Kites, kingdoms and cardamom samosas

Flavours from Lahore and the Mughal Empire

The Basant Kite Festival in Lahore is one of my favourite Pakistani celebrations. Flashes of mustard yellow and lime green light the sky, smoke billows from a distance carrying with it the aromas of barbecued meat, and the perfume of saffron and cardamom gulab jamun and jalebis fill the senses.

Lahore is a city of enchanting legacy. From the breathtaking Mughal architecture to the streets of the Walled City, it transports you to a bygone era. The area that now hosts Lahore’s famous ‘food street’ used to house the ‘dancing girls’ of Lahore, but now it is alive with the aromas of freshly made tandoori bread as the scent of agarbatti (incense) mixes intoxicatingly with rose syrup or saffron from falooda, sweetmeats or samosas. This is a city that lies within the agricultural province of Punjab, ensuring that there is never a dearth of seasonal vegetables and fruits.

Lahoris feast like kings. They start the day with a decadent breakfast, at teatime they have mithai (sweetmeats) and dinner with hot jalebis and sweet cardamom samosas, while eating goes on late into the night. This is a city where you can enjoy a cup of hot cardamom chai with firni at midnight overlooking the mesmerising Badshahi Mosque or Lahore Fort, oozing Mughal romanticism.

A city of such beauty and flavour deserves a celebration of its own, so the recipes in this chapter are influenced by its history, tradition and love of sweets. Some family recipes are included which mingle together with those inspired by the region, but each one aims to capture the dessert flavours of Lahore.

◁ Slow-cooked Lahori kheer rice pudding

There is something very special about this rice pudding – it could be the fragrance of Pakistani basmati and kewra (screwpine extract) slowly simmered in thick full-fat milk or the astringency of cardamom, which cuts through the intense sweetness of the pudding. The comforting, thick goodness of Lahori kheer is the result of perseverance, stirring and a low heat.

Preparation 15 minutes + overnight soaking | Cooking 4 hours | Serves 6

180g/6 oz/1 cup basmati rice

150ml/5 fl oz/2/3 cup whole milk, preferably unpasteurised

1 star anise

1cm/1/2-inch cinnamon stick

2 cardamom pods

1 litre/13/4 pints/4 cups water

a pinch of salt

350g/12 oz/2 cups caster (superfine) sugar

1 tsp kewra (screwpine extract) or 2 tsp rose water

To decorate

almonds, chopped

chopped dried figs

Soak the rice in a bowl of water overnight. The next day, drain the rice and set aside.

Bring the milk to the boil in a heavy-based cast-iron saucepan. Add the spices, turn the heat down and simmer for 30 minutes until the milk becomes thick. Keep checking that it doesn’t burn on the base of the pan.

Bring the water to the boil in another saucepan. Add the salt and the soaked rice and boil for about 7–10 minutes, or until it is cooked. Strain and add the cooked rice to the milk. Turn the heat down to its lowest setting and place on a diffuser, if you have one. If not just keep it on a very low heat. Slow-cook the rice pudding for 3–4 hours, stirring frequently and checking occasionally to make sure that the milk remains at least 5cm/2 inches below the rim of the pan and doesn’t catch and burn on the pan.

After 3–4 hours, the rice and milk will be thick and gloopy. Add the sugar and stir until it has dissolved, then turn off the heat and stir in the kewra or rose water

Remove and discard the whole spices from the rice pudding, then decorate with nuts and figs and serve warm or cold.

◁ Sohan saffron honey caramels

with rose water, pistachio and almonds

Sipping black coffee with a honeyed sohan caramel is my first grown-up memory of flavour. My mother used to make these from a recipe given to her by a Persian lady who lived in Lahore. The chewy caramel with saffron gracing each bite is made even more distinctive by the crunch of nuts. In Pakistan, we also have multani sohan, a halva made with sprouted wheat, which is said to have links to this Persian one. To me, this version is more pleasurable as the sticky sweetness remains long after that first bite.

Preparation 20 minutes + 15 minutes soaking + 1 hour cooling Cooking 15 minutes | Makes 10–15

a pinch of saffron threads

1 tbsp boiling water

180g/6 oz/1 cup caster (superfine) sugar

60g/21/4 oz/1/4 cup unsalted butter, roughly chopped

5 tbsp clear honey

140g/5 oz/13/4 cups flaked (slivered) almonds

2 tsp rose water

vegetable oil, for oiling

60g/21/4 oz/1/2 cup shelled pistachios, finely chopped

1 tbsp dried rose petals

Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper. Soak the saffron in the boiling water for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the sugar, butter and honey in a saucepan over a medium heat, but do not mix, and allow the sugar to dissolve. Once completely dissolved, add the almonds and cook until the mixture reaches a triple thread stage or 140°C/284°F on a sugar thermometer.

