Muhajir cuisine refers to the food of the Muhajir people

Muhajir people

Muhajir [literally – migrants] is a term commonly used especially by Pakistanis to describe the Muslim immigrants who chose to settle in Pakistan and shifted their domicile after partition of British India into Pakistan and India. Some had participated in the movement for creation of Pakistan in...

 in 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...

, Muslim immigrants originally from 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...

 who migrated to Pakistan 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...

. Most Muhajirs have traditionally been based in Karachi

Karachi

Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

, hence the city being known for Muhajir tastes in its cuisine. Muhajirs clung to their old established habits and tastes, including a numberless variety of dishes and beverages.

The Mughal

Mughlai cuisine

Mughlai cuisine is a style of cookery developed in the Indian Subcontinent by the imperial kitchens of the Mughal Empire. It represents the cooking style used in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Pakistan and in parts of Dhaka in Bangladesh and Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh...

 and Indo-Iranian

Indo-Iranians

Indo-Iranian peoples are a linguistic group consisting of the Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Dardic and Nuristani peoples; that is, speakers of Indo-Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family....

 heritage played an influential role in the making of their cuisine, having taste vary from mild to spicy and is often associated with aroma

Odor

An odor or odour is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds, generally at a very low concentration, that humans or other animals perceive by the sense of olfaction. Odors are also commonly called scents, which can refer to both pleasant and unpleasant odors...

. In comparison to other native Pakistani dishes, Muhajir cuisine tends to use stronger spices and flavors. Most of a dastarkhawan

Dastarkhān

A dastarkhan is the name applied across Central Asia to the traditional space where food is eaten. The term may refer to the tablecloth which is spread on the ground, floor, or table and is used as a sanitary surface to use for food, but it is also used more broadly to refer to the entire meal...

dining table include chapatti

Chapati

Chapati or Chapatti or Chapathi is an unleavened flatbread from the Indian subcontinent. Versions of it are found in Turkmenistan and in East African countries Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania...

, rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

, dal

Dal

Dal is a preparation of pulses which have been stripped of their outer hulls and split. It also refers to the thick stew prepared from these, an important part of Indian, Nepali, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, and Bangladeshi cuisine...

, vegetable and meat 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...

. Special dishes include biryani

Biryani

Biryani, biriani, or beriani is a set of rice-based foods made with spices, rice and meat, fish, eggs or vegetables. The name is derived from the Persian word beryā which means "fried" or "roasted"....

, qorma

Korma

Korma is a dish originating in South Asia or Central Asia which can be made with yoghurt, cream, nut and seed pastes or coconut milk; it is usually considered a type of curry...

, kofta

Kofta

Kofta is a Middle Eastern and South Asian meatball or meatloaf.In the simplest form, koftas consist of balls of minced or ground meat—usually beef or lamb—mixed with spices and/or onions...

, seekh kabab

Kebab

Kebab is a wide variety of meat dishes originating in Middle East and later on adopted by the Middle East, and Asia Minor, and now found worldwide. In English, kebab with no qualification generally refers more specifically to shish kebab served on the skewer...

, Nihari

Nihari

Nihari is a popular meat dish of Pakistanis of South Asia. Its roots lie in the Nawab kitchens having achieved fame via the storied royal kitchens of Lucknow in present-day Uttar Pradesh, long the seat of the Nawab of Avadh and is also relished in India by Muslims and non-Muslim foodies...

 and Haleem

Haleem

Haleem is a thick Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and South Asian dish. In Anatolia, Iran, the Caucasus region and northern Iraq, types of haleem are Keşkek and Harisa. Harisa is also a popular version in Pakistan. Although the dish varies from region to region, it always includes wheat, lentils and meat...

, Nargisi Koftay

Kofta

Kofta is a Middle Eastern and South Asian meatball or meatloaf.In the simplest form, koftas consist of balls of minced or ground meat—usually beef or lamb—mixed with spices and/or onions...

