10 Delicious Pakistani Ramadan Recipes You Should Try

Get your tastebuds firing with a platter of delectable dishes during this auspicious time.

Reviewed by Nilofar Pendhari, Certified Clinical Nutritionist
Written by Tanya Choudhary, B.Desgn, ISSA Certified Specialist In Fitness & Nutrition
Edited by Arshiya Syeda, BA (Literature & Psychology), PG Diploma
Fact-checked by Himanshi Mahajan, BSc (Life Sciences), Certified Health & Nutrition Life Coach  • 

Pakistani Ramadan recipes are delicious! These are among the finest Pakistani cuisines that charm the eyes and taste buds alike. They are unforgettable when prepared right. These dishes are not just tasty but packed with health and foodgasmic aroma that can send you dancing in the heavens!

Irrespective of religion or region, you can always make these halal food delicacies and enjoy them with your family and friends. Nothing too fancy, yet most superior in taste. Want to try these at home? Check out these 10 Pakistani Ramadan recipes for Ramadan or even just for the foodie in you. Scroll down!

What Is Ramadan?

Ramadan is believed to be the time when the initial verses of the Quran were revealed to Prophet Muhammad. It is observed in the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar and carries profound significance in the Islamic faith. During this holy month, Muslims fast from sunrise (Suhoor) until sunset (Iftar). The fast serves as a means to cultivate self-control. The month of Ramadan is the time when Muslims go through intense self-purification to gain self-discipline and engage in spiritual thoughts. It is also a period for seeking forgiveness, engaging in acts of charity, and intensifying prayers. Additionally, special Taraweeh prayers are held at the mosque. The month concludes with the festive celebration of Eid al-Fitr, marked by communal prayers and feasting.

In the list below, we have shared some yummy Ramadan recipes for you to make your Suhoor meals and Iftar celebrations extra special.

10 Must-Try Pakistani Ramadan Recipes

1. Bread Rolls

Bread roll for Pakistani Ramadan
Image: Shutterstock

Bread rolls are amazing evening snacks in India as well as Pakistan. The taste remains delicious on both sides of the border!

Ingredients:

  • Bread slices
  • Mashed potatoes
  • Green chillies
  • Red chili powder
  • Salt
  • Oil
  • Dhania

How To Make?

  1. Add green chilies, salt and red chili powder to the mashed potatoes.
  2. Soak bread slices in water.
  3. Press them in between your hands.
  4. Make a filling of mashed potatoes.
  5. Deep fry bread rolls.
  6. Serve hot with chutney.

2. Tikka Samosa Or Chicken Samosa

Tikka samosa for Pakistani Ramadan
Image: Shutterstock

This is one of the most amazing Pakistani Ramadan recipes for Iftar.

Ingredients:

  • Chicken breast
  • Lemon juice
  • Tikka masala
  • Salt
  • Eggs
  • Manda Patti

How To Make?

  1. Marinate chicken breast with tikka masala, lemon juice and salt.
  2. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the marinated chicken breast.
  3. Use manda Patti to wrap the samosas. Make a filling of chicken breast and coat with eggs.
  4. Deep fry until it turns golden brown.

3. Tandoori Cutlets

Tandoori cutlet for Pakistani Ramadan
Image: Shutterstock

This highly nutritious Pakistani Ramadan recipe is a popular Indian snack too.

Ingredients:

  • Flour
  • Eggs
  • Oil
  • Salt
  • Vinegar
  • Red chili powder
  • Green chillies
  • Garam masala
  • Boiled potatoes
  • Tandoori chicken

How To Make?

  1. Mix tandoori chicken, vinegar, and garam masala, salt and chopped green chilies in a bowl.
  2. Mash boiled potatoes and mix with the mixture prepared in step 1 to form a thick paste.
  3. Mold the paste in the form of cutlets.
  4. Beat eggs in water.
  5. Coat cutlets with flour. Dip in eggs. Deep fry in oil.

4. Ghilafi Kebabs

Ghilafi kebabs for Pakistani Ramadan
Image: Shutterstock

Ghilafi kebabs are tempting Pakistani starters, perfect for your iftar party!