Remove the pan from the heat and immediately add the saffron and its soaking water. Be careful as the hot caramel will spit. Taking the handle of the saucepan, swirl the contents around quickly to combine, then add the rose water.

Working really quickly, use an oiled wooden spoon to spoon the mixture onto the greaseproof paper, spacing the blobs well apart, then pat them down to form 10–15 small round discs about 10–13cm/4–5 inches in diameter. Sprinkle on the pistachios and rose petals, then allow the caramels to cool at room temperature for 1 hour or so.

Once cooled and hardened, store in an airtight container for 7–10 days.

◁ Pakistani jalebis

Spiralled fermented doughnuts in turmeric-infused syrup

On every roadside in Pakistan, muslin bags are filled with fermented batter ready to form these bright orange spiralled doughnuts that dance on the surface of black cast-iron cauldrons of hot oil, and are quickly scooped up and thrown into syrup. Their texture is multidimensional – hot, sticky to touch and crisp to bite. I always looked forward to staying with my cousins in Lahore and having either a midnight treat of milky chai with fresh jalebis and late-night chats, or a breakfast of cold jalebis with hot milk. A labour of love, these are definitely worth the effort.

Preparation 30 minutes + 15 minutes soaking + overnight fermentation Cooking 30 minutes | Makes 10–12

a pinch of saffron threads

1 tbsp hot water or milk

125g/41/2 oz/1 cup minus 1 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour

2 tbsp rice or chickpea flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

175ml/6 fl oz/3/4 cup whole plain yogurt, or 120ml/4 fl oz/1/2 cup buttermilk

2 tbsp ghee, melted

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

water, as needed

vegetable oil, for deep-frying

1 tbsp desiccated (dry unsweetened) coconut, for sprinkling

For the sugar syrup

240ml/8 fl oz/1 cup water

200g/7 oz/generous 1 cup caster (superfine) sugar

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

2 tsp lemon juice

NB: This batter gets its airiness from natural fermentation. The traditional leavening agent is plain yogurt, but you can use buttermilk or Greek yogurt.

Soak the saffron in the hot water or milk for 15 minutes. Whisk the flours and bicarbonate of soda together in a large bowl. Add the yogurt or buttermilk and melted ghee and stir well to form a thick batter. Add the saffron and turmeric and enough water to make a thick pancake batter. Add a little more flour if you need to.

Cover the bowl with a tea towel and and leave in a warm place to ferment for up to 12 hours, or overnight. The batter should rise and become fluffy.

Next, make the sugar syrup by boiling the water and sugar together in a pan. Cook the syrup until it reaches the single thread stage (see here), but do not let it burn. Take off the heat and stir in the turmeric and lemon juice. Set aside.

To cook the jalebis, heat enough oil for deep-frying in a heavy-based pan or wok to 190°C/375°F, or until a cube of bread browns in 30 seconds. Pour the batter into a clean squeezy bottle or into a food-grade plastic bag, and cut a small hole in one corner of it when you are ready to make the jalebis.

Using your dispenser, squeeze the batter into the hot oil in coils or spirals that are about 5cm/2 inches wide. Only make 3–4 jalebis at a time and fry for 6–8 minutes until crisp and golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper, then drop the jalebis into the syrup for 5 minutes, making sure they are coated all over. They should be sticky and saturated. Jalebis can be eaten hot or at room temperature sprinkled with coconut.

◁ Lahori falooda

Kulfi float with basil seeds, glass noodles and rose syrup

In search of the perfect Lahori falooda, I visited many ice-cream stalls in the city. I finally found the perfect one with just the right balance of flavour, colour and texture. From the creamy green pistachio kulfi with vibrant red rose syrup, through the squishy basil seeds and slippery glass noodles, to the thick sweet condensed milk, this dessert comes together in your mouth in perfect harmony. I use the Peshawari pistachio ice cream in this recipe.

Preparation 10 minutes + 15 minutes soaking | Serves 4

3 tbsp basil seeds (thukhmalnga) or chia seeds

20g/3/4 oz china glass noodles or falooda noodles

200ml/7 fl oz/scant 1 cup condensed milk

4 scoops of Peshawari pistachio ice cream

3–4 tbsp rose syrup

1 tbsp chopped pistachios

Begin by soaking the basil seeds in a bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes. They will become glutinous and resemble chia seeds. Drain and set aside.

Next, soak the noodles in a heatproof bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes, or until they are rehydrated. Drain and set aside.

To assemble the falooda, place some noodles in the base of a sundae glass, pour over some condensed milk, add some basil seeds, ice cream and rose syrup and decorate with chopped pistachios.

Serve immediately.

