At its simplest, Pakistani food today consists of staple ingredients which are cheap and abundant. Wheat and other flour products is the mainstay of the diet, one familiar form being CHAPATI: unleavened bread made with dough prepared from whole wheat flour.

Vegetables, usually seasonal, especially lentils are commonly used, but families with larger incomes tend to eat more meat, eggs and fruits and cook more often with GHEE, which is clarified butter, instead of vegetable oil.

From ancient times, the imaginative – and sometimes heavy – use of spices, herbs, seeds, flavorings and seasonings have helped cooks transform rather ordinary staple Pakistani foods into exotic cuisine. Their use of a wide range of pickles, chutneys, preservatives and sauces, together with a wide variety of curries and special treatment for meats, sea, food, vegetables and lentils, gives Pakistani food much of its distinctive character. Lamb, beef, chicken and fish are basic foods, although their consumption by persons of lower incomes is modest and often ceremonial.