Pakistani and Afghan cooking: what to buy in Shawlands

From the butcher's counter

Tell us the dish and we'll cut for it. Lamb shoulder or mutton on the bone in karahi pieces, boneless beef in large chunks for nihari (or beef shank, if we have it in), boneless beef or mutton for haleem, lamb shoulder in bone-in pieces for kabuli pulao, mince made fresh for chapli kebabs, seekh kebabs and mantu, and chicken skinned and cut small for curry or biryani. Whole and half lambs are cut to your list.

From the shelves

• Rice: basmati in 500g, 1kg and 2kg packs and 5kg bags, and sella basmati for biryani and pulao. Our basmati guide has the soaking and cooking times.
• Flour and daals: chapati flour, red lentils and other daals, and tins of chickpeas.
• Spices: our biggest range, whole and ground, in small, medium and big packs. Start with the spice cupboard guide.
• Pickles and chutneys for the side of the plate.
• Afghan and Persian favourites such as lavashak and Persian biscuits.

See the full grocery page for more.

Fresh every day

Coriander, mint, green chillies, ginger and garlic, onions and tomatoes, and lemons, with more fruit and veg out front.

Pakistani dishes to cook

• Lamb karahi Bone-in lamb cooked hard and fast with tomatoes, green chillies and black pepper. The Pakistani street-side classic, made at home in one pan.
• Chicken karahi Chicken cooked fast in a karahi with tomatoes, green chillies, ginger and black pepper. On the table in about 45 minutes.
• Beef nihari Beef slow-cooked for hours in a deeply spiced, silky gravy, then finished with ginger, green chilli and lemon.
• Haleem Beef slow-cooked with wheat, barley and lentils, then beaten into a thick, savoury porridge and topped with crisp onions, ginger and lemon.
• Aloo gosht Lamb and potato curry, the everyday dish of Pakistani home kitchens: bone-in lamb, soft potatoes and a thin, peppery gravy for dipping roti.
• Yakhni pulao Basmati cooked in a fragrant mutton stock with whole spices, so every grain carries the flavour of the meat.
• Seekh kebab Long, juicy lamb mince kebabs with green chilli, onion and fresh coriander, cooked on skewers over a hot grill.
• Shami kebab Soft, crisp-edged patties of beef and chana dal cooked with whole spices, then ground and fried. The make-ahead favourite for iftar.
• Mutton curry (bhuna gosht) Mutton on the bone cooked slowly with plenty of onion, whole spices and black pepper until the sauce clings to the meat.
• Chicken biryani Marinated chicken on the bone layered with saffron basmati, fried onions and mint. The one-pot party dish everyone asks for.

Afghan dishes to cook

• Kabuli pulao Afghanistan's best-loved rice dish: tender lamb buried in spiced basmati and topped with sweet carrots and raisins.
• Mantu Steamed Afghan dumplings filled with spiced mince and onion, topped with garlic yoghurt, a tomato and split pea sauce, and dried mint.
• Afghan shorwa A clear Afghan lamb soup with potatoes, chickpeas and a little tomato. Light, warming and made for tearing bread into.
• Chapli kebab Flat, crisp-edged Peshawari mince kebabs packed with crushed coriander seed, chilli and dried pomegranate.

Feeding a crowd for a wedding, an aqiqah or Eid? Use the crowd calculator, and see the Eid feast guide and Ramadan kitchen.

Questions