Shaista's Kitchen

Basmati tempered with cumin bloomed in ghee. The simple side that lets the karahi do the talking.

Chicken on the bone in a spicy tikka marinade, charcoal-grilled until the edges char and the meat pulls clean off the bone.

Chicken on the bone bhuna in the karahi with tomato, ginger and green chilli, finished with cracked black pepper. The proper dhaba karahi.

Wheat, barley, lentils and meat pounded together for hours into a thick, silky haleem. Served with fried onion, ginger and lemon.

Minced beef bhuna hard in the karahi with yoghurt, tomato and green chilli, until the oil separates.

Soft wholemeal chapati, rolled and cooked on the tawa to order.

Pulled from the tandoor to order - pillowy inside, charred on top.

Naan enriched with yoghurt, milk, egg and ghee, then tandoor-baked until glossy. Rich enough to eat on its own.

A sweet, saffron-tinted flatbread enriched with milk and ghee - traditionally torn into chai, and baked here in house.

A soft, leavened milk-and-saffron flatbread from the tandoor, lightly sweet. Made for mopping up nihari.

Milk-solid dumplings fried dark and left to drink up a cardamom-and-rose syrup. Served warm, still soaking.

Fermented batter piped into spirals, fried and drowned in syrup. Crunchy outside, juicy inside.

Multan's famous hard halwa - a dense, glassy sweet of wheat, sugar and ghee, studded with pistachio and almond. Snaps, then melts.

Rice slow-cooked down in full-cream milk with cardamom, chilled properly and showered with pistachio.

A flaky, layered gram-flour sweet that collapses the moment it hits your tongue. Dangerously easy to finish.

Fried bread soaked in thickened milk with khoya and saffron, finished with nuts. The Mughal way to end a meal.

Saffron sweet rice loaded with khoya, tiny gulab jamun, rasgulla, nuts, coconut and ashrafi murabba. A celebration in a box.

Fine gram-flour pearls fried and bound in sugar syrup, rolled up with cardamom and nuts. The wedding-table classic.

Charcoal-grilled beef Bihari kebab rolled hot into a fresh paratha with onion, chutney and lemon.

Hand-minced beef sharpened with green chilli, pressed onto skewers and grilled over open charcoal.

Everything off the chicken grill on one platter: malai boti, chicken tikka, chapli kebab, Bihari kebab and tikka boti.

Boneless chicken in a traditional Bihari marinade, charcoal-grilled. Smoky, tender, gone in minutes.

Charcoal-grilled chicken Bihari kebab rolled hot into a fresh paratha with onion, chutney and lemon.

Chicken minced with cream and grilled over charcoal only until it just sets. Silky and mild.

Chicken on the bone in a spicy tikka marinade, charcoal-grilled until the edges char and the meat pulls clean off the bone.

Fish in a tikka marinade, grilled over charcoal and finished with lemon. Light, smoky and gone quickly.

Chops in a spiced yoghurt marinade, charcoal-grilled until the fat crisps at the edges and the meat pulls from the bone.

Boneless chicken marinated in yoghurt, cream and herbs, then grilled gently over charcoal. The mildest thing on the grill.

Creamy malai boti rolled hot into a fresh paratha with onion, chutney and lemon. The mild one.

Our full spread from the grill and the tawa: malai boti, chicken and beef Bihari, seekh kebab, chapli kebab and fish tikka, with rice and salad.

Minced beef bhuna hard in the karahi with yoghurt, tomato and green chilli, until the oil separates.

Beef shank left on the stove overnight until it falls apart, in a thick spiced gravy. Finished with ginger, chilli and lemon.

Boneless chicken simmered in a creamy handi gravy and finished with cheese. Mild and very moreish.

Chicken on the bone bhuna in the karahi with tomato, ginger and green chilli, finished with cracked black pepper. The proper dhaba karahi.

Minced chicken bhuna in the karahi with yoghurt, tomato, coriander and green chilli.

Minced chicken cooked down with capsicum, potato and peas until it turns dry and catches at the edges.

Chicken slow-cooked in yoghurt, caramelised onion, cardamom and almond until the gravy turns silky.

Wheat, barley, lentils and meat pounded together for hours into a thick, silky haleem. Served with fried onion, ginger and lemon.

Kebabs simmered in a thick karahi gravy of tomato, ginger and green chilli until they drink it all up.

Soft minced-meat kofta simmered in a spiced gravy with green chilli and coriander until they drink it in.

Boneless chicken marinated in chilli, curry leaf and yoghurt, fried crisp and tossed hot in the pan.

