Sindhi cuisine refers to the native cuisine of the Sindhi people

Sindhi people

Sindhis are a Sindhi speaking socio-ethnic group of people originating from Sindh, a province Formerly of British India, now in Pakistan. Today Sindhis that live in Pakistan belong to various religious denominations including Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity...

 from Sindh

Sindh

Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. The daily food in most Sindh

Sindh

Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...

i households consists of wheat

Wheat

Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...

-based flat-bread (phulka) and rice accompanied by two dishes, one gravy

Gravy

Gravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. In North America the term can refer to a wider variety of sauces and gravy is often thicker than in Britain...

 and one dry. Today, Sindhi food is eaten in many countries including India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, where a sizeable number of Sindhis migrated following the Partition of India

Partition of India

The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...

.

Historical influences

The arrival of Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 within South Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

 influenced the local cuisine to a great degree. Since Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

s are forbidden to eat pork or consume alcohol and the Halal

Halal

Halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...

 dietary guidelines are strictly observed, Muslim Sindhis

Sindhi people

Sindhis are a Sindhi speaking socio-ethnic group of people originating from Sindh, a province Formerly of British India, now in Pakistan. Today Sindhis that live in Pakistan belong to various religious denominations including Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity...

 focus on ingredients such as beef

Beef

Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...

, lamb, chicken

Chicken

The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...

, fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

, vegetables and traditional fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

 and dairy

Dairy product

Dairy products are generally defined as foods produced from cow's or domestic buffalo's milk. They are usually high-energy-yielding food products. A production plant for such processing is called a dairy or a dairy factory. Raw milk for processing comes mainly from cows, and, to a lesser extent,...

. The influence of Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

n, South Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

n and Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

ern cuisine in Sindhi food is ubiquitous.

Snacks

• Kutti (Mashed Roti
  Roti
  Roti is generally a South Asian bread made from stoneground wholemeal flour, traditionally known as atta flour, that originated and is consumed in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. It is also consumed in parts of the Southern Caribbean, particularly in Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and...
  
   [Bread] with sugar and butter)
• Lolo or Mithi Loli (Sweeter version of koki (see below) - also made if you get chicken pox
• Maal-apuroo Mithaee Maanii (Sweet roti made with milk, butter, sugar)
• Ku-ini Kich-anee (Sindhi comfort food. A porridge like dish made with rice and served with yogurt)
• Chhola Dhabal (baked bread with chick peas in thick gravy)
• Ka-raw-o (religious offering made with flour, ghee and sugar)
• Bhat - (porridge, usually given to a sick child, but popular at all times)

Meals

• Beh (Beh simply means 'Lotus root' in English. A high quality lotus root is grown in the North of Sindh which is then cooked in clay-pot using various spices, which then results in an excellent delicacy that is famous all over Pakistan.)
• Sindhi Biryani (Boiled rice steamed and mixed with special sindhi recipe of spices)
• Sindhi Curry - (chick pea flour and vegetables like lady finger, potato and eggplant.
• Seyal Mani (Cooked Chappati in green sauce with tomato, coriander and spices).
• Seyal Dab-roti (variation of above, but instead of Chappati, use bread)
• Seyal Phulko
• Bhugi Bhaji
• Seyal Bhaji (mixed vegetables cooked with onion garlic paste)
• Sabu dal chawar ( yellow daal with rice)
• Koki (thick chapati can be made with onions and coriander or just plain salt and pepper)
• Loli/Lolo/Lola (a thick chappati with ghee, onion and coriander).
• Loli Du-dh (as above, but served with yogurt. Some Sindhis will eat Loli with pickles, but many Sindhis don't consider it good form to mix yogurt and pickles). This is a popular dish served at breakfast or brunch.
• Pappad (a crisp and thin snack. Sindhi will generally eat this after a meal to digest food and in particular after an oily meal).
• Dhodo Chutney (A thick roti with garlic paste and served with mint chutney)
• Sai Bhaji (a spinach based gravy, sai means green - the colour of spinach)
• Bugha Chawar (a browned rice)
• Bhugal Bheeha (lotus root in thick curry
  Curry
  Curry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Thai or other Southeast Asian cuisines...
  
  )
• Dhangi Fulko (moong beans with roti)
• Curry Chawal (a tomato curry eaten with white rice - served with aloo took, a potato cutlet)
• Besan ji Bhaji (vegetable made of gram flour
  Gram flour
  Gram flour is a cereal flour made from ground chickpeas. It is also known as chickpea flour, garbanzo flour, or besan . Used in many countries, it is a staple ingredient in Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi cuisines, and, in the form of a paste with water or yoghurt, a popular facial exfoliant in...
  
  )
• Bhugal Teewarn (a mutton dish)
• Jera & Bhukiyoo (Fried liver, Kidney of goat)
• Dal Tikkhar (daal yellow pulses) cooked in gravy eaten with crisp fried very thin matthi)
• Tikhi Dal khichdi (thin yellow pulse served with variation of rice)
• Bhugge Chawal (rice cooked in flavoured spices beige/ golden brown in colour with vegetable assortments)
• Pava (goats legs)
• Pakkwan Dal (lentil and solid crunchy puri)
• Curry Chawal (It's Kathi Curry eaten with Rice
• Phote waro Tivan (Lamb meat in cardamom)
• Keemo (ground lamb meet)
• Seyal Pallo (pomfret fish in garlic sauce)
• Fishes like king fish (surmayee), paplet (paplait), cod (dhanbro and other river fishes)