, Kata-Kat, Rogani Naan, Naan

Naan

Naan is a leavened, oven-baked flatbread. It is typical of and popular in South and Central Asia, in Iran, and in South Asian restaurants abroad. Influenced by the large influx of South Asian labour, naan has also become popular in Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states.Originally, naan is a...

, sheer-qurma

Sheer korma

Sheer korma or Sheer Khurma is a festival vermicelli pudding prepared by Muslims on Eid ul-Fitr in South Asian countries especially Pakistan. It is a traditional Muslim festive breakfast, and a dessert for celebrations...

 (sweet), qourma, chai (sweet, milky tea), paan

Paan

Paan, from the word pān is an Indian, Pakistani, Uttarvarshi and Southeast Asian tradition of chewing betel leaf with areca nut and slaked lime paste, and katha brown powder paste, with many regional and local variations...

 and Hyderabadi cuisine

Hyderabadi cuisine

Hyderabadi cuisine is a princely legacy of the Nizams of Hyderabad, India. The city was founded by the Sultan's of Golconda, who has developed its own cuisine over the centuries...

, and other delicacies associated with Muhajir culture.

The food of Muhajirs is renowned for its cultural fusion, due to Muhajirs hailing from a number of ethnic backgrounds. As a result, Bengali cuisine

Bengali cuisine

Bengali cuisine is a culinary style originating in Bengal, a region in the eastern South Asia which is now divided between the Indian state of West Bengal and the independent country of Bangladesh. Other regions, such as Tripura, and Barak Valley region of Assam also have large native Bengali...

, Bihari cuisine

Bihari cuisine

Bihari cuisine is eaten mainly in Bihar,Jharkhand, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Mauritius, Fiji, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago as these are they places where Bihari people are present...

, Uttar Pradeshi cuisine

Cuisine of Uttar Pradesh

Cuisine of Uttar Pradesh is from the state of Uttar Pradesh located in Central-South Asia and Northern India), Awadhi and Mughlai are the two chief genre of Uttar Pradeshi cuisine, and the cooking patterns of the state are similar to those of Central Asia, the Middle East, Pakistan and the rest of...

 and Muslim Hyderabadi cuisine collaboratively impose an influence on the style of food.
Cuisine of muhajir people of Hyderabad Deccan (now Hyderabad, India)

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. Pakistanis focus on other areas of food 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...

, and vegetables as well as 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 Pakistani food is ubiquitous.

Dishes

• Nihari
  Nihari
  Nihari is a popular meat dish of Pakistanis of South Asia. Its roots lie in the Nawab kitchens having achieved fame via the storied royal kitchens of Lucknow in present-day Uttar Pradesh, long the seat of the Nawab of Avadh and is also relished in India by Muslims and non-Muslim foodies...
  
  , a popular national dish in Pakistan, was originally brought by Muhajir immigrants from New Delhi
  New Delhi
  New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
  
  , India.
• Paan
  Paan
  Paan, from the word pān is an Indian, Pakistani, Uttarvarshi and Southeast Asian tradition of chewing betel leaf with areca nut and slaked lime paste, and katha brown powder paste, with many regional and local variations...
  
  , a traditional Muhajir betel leaf stimulant
• Hyderabadi biryani

See also

• North Indian cuisine
  North Indian cuisine
  North Indian cuisine , part of Indian cuisine, is a term used to refer to the cuisines found in Northern India which includes the Indian states: Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and West-Central Uttar Pradesh...
  
  
• Hyderabadi cuisine
  Hyderabadi cuisine
  Hyderabadi cuisine is a princely legacy of the Nizams of Hyderabad, India. The city was founded by the Sultan's of Golconda, who has developed its own cuisine over the centuries...
  
  
• Mughlai cuisine
  Mughlai cuisine
  Mughlai cuisine is a style of cookery developed in the Indian Subcontinent by the imperial kitchens of the Mughal Empire. It represents the cooking style used in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Pakistan and in parts of Dhaka in Bangladesh and Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh...
  
  
• Cuisine of Karachi