Ingredients:

  • Mince
  • Capsicum
  • Onions
  • Tomatoes
  • Green chillies
  • Ginger garlic paste
  • Lemon juice
  • Garam masala
  • Salt
  • Cashews
  • Cream
  • Bread
  • Oil
  • Coriander leaves

How To Make?

  1. Mix all the chopped vegetables with coriander leaves, ginger garlic paste, salt, lemon juice, cashews, cream, bread and mince.
  2. Mold the paste in the form of kebabs and refrigerate them.
  3. Deep fry the chilled kebabs in oil and serve hot.

5. Noodle Kebabs

Noodle kebabs for Pakistani Ramadan
Image: Shutterstock

This is a very innovative Pakistani Ramadan recipe. If you are looking to surprise your guests, give this recipe a try!

Ingredients:

  • Chicken noodles
  • Soya sauce
  • Oil
  • Coriander
  • Chili sauce

How To Make?

  1. Boil the noodles.
  2. Fry the boiled noodles in oil. Add chili sauce, soya sauce and chopped coriander to the pan.
  3. When the mixture cools down, use a cookie cutter to mold the mixture in the shape of kebabs.
  4. Bake the kebabs in oven (at 180 degree Celsius).
protip_icon Did You Know?
Sofiyani biryani has its roots in Hyderabad. Legend has it that one of the Nizams developed this biryani due to his trouble digesting rich and strong spices.

6. Sofiyani Biryani

Sofiyani biryani for Pakistani Ramadan
Image: Shutterstock

This typical Pakistani dish will tickle your palate and leave you asking for more!

Ingredients:

  • Chicken
  • Boiled rice
  • Curd
  • Ginger garlic paste
  • Jeera
  • Cardamom
  • Cloves
  • Chopped onions
  • Cinnamon
  • Lemon juice
  • Saffron
  • Mint
  • Oil
  • Salt
  • Chopped coriander
  • Bay leaves

How To Make?

  1. Mix saffron and curd.
  2. Cut the cleaned chicken into small pieces.
  3. Heat oil in a pan.
  4. Add chopped onions, jeera, and chili powder and garam masala to it.
  5. After 3 minutes, add ginger-garlic paste to the pan and fry for 2 minutes.
  6. Add chicken, saffron and curd mixture and lemon juice to the pan. Cook properly.
  7. Arrange layers of boiled rice and chicken in a baking utensil. Place chopped coriander and bay leaves on top of each layer.
  8. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes.

7. Keema Karela

Keema karela for Pakistani Ramadan
Image: Shutterstock

Karela and delicious? Yes! With this amazing recipe, the humble karela gets a makeover!

Ingredients:

  • Mince
  • Karela
  • Salt
  • Turmeric
  • Oil
  • Chopped onions
  • Jeera
  • Tomato
  • Garam masala
  • Ginger garlic paste
  • Mint leaves
  • Lemon juice
  • Chaat masala
  • Amchur
  • Chopped green chillies
  • Red chili powder

How To Make?

  1. Add salt and turmeric powder to sliced Karela.
  2. Mix Keema and water to make gravy.
  3. Fry onions, jeera and ginger garlic paste in oil.
  4. Add tomato puree, red chilli powder and amchur, turmeric, Keema and garam masala.
  5. Use the paste made in step 4 as a filling of the Karela. Tie Karela with thread and deep fry.
  6. When cooked, remove the thread. Serve in a plate garnished with mint leaves.

8. Fruit Salad

Fruit salad for Pakistani Ramadan
Image: Shutterstock

This simple sweet dish is a popular Pakistani Ramadan recipe. The perfect dessert dish!

Ingredients:

  • Chilled cream
  • Sugar
  • Custard
  • Bananas
  • Dates
  • Pineapples
  • Mangoes
  • Strawberries
  • Cashews
  • Walnuts
  • Pistas

How To Make?

  1. Mix cream, custard and sugar in a bowl.
  2. Add chopped fruits to the bowl. Beat well.
  3. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Garnish with dry fruits before serving.