◁ Rice flour pancakes

with black cardamom and poppy seeds

One winter’s afternoon a friend in Lahore (who is originally from north Pakistan), greeted me with these thin pancakes with homemade cottage cheese and local honey from their farm. They left an indelible flavour memory, so I have recreated them here perfuming them with smoky black cardamom, which complements the rice flour beautifully.

Preparation 15 minutes | Cooking 35 minutes | Makes 10–12

150g/51/2 oz/11/3 cups rice flour

2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)

1 tsp caster (superfine) sugar

a pinch of salt

120ml/4 fl oz/1/2 cup coconut milk

1 black cardamom pod, seeds removed and ground

120ml/4 fl oz/1/2 cup water

2 tbsp butter, for cooking

To serve

1 tbsp poppy seeds

2 tbsp curd cheese

2 tbsp honey

Whisk all the ingredients together, except the poppy seeds, cheese, honey and butter, together in a bowl until a thin batter forms.

Heat a little non-stick frying pan, rub a little butter on the surface, then pour a ladleful of the batter into the pan and swirl the batter around the base of the pan to make a thin pancake. Cook on each side for 2–3 minutes until light brown and cooked, and the edges start to curl. Remove from the pan and keep warm in a foil pouch. Repeat until you have used up all the batter.

Serve the pancakes with the cheese, honey and a sprinkling of poppy seeds.

◁ Malpura semolina pancakes

with raspberry and pomegranate sauce

Pakistani malpura pancakes are a festive fried pancake, topped with honey, fruit or syrup. They are shallow-fried in oil until they have crispy edges, but still retain a spongy centre. Here, I have accompanied them with a delicious raspberry and pomegranate sauce.

Preparation 20 minutes + overnight resting | Cooking 15 minutes | Makes 6–8

150g/51/2 oz/scant 1 cup fine semolina

125g/41/2 oz/1 cup minus 1 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour

125g/41/2 oz/3/4 cup caster (superfine) sugar

3–4 cardamom pods, seeds removed and ground

a pinch of saffron threads

300–425ml/10–15 fl oz/11/4– generous 13/4 cups buttermilk

a pinch of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

1 tbsp ghee or oil, for frying

To decorate

1 tbsp desiccated (dry unsweetened) coconut

1 tbsp pistachios, chopped

1 tbsp walnuts, chopped

raspberry and pomegranate sauce

Reserve about 2 tablespoons of semolina, then put the remaining semolina, the flour, sugar and spices in a bowl and mix to combine. Add the buttermilk and stir until it forms a batter. Cover with a tea towel and set aside overnight at room temperature.

The next day, stir the reserved semolina and bicarbonate of soda into the batter until combined.

Heat the ghee or oil in a frying pan, add 1 tablespoon of the batter into the pan and swirl to form a 2.5cm/1-inch round pancake. You can make 2–3 pancakes at a time. Shallow-fry the pancakes for 2–3 minutes until the edges are crisp and brown but the centre remains soft. Flip over and cook the other side for another 2–3 minutes. Remove and drain on kitchen paper, then keep in a warm pouch while the rest are cooked.

Serve the pancakes hot, decorated with coconut and nuts, with the sauce on the side (see here).

◁ Semolina halva ladoos

with buckwheat groats, pine nuts, aniseed and coconut

Ladoos are the quintessential Pakistani mithai (sweetmeat), whether they are made with chickpea flour, moong daal, wheat or my favourite, with semolina. My Nani always made these during Eid. We would also take them with us when visiting family in Lahore and they always managed to stay intact, probably because of the copious amount of ghee that binds them together! These ladoos are a slightly healthier – they are rolled in toasted buckwheat and desiccated coconut.

Preparation 15 minutes + 1 hour setting | Cooking 15 minutes | Makes 10–12

3–4 tbsp buckwheat groats

50g/13/4 oz/2/3 cup desiccated (dry unsweetened) coconut, plus 2 tbsp dry-roasted desiccated coconut

2 tbsp ghee

165g/53/4 oz/1 cup fine semolina

4 cardamom pods, seeds removed and crushed

1/2 tsp ground aniseed

2 tbsp chopped pine nuts

400g/14-oz can condensed milk

Dry-roast the buckwheat and the 2 tablespoons of coconut separately in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 1–2 minutes until light brown. Take the pan off the heat and allow to cool.

Heat the ghee in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the semolina and fry for 5 minutes stirring constantly to prevent it burning. Add the cardamom seeds, ground aniseed, pine nuts, then non-roasted coconut.

Next, add the condensed milk and reduce the heat to low and mix to combine. Cook for 5–8 minutes until the mixture leaves the side of the pan, then take the pan off the heat and allow to cool.

