung balay (also written kro balay) is made with cooked or ground wheat rather than noodles, with mutton, apricot oil, mint and herbs. Some versions add potatoes and peas.

If you are in Skardu in spring, autumn or winter, balay is the dish to ask for on a cold evening.

Payo cha, the butter tea

Payo cha is the salty tea of Baltistan, made with tea leaves, butter or ghee, salt and milk, often with a pinch of baking soda that turns it brown. It is particularly associated with Ghanche and Khaplu. If you grew up on sweet chai it takes some getting used to: think of it as closer to a thin soup than to tea, and it makes sense on a cold morning.

And the rest of the table

Chapshuro, the meat-filled bread that began in Hunza, is now made in Baltistan too. Trout, introduced to the valley's lakes long ago, is fried and eaten at Kachura in season. Our guide to Gilgit-Baltistan's traditional food covers the dishes of Hunza and the other valleys.

Where to try Balti food in and around Skardu

Nangsoq. The village behind Kharpocho Fort was developed as Pakistan's first organic village, and the Gilgit-Baltistan tourism department recommends it for trying Baltistan's traditional cuisine. It pairs well with the climb to Kharpocho Fort for an afternoon in town.

Serena Shigar Fort. The Fong Khar restaurant in the restored palace, an hour north of Skardu, cooks Balti dishes alongside Pakistani, Chinese and continental food, with produce from the fort's own orchards and garden. Serena lists breakfast and dinner hours and takes table bookings, so ring ahead if you are not staying. Our Shigar Fort guide covers the rest of the visit.

Serena Khaplu Palace. The small Sarfa Khar restaurant, three hours up the Shyok, also serves Balti food. With only 26 seats, it is worth booking in summer.

Guesthouses and homes. The most traditional Balti food is cooked at home. Some guesthouses will make prapu, balay or marzan for guests who ask, but they need notice, and some dishes need a group to be worth making.

Skardu town. Most bazaar restaurants cook Pakistani and Chinese food, with only a few making Balti dishes. Our guide to restaurants in Skardu names the places to try and covers trout at Kachura.

How to get Balti dishes cooked for you

On a short trip, food rarely finds you; you have to ask for it. A few habits help:

1. Ask on the day you arrive. Tell your hotel or guesthouse which dishes you want, and let them choose the evening.
2. Order ahead for the slow dishes. Marzan, prapu and balay need hours of preparation. Mamtu can often be made the same day.
3. Order for the group. A single plate of marzan is hardly worth making; a family order is. Share several dishes and try each one.
4. Ask for chilli on the side if you want heat, rather than having the dish changed.
5. Try the tea once. Even if you don't finish the cup, it is part of the meal.

Vegetarians, allergies and children

• Vegetarians do better with Balti food than with most northern menus: prapu and marzan are meat-free. Check whether a balay is made with meat stock.
• Nut allergies need care. Walnuts are the base of muskut, and the oil in many dishes is pressed from apricot kernels. Say so clearly before anything is cooked.
• Children usually like mamtu at once, and the mildness of most dishes helps. If they will only eat familiar food, karahi, daal and rice are available everywhere in Skardu.

If you want to take some of it home, dried apricots and sweet apricot oil are the local products; our guide to what to buy in Gilgit-Baltistan explains how to tell good oil from bad.

Is Balti food worth seeking out?

Yes, if you are curious and willing to ask a day ahead. A bowl of balay on a cold evening or a plate of prapu in a Balti home tells you more about the valley than another viewpoint, and none of it is expensive outside the palace hotels.

It is not worth planning a trip around. Skardu has no food street, the dishes are simple home cooking, and in the busy weeks of July and August hotel kitchens have less time for slow dishes. Treat it as part of a visit, alongside the lakes and forts on our Skardu destination page.

Frequently asked questions