Ambreen Malik, a Pakistani food blogger, shared her own fruit salad recipe in one of her posts, taking us through her own unique palette. She said,“My version of fruit chaat has less sugar than the usual. I enjoy the natural sweetness of the fruits served in balance with a hint of spice (ii).”. Her recipe only used about a tablespoon of sugar for sweetness and a teaspoon each of salt and chaat masala for a savory twist to the dish.

9. Khajla

Khajla for Pakistani Ramadan
Image: Shutterstock

Khajla makes an amazing simple Pakistani Ramadan recipe. If you are running short of time, this is the recipe to try!

Ingredients:

  • Flour
  • Ghee
  • Ararot

How To Make?

  1. Make dough using flour and water.
  2. Make small rolls of the dough and put ghee on them.
  3. Slit them and leave for 10 minutes.
  4. Make small roti like rolls of the small dough rolls.
  5. Deep fry them in ghee.

10. Karachi Falooda

Karachi falooda for Pakistani Ramadan
Image: Shutterstock

This is a chilled Pakistani Ramadan sweet dish. The perfect end to your iftar party!

Ingredients:

  • Milk
  • Pineapples
  • Ice cream
  • Falooda
  • Sugar
  • Red and green jelly
  • Nuts
  • Red syrup
  • Ice cubes

How To Make?

  1. Blend milk, ice and red syrup.
  2. Place Falooda in a glass.
  3. Pour blended milk in it.
  4. Place pineapple pieces, jellies and sugar syrup on top.
  5. Garnish with two scoops of ice cream.
protip_icon Quick Tip
You can add chopped pistachios or almonds to give a delicious flavor to your Karachi falooda.

In Islam, Ramadan signifies self-restraint, devotion, spiritual retrospection, and fasting. The meals prepared in this holy month are special as they are nutritious and delicious. These Pakistani Ramadan recipes can be enjoyed by everyone, whether one follows the faith or not. Some of them can be prepared in advance and stored. They just need to be fried when needed. This means that you do not have to stress out too much about arranging the dinner. A few other equally delicious dishes that make for a Ramadan special dinner include- sehri, haleem, nihari, pakoras, sheer khurma, qeema, parathas, kulfi, lassi and rooh afza. There are delicious suhoor dishes as well as mouthwatering iftar side dishes for everyone to enjoy.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Pakistani traditional food?

Pakistani traditional dishes include rice, flat breads, lentils, vegetables, and meats as staples.

What is the dua for iftar?

The dua after iftar roughly translates to “O Allah! I fast for You, I trust You, I put my faith in You, and I break the fast with Your sustenance.”

Is Pakistani food better than Indian?

Pakistani and Indian food are similar in terms of the spices and staples used. Both cuisines have their stand out dishes and regional variations.

Is Pakistani food healthy?

Like with any cuisine, some Pakistani foods are healthy and some are not so healthy.

Key Takeaways

  • Muslims fast from sunrise until sunset during the holy month of Ramadan to cultivate self-control.
  • They break their fast in the evening by feasting on some delicious fried and savory dishes, such as bread rolls, samosa, kebabs, and biryani.
  • Pakistani Ramadan recipes also have some lip-smacking sweet recipes, such as fruit salad and Karachi falooda.
pakistani ramadan recipes

Image: Stable Diffusion/StyleCraze Design Team

Looking for simple ways to make delicious Ramadan snacks? Click on the video below to learn how to make them and enjoy the holy month with your family and friends.

References

Articles on StyleCraze are backed by verified information from peer-reviewed and academic research papers, reputed organizations, research institutions, and medical associations to ensure accuracy and relevance. Read our editorial policy to learn more.

i. ‘Food Was More Central to Ramadan Than Any Other Time of Year.’
https://heated.medium.com/food-was-more-central-to-ramadan-than-any-other-time-of-year-b26c478a2568
ii. Fruit Chaat – Pakistani Fruit Salad
https://thegawalmandi.blogspot.com/2014/04/fruit-chaat-pakistani-fruit-salad.html

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