Pashtun cuisine (Pashto: پښتنۍ خواړه) refers to the cuisine of the Pashtun people and is covered under both Afghan and Pakistani cuisines. It is largely based on meat dishes including mutton, beef, chicken, and fish as well as rice and some other vegetables.^[1] Accompanying these staples are dairy products (yogurt, whey, cheeses), various nuts, local vegetables, and fresh and dried fruits. Peshawar, Islamabad, Kabul, Bannu, Quetta, Kandhar and Mardan are centers of Pashtun cuisine.

Afghan Pashtun cuisine

• Breakfast items include: Kachala boiled turnips served with chukni. Chickpeas, kidney beans and liver often served with paratha.

Pakistani Pashtun cuisine

• Breakfast items include: green tea with cardamom (kahwa) paratha and malai.

Popular food items

The following is an incomplete list of food items that Pashtuns enjoy eating.

• Afghan burger
• Aush (hand made noodles)
• Aushak (vegetable and chive-filled dumplings topped with tomato and yogurt sauces)
• Bannu Pulao, hailing from the Bannu district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The dish is made with tender beef, aromatic rice, and a blend of local spices, resulting in a rich and robust taste.
• Bolani, also called Piraki in some parts of Afghanistan
• Badenjan (cooked eggplant in oil with potatoes and tomatoes)
• Bhindi (cooked okra in oil with potatoes and tomatoes)
• Biryani
• Chapli kabab
• Chopan Kabab (lamb chops, skewered and grilled on charcoal)
• Dodai (a flat bread made in vertical clay ovens called Tanoor in Pashto, Tandoor in Urdu/Hindi)
• Shomleh/Shlombeh, also known as "Triwai" in Kabul (a drink made by mixing yogurt with water and shaking it extensively before adding optional dried mint leaves and a small amount of salt)
• Fried fish with Kachumar Raita (diced onion, tomatoes, cucumbers in Masteh/Dahi) and naan
• Ghatay Rujay, Ghatay Wrejay (literally "fat rice"; a rice dish resembling risotto prepared in Charsadda, Mardan, Pirpiai, and other villages of the region where short grain brown rice is grown)
• Kabuli palaw
• Kaddo Borwani (sweet pumpkins)^[2]
• Kichrei (sticky rice with mung beans and onions topped with melted qurot sauce, mostly eaten during winter)
• Londei, also known as Tarshay (lamb or beef jerky cooked with rice)
• Pikora/Pakora
• Paratha
• Pekhteh or Pukhtay (beef/mutton ribs)
• Penda/Sohbat, is a traditional dish consisting of pieces of posthi (a thin bread) dipped in meat soup, typically served with raita and salad. This dish shares similarities with the Arabic dish Tharid and is commonly consumed in the southern Pakhtunkhwa districts of Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Karak, and Dera Ismail Khan.
• Piye Wresha/Pai Halwa, is a sweet dessert made by simmering milk, sugar, ghee, and sometimes nuts, often enjoyed during festivals.
• Naray ghwakha (mutton, mutton dish)
• Seekh kabab (beef/mutton/chicken)
• Shinwari tikka (roasted lamb)
• Shorwa (soup)
• Talbaar/Maidan, plain rice, with desi ghee and yogurt placed atop its center, is consumed in FATA, notably in Waziristan and in regions like Paktika, Khost, and Bannu and Hangu.
• Mantu (meat dumplings, usually served under a yogurt-based white sauce)
• Masteh (freshly made yogurt)
• Rosh (cooked lamb and mutton with no spices)^[3]

• Pashtun cuisine
• 
  Chapli Kabab, by Chef Nina at Nina's Desi Kitchen (Southington, CT)
• 
  Men eating lunch in Kunar Province of Afghanistan
• 
  Pashtun dinner sitting on dastarkhan in Helmand Province of Afghanistan, with U.S. troops in the background
• 
  Roasted chicken is popular in Pakistan and Afghanistan
• 
  Naan bread is widely consumed in Afghanistan and Pakistan
• 
  A typical Peshawari dinner course with various dishes
• 
  Village elders and US special forces drinking Afghan green tea (kawa) in 2007
• 
  Samples of some native Afghan fruits

Traditional breakfast items

Pashtuns in their traditional territory drink green (kahwa) or black tea (chai) with breakfast. Some drink masala chai, especially the Pakistani Pashtuns. Sheer chai, which is a type of tea that is mixed with milk and sugar is also consumed. Other breakfast foods can include: Afghan naan, paratha, eggs, butterfat, (malai) milk creams, cheeses, etc. Pastries, cakes and cookies are consumed with either tea or warm milk. Those in cities buy and eat whatever breakfast items are sold in grocery stores, which may include porridge, oatmeal, cereal, pancakes, sausages, fruit juices, etc.