Spread the dry-roasted coconut and the buckwheat groats out on separate plates. Using clean hands, roll the cooled mixture into 10–12 balls, then roll them in the coconut and buckwheat until coated. Allow to set for 1 hour at room temperature.

Serve the balls at room temperature or store in the fridge for up to 3 days.

◁ Mango, cardamom, saffron and red chilli murraba

As a child I would dig a spoon into a whole jar of murraba as a snack after school. Murraba can be made from any fruit, petal or vegetable, and is essentially a sweet concentrate with a hint of exotic saffron, cardamom or pepper. I love this recipe with mangoes and red chilli as it reminds me of taking summer Sindhi mangoes to my family in Lahore, who were rarely able to indulge in the floral intensity of the mangoes from the south.

Preparation 20 minutes | Cooking 30 minutes | Makes 4–6

500g/1 lb 2 oz ripe Pakistani honey mangoes, peeled, stoned and cut into 2.5cm/1-inch strips

50ml/2 fl oz/scant 1/4 cup water

300g/101/2 oz/12/3 cups caster (superfine) sugar

3 red chillies, deseeded and cut into strips

4–5 cardamom pods, seeds removed and ground

a large pinch of saffron threads

First, sterilise 4–6 jam jars. To do this, preheat the oven to 140°C/275°F/gas mark 1. Wash the jars in hot, soapy water, then rinse well. Place them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven to dry completely. If using Kilner jars, boil the rubber seals, as dry heat damages them. Set aside.

Cook the mangoes and water in a pan for 10 minutes, then add the sugar and stir. Cook until the mixture is at the single thread stage (see here).

Add the chillies, ground cardamom and saffron and continue to cook until the mixture is thick and translucent. It should now beat the double thread stage (see here). Allow to cool, then pour into the prepared jars. Store for up to 3 months in a cool dry place.

◁ Shakarkandi ki kheer

Sweet potato pudding with rice flour and spices

Thick, creamy and subtle, this kheer made with grated sweet potato and rice flour is total comfort food. Cold Lahori winter trips would include a freshly made bowl of shakarkandi ki kheer made by my aunt. Traditionally it is eaten cold, but I prefer it hot.

Preparation 15 minutes | Cooking 1 hour | Serves 6

500g/1 lb 2 oz sweet potato

1 litre/13/4 pints/4 cups whole milk

6 cardamom pods, bashed to expose seeds

50g/13/4 oz/1/4 cup caster (superfine) sugar

2 tbsp rice flour

350ml/12 fl oz/11/2 cups condensed milk

To decorate

2 tbsp chopped pistachios

1 tbsp ground pistachios

Peel the sweet potatoes, then cut them into cubes and boil them in a pan of water for 10–15 minutes until soft. Drain, return to the pan and mash well, then set aside.

Bring the milk and cardamom pods to the boil in a heavy-based saucepan. Turn the heat to very low and cook for 10–15 minutes until the milk starts to become thick. Add the sugar and allow to dissolve, then add the mashed sweet potatoes and stir until the milk and potatoes are well combined.

Mix the rice flour and 2 tablespoons of cold milk together in a small bowl, then add to the sweet potato mixture still on the heat. Keep stirring until it starts to thicken. Add the condensed milk and stir, then cook for 10 minutes until the mixture is thick. Turn off the heat and allow to cool in the pan.

Serve at room temperature, chilled or warm, scattered with the pistachios over the top.

◁ Dahi ki kheer

Baked saffron yogurt

This is a thick baked yogurt best served in a terracotta bowl. I have always loved sweet yogurt, the set kind with body, creaminess and a rich flavour. On a trip to Lahore I enjoyed this baked saffron yogurt at a well-known rooftop Pakistani restaurant overlooking Badshahi Mosque – I fell in love with both the view and the satisfaction of each spoonful of this dessert.

Preparation 15 minutes | Cooking 11/4–13/4 hours | Serves 6–8

240ml/8 fl oz/1 cup whole milk

500ml/17 fl oz/2 cups evaporated milk

120ml/4 fl oz/1/2 cup condensed milk

a pinch of saffron threads

1 tbsp ghee

245g/83/4 oz/1 cup whole plain yogurt

Combine the whole milk, evaporated milk and condensed milk together in a bowl and mix well. Add the saffron.

Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and heat over a low heat for 5–7 minutes, or until it is warmed through. Add the ghee and heat until it is melted. Turn off the heat and allow to cool to lukewarm. Whisk in the yogurt and mix well.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6 for 5 minutes, then lower the temperature to 110°C/220°F/gas mark 1/4. Pour the mixture into a terracotta bowl or an ovenproof dish and bake in the oven for 1–11/2 hours until firm to the touch. Chill in the fridge and enjoy cold.