Desserts or Sweets or Drink

• Thadal (Famous Sindhi drink made from almonds, khashkhaash especially)
• Varo (Indian sweet made with pistachio, almonds or other nuts)
• Tosho (Sweet made with wheat atta and Sugar chaashni, looks like stick)
• Dothi (Sweet made with Wheat atta and Sugar chaashni, looks like big peda)
• Geara (Called emarti in North India)
• Mohanthal (Indian sweet)
• Khi-r-ni (hot drink made with milk with flavours of cardamoms and saffron)
• Sherbet (a drink made from sandal wood)
• Mesu Tikki (Sweet made with Gram flour and in light orange or yellow color)
• falooda (vermiclli and ice on top of ice cream)
• Boorani (A yellow colored sweet made by processing flowers, also known as boori in Pakistan's Sindh)
• Layee (In Sindh, sugar or jaggery is cooked with various nuts and then cooled to solidify)
• Bhoreenda (til k ladoo, sesame seeds mixed with sugar)
• Lasee (yoghurt blended with some water, milk and salt, different from Punjab which tastes sweet)
• Gulqand (used all over India and Pakistan, especially paan _ Gulqand is made from rose petals and sugar but with a lengthy process)

Pickles

Sindh's city of Shikarpur is famous for pickles all over the world. They produce every kind of pickles

• carrot pickle
• chili carrot
• mango pickle
• mix fruit pickle
• green chilli pickle
• Murbo ( sweet grated mango in sugar syrup)

Food for special occasions

There are food that are served during special occasions, such as during Diwali a Bahji called Chiti-Kuni is made with seven vegetabels. If some gets chicken pox and after it is gone, it is common to make an offering and make 'mitho lolo'.

Vermicelli is served on both Eids. On special religious occasions, mitho lolo, accomapanied with milk is given to the poor.

Mitho lolo is also served with chilled buttermilk called Matho on various occasions.

Translations

This section provides the translations between Urdu

Urdu

Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...

/Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

, Sindhi

Sindhi language

Sindhi is the language of the Sindh region of Pakistan that is spoken by the Sindhi people. In India, it is among 22 constitutionally recognized languages, where Sindhis are a sizeable minority. It is spoken by 53,410,910 people in Pakistan, according to the national government's Statistics Division...

 and English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

(British and American) cooking terms of common Sindhi food.

There are occasional differences in Sindhi dialects for instance Hyderabadi Sindhi will refer to an egg as 'bedo' however Sindhis from other parts will refer to it as 'aano'.

Herbs

Urdu/Hindi	Sindhi	English
Sokha Dhan-ia	Suka Dhana (داڻا)	Coriander Seed
Hara Dhan-ia	Sawa Dhana	Coriander Leaves
podeena	phood-no	Mint leaves
methi	methi	Fenugreek
taez paat	Kamaal Pat	Bay leaf

Spices

Urdu/Hindi	Sindhi	English
Amchoor	Amba-choor	dry mango powder
elaichi	Photo (فوتا)	Cardamon Pods
namak	Lhoonu (لوڻ)	Salt
kali mirch	Kaara Mirch	Black Pepper
lah-sun	Thooma	Garlic
adrak	Adh-rak	Ginger
Zeera	Giro	Cummin Seeds
Haldi	Haiduh	Turmeric Powder
Heeng	hing	Asafoetida
Zafran	Kesar	Saffron
gur		Jaggery
mirch	mirch	chillies
imli	Gida-mi-ri	Tararind
Khashkhash		poppy seeds
		Caraway
Raee		mustard seeds
Long	Lua-nga	Clove

Fruit, Vegetable and Pulses
-> Aalu
Patata (some parts of northern sindh also calls batala)
Potato>

Urdu/Hindi	Sindhi	English
Baigan	Vaan-ghar	Aubergine (UK) or Eggplant (US)
Band Gobi	Pata Gobi	Cabbage
Gaajar	Gajhar	Carrot
Dal	Daal	Lentil
Sag	Palak	Spinach
Khajoor	Ka-tal	Dates

Nuts

Urdu/Hindi	Sindhi	English
Mongphali	Behi-munga or Munghera	Peanuts
Kaju	Kha-ja	Cashewnuts
Badaam	Ba-da-miyun	Almond
Pista	Pista/dodiyun	Pistachio

Other

Urdu /Hindi	Sindhi	English
Ghee	Gheehu	Clarified Butter
Chapati	Phulko	Thin wrap
Cheeni or Shakkar	Khandre	Sugar
Bheja or Maghaz	Magaz	Brain
Papar	Pa-pper	Poppodum
double-roti	Dhabalroti	Bread
Aata	Atto	Wholewheat flour (Chappati flour)
Anda	Bedo (Hyderbadi Sindhi) or Aano	Egg
Murghi	Cook-ker	Chicken
Paplate	Paplet	Pomfret fish
Gosht	Tivan	Lamb Meat
Hilsa machhli	Pallo	shad (fish)

Vegetarian cuisine

Certain sects of the Sindhi community are vegetarians. The Thathai, Halai and Kutchi Bhatias are followers of Vallabh Acharya. He put forward a way to worship Sri Krishna called Pushtimarg. They are strict vegetarians who do not eat even onions and garlic and are devoted to Srinathji, the child form of Sri Krishna.
The first ever website on Thathai Bhatia cuisine, http://www.panjakhada.com was launched on June 28, 2010 in Dubai. It contains over 150 recipes in various sections, all of which are vegetarian and have no onion or garlic used in any of its preparations.

External links

• Sindhi Rasoi: Tempting Sindhi recipes with photos & detailed preparation
• Plenty of Sindhi Food Recipes
• Sindhi food recipes 2
• Sindhi recipes
• Simply Sindhi Recipes: Keep it simple, keep it Sindhi
• http://www.panjakhada.com