A handful of Urdu food words will get you through almost any Pakistani menu. Learn gosht (meat), murgh (chicken), keema (mince), salan (curry), karahi, tikka, daal, sabzi, roti and chawal (rice), and add kam mirch (less chilli) for when you order. Most menus in Pakistan are printed in English letters, but the dish names stay in Urdu, so knowing the words matters more than reading the script.
This guide lists the words you will actually meet, grouped the way a menu is: meat and cuts, cooking styles, breads and rice, vegetables and lentils, sides, sweets and drinks, and the words for ordering. For phrases beyond food, see our Urdu phrases for travellers.
How are Pakistani menus written?
In cities, most restaurant menus are in English script with Urdu dish names, often with English beside them. Smaller dhabas may have no menu at all, just a board in Urdu or a waiter who tells you what is cooking today.
Spelling is not fixed. The same dish can appear as qorma or korma, chanay or chana, palak or paalak, tikka or tikkah. Read a word aloud and it usually makes sense.
Two habits catch first-timers. Karahi and barbecue are often priced by weight, per kilo or half kilo, and many dishes come as half or full. Ask how many people a full portion feeds before ordering for a family.
What are the Urdu words for meat?
| Urdu | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Gosht | Meat in general; on menus it usually means mutton |
| Mutton | Goat meat, not sheep, in Pakistan |
| Bara gosht / beef | Beef |
| Murgh / chicken | Chicken |
| Machhli | Fish |
| Keema | Minced meat |
| Boti | Boneless cubes of meat |
| Champ | Chops |
| Raan | Whole leg, usually roasted |
| Kaleji | Liver |
| Gurda | Kidney |
| Magaz | Brain |
| Paye | Trotters, slow cooked for breakfast |
| Siri | Head meat, often paired with paye |
| Nalli | Marrow bone |
| Dumba | Fat-tailed sheep, a Peshawar and Quetta speciality |
When a menu says desi murgh it means free-range village chicken, which is tougher, slower to cook and costs more than the standard broiler.
What do the cooking words mean?
These words tell you how a dish is made, and they combine with the meat words: mutton karahi, chicken tikka, keema matar.
- Karahi: cooked fast in a wok-shaped pan with tomato, green chilli and ginger. Our karahi guide covers the styles.
- Handi: cooked in a deep pot, usually richer and creamier than karahi.
- Tikka: marinated pieces grilled over coals.
- Seekh kebab: mince pressed onto a skewer and grilled.
- Shami kebab: a fried patty of mince and lentils.
- Chapli kebab: a flat, spiced mince patty fried in fat, from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
- Tawa: cooked on a flat iron griddle, as in tawa chicken or tawa kaleji.
- Tandoori: cooked in a clay oven.
- Bhuna: dry-fried until the masala clings to the meat.
- Salan: any curry with gravy.
- Shorba: thin gravy or broth.
- Yakhni: meat stock, the base of pulao and of clear soups.
- Qorma / korma: meat braised in yoghurt, onion and spices.
- Achari: cooked with pickling spices, so sour and sharp.
- Makhani: with butter and cream.
- Jalfrezi: stir-fried with peppers, onion and tomato.
- Tarka / tadka: spices fried in hot oil and poured over daal at the end.
- Dum: sealed and slow cooked in its own steam.
Which words cover bread and rice?
| Urdu | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Roti | Everyday flatbread; in a restaurant, usually from the tandoor |
| Chapati / phulka | Thin wholewheat bread cooked on a tawa, common at home |
| Naan | Leavened white bread from the tandoor |
| Roghni naan | Naan brushed with oil or ghee and sesame |
| Kulcha | A softer, smaller leavened bread |
| Paratha | Layered, fried flatbread, often for breakfast |
| Puri | Small deep-fried bread, eaten with halwa and chanay |
| Taftan / sheermal | Slightly sweet, saffron-tinted breads |
| Chawal | Rice |
| Pulao | Rice cooked in meat stock |
| Biryani | Layered rice and spiced meat |
| Khichri | Rice and lentils cooked together |
Our guide to Pakistani breads goes through them in more detail.