Mutton on the bone bhuna in the karahi with tomato, ginger and green chilli until the oil separates. Order extra naan.

Minced mutton bhuna in the karahi with yoghurt, tomato and green chilli until the oil separates.

Minced mutton cooked down with capsicum, potato and peas until it turns dry and catches at the edges.

Mutton slow-cooked in yoghurt, caramelised onion, cardamom and nutmeg. Deep and rich - the korma of a Karachi wedding.

Basmati tempered with cumin bloomed in ghee. The simple side that lets the karahi do the talking.

Karachi-style dum biryani - basmati layered with tender beef and rich masala, then sealed and steamed so the flavour has nowhere to go.

Fragrant basmati cooked with whole spices. Order it alongside any karahi, salan or grill.

Basmati pulao cooked with white chickpeas in a light whole-spice stock. Gentle and fragrant.

Charcoal-grilled chicken tikka layered through dum biryani rice. Smokier and hotter than the classic.

Fried fish laid through biryani rice with a tangy tomato masala - all the spice, none of the bones to fight.

Prawns bhuna in a tangy tomato masala, then layered through dum rice so they stay sweet.

Our signature - long-grain basmati layered with mutton slow-cooked until it slides off the bone.

Seasonal vegetables layered through long-grain biryani rice with whole spices, then steamed under a sealed lid.

Seasonal fruit cut fresh and folded through sweetened cream. Served cold.

Seasonal fruit, cut to order and served chilled.

Cucumber, tomato, onion and carrot cut fresh with lemon and salt. The sharp, cold thing your plate needs.

Crisp golden fish fingers, fried to order. A light starter, and the safest bet on the table for the kids.

Our jumbo samosa - spiced potato in a hand-folded pastry, fried to order so the shell still crackles.

Onion, potato and green chilli bound in gram flour and fried crisp - the monsoon-evening snack, made to order.

Potatoes simmered into a smooth pureed spinach gravy with garlic and gentle spice. Mild and comforting.

Chana dal cooked dhaba-style and hit with a garlic-and-cumin tarka just before it leaves the kitchen.

White urad lentils cooked dry so the grains stay whole, finished with julienned ginger and a sizzling ghee tarka.

Lahori-style white chickpeas with anardana and chaat masala, finished with ginger and green chilli.

Whatever the market had that morning, chopped fresh and cooked down in traditional Pakistani spices.

Fresh paneer cubes folded into a smooth spinach gravy with garlic, ginger and green chilli.

Alokozay apple and mint - crisp, sweet and served cold.

Alokozay energy drink, served ice-cold.

Alokozay WOW, served ice-cold.

Chilled Laban Up - the cool yoghurt drink that actually puts out the fire after a karahi.

Paratha stuffed with spiced mashed potato and cooked on the tawa to order.

The full desi breakfast on one plate: halwa, chana, aloo tarkari and hot pori straight from the pan.

The Sunday-morning classic - puffed pori with sweet sooji halwa and tangy Lahori chana, all made to order.

Eggs beaten with onion, tomato, green chilli and coriander, cooked fresh to order.

Layered by hand and cooked on the tawa to order, until the edges go crisp and the middle stays flaky.

Deep-fried to order so it arrives puffed and golden - the only thing halwa and chana ever wanted.

Thick 140g premium beef patty stacked with cheese, beef bacon, onions, and drizzled with both our special sauce and smoky sauce

2 Juicy 70g beef patty stacked with double cheese, crisp lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, and our signature special sauce

Crispy chicken topped with melted cheese, dynamite sauce, and fresh lettuce

Crispy Nashville-style chicken with chipotle sauce and crisp lettuce - Choose your heat: Mild, Medium, or Hot.

Juicy 70g beef patty stacked with cheese, crisp lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, and our signature special sauce

Crispy chicken layered with cheese, onions, tomato, pickles, fresh lettuce, and our special sauce

Fries tossed in our street-spice mix the moment they leave the fryer. Crisp, salty and built to travel.

Our full biryani spread: chicken dum biryani with chicken korma, a shami kebab and cooling raita. One box, nothing missing.

Our full biryani spread: mutton dum biryani with mutton korma, a shami kebab and cooling raita. One box, nothing missing.

The vegetarian spread: vegetable dum biryani with a vegetable curry and cooling raita.

Okra sliced thin and bhuna dry with onion, tomato and cumin until the edges go crisp. Cooked the way it should be.

Gram-flour pakora simmered soft in a tangy yoghurt curry with curry leaf and dried chilli.

Bitter gourd cooked hard with plenty of onion until the onion goes sweet and the bitterness mellows. A proper desi favourite.