Nimona
Nimona: winter peas ground coarse and fried in mustard oil until the fat rises, then stewed with potatoes. The eastern version, left deliberately chunky.
Kadhi Badi
Kadhi badi: soured yoghurt and gram flour simmered thin, with fresh-fried besan dumplings dropped in at the end. Bihar’s kadhi is a rice gravy, not a thick curry.
Baingan Badi
Baingan badi: sun-dried urad lentil dumplings fried until nutty, then simmered with aubergine, spinach and dill in mustard oil. A Bhojpuri winter pantry dish.
Sattu ka Paratha
Sattu ka paratha: roasted black chickpea flour sharpened with nigella, carom, mustard oil and pickle masala, stuffed into wheat dough and griddled.
Litti Chokha
Litti chokha: sattu-stuffed wheat balls roasted in embers, drowned in ghee, served with charred aubergine, potato and tomato mashed in mustard oil.
Tukh Malanga Sharbat
Tukh malanga sharbat: basil seeds soaked until they swell into translucent pearls, mixed with rose water, lemon and sugar — Karachi’s Ramadan cooling drink.
Khajoor ka Sharbat
Khajoor ka sharbat: Khairpur dates blended into cold milk with cardamom — the date-milk drink anchored to Sindh’s famous date-growing district on the Indus.
Kamrak Sharbat
Kamrak sharbat: fresh star fruit juiced with black salt, sugar and chilled water — the regional Sindhi drink from the trees of lower Sindh, sharp and fragrant.
Imli ka Sharbat
Imli ka sharbat: tamarind sherbet sweetened with jaggery, seasoned with dried ginger, black salt and roasted cumin — the Karachi street cart drink of the bazaars.