What are daal and sabzi?
Daal is any lentil dish and sabzi is any vegetable dish. Both are cheap, filling and found almost everywhere. The common ones:
- Daal mash, daal masoor, daal moong, daal chana: white, red, yellow and split chickpea lentils.
- Chana / chanay: chickpeas.
- Aloo: potato. Gobi: cauliflower. Palak: spinach. Saag: mustard greens, a winter dish.
- Bhindi: okra. Matar: peas. Baingan: aubergine. Karela: bitter gourd. Tinda: round gourd. Shimla mirch: green pepper.
A "vegetable" dish can still be cooked in meat stock or come with keema mixed in. If you avoid meat, our vegetarian food guide explains how to ask.
What do the side, drink and sweet words mean?
Sides
- Raita: thin yoghurt with cucumber, mint or cumin.
- Dahi: plain yoghurt.
- Achar: pickle, usually mango, lime or mixed vegetable in oil.
- Chutney: a fresh or cooked relish; imli is tamarind, podina is mint.
- Salad: sliced onion, tomato, cucumber and lemon, often free.
Drinks
- Chai: tea. Doodh patti: tea brewed in milk. Kahwa / qehwa: green tea.
- Lassi: yoghurt drink, meethi (sweet) or namkeen (salted).
- Nimbu pani: fresh lemonade. Sharbat: syrup drink.
- Sada pani: plain water. Ask for mineral water if you want a sealed bottle.
Sweets
- Kheer: rice pudding. Firni: ground-rice pudding set in clay bowls.
- Halwa: a dense sweet; gajar ka halwa is carrot, sooji ka halwa is semolina.
- Gulab jamun, jalebi, ras malai, barfi: the standard mithai.
- Kulfi: dense frozen milk. Falooda: vermicelli, basil seeds and rose syrup.
- Zarda: sweet yellow rice. Sheer khurma: vermicelli in milk, made for Eid.
Which words help when you order?
| Urdu | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Aadha / poora | Half / full |
| Kam mirch | Less chilli |
| Mirch bilkul nahin | No chilli at all |
| Tez / teekha | Spicy |
| Meetha / namkeen / khatta | Sweet / salty / sour |
| Garam / thanda | Hot / cold |
| Parcel | Takeaway |
| Family hall / family section | Seating for families and women |
| Aur roti | More bread |
| Bill la dein | Please bring the bill |
Saying kam mirch is useful, but "less" in a Lahore karahi house is still hotter than many visitors expect. If heat is a real problem, ask for a dish that is not chilli-led, such as qorma, handi or daal.
Do you need these words at all?
In city restaurants, no. Waiters in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad will explain the menu in English. The words earn their keep at roadside dhabas, small towns and breakfast stalls, where there is no menu and the choice is whatever is on the stove. Knowing daal, anda (egg), aloo and chanay means you can eat well anywhere. For trip basics beyond food, start with our Pakistan travel guide, and for what to eat region by region, our Pakistani food guide for visitors.
Frequently asked questions
What does gosht mean on a Pakistani menu?
Gosht means meat. On its own it usually means mutton, which in Pakistan is goat, while beef is bara gosht and chicken is murgh.
What is the difference between salan and qorma?
Salan is any curry with gravy. Qorma is a particular style, meat braised in yoghurt, browned onion and whole spices, usually richer and less sour than an everyday salan.
How do I say less spicy in Urdu?
Say kam mirch, which means less chilli. For none at all, say mirch bilkul nahin.
What does parcel mean in a Pakistani restaurant?
Parcel means takeaway. Say "parcel kar dein" and the food will be packed to take with you.
Why is karahi sold by the kilo?
Karahi is cooked to order from a weighed quantity of meat, so restaurants price it per kilo or half kilo. Ask the waiter how many people a half or full kilo feeds before you order.
