Presentation is an integral part of Pakistani cuisine. Any seasoned cook knows that a dish of curry presented without at least a sprinkling of fresh coriander or a few sliced slits of green chilli is not a curry complete! In fact, it feels a little, erm, well - naked without a bit of dressing up (pun intended).
Garnishing savoury items
Pakistani curries tend to be on the brown side of the colour wheel. And tbh, it can look a bit dull if not garnished well. Ideally, you want to brighten up how it's presented with some contrast in colour. Help add a pop of colour into an otherwise dull colour palette! Here are some ideas:
- Fresh coriander, chopped finely and sprinkled over at the end is the most common garnishing which can be used for any dish
- Green or red chilli, sliced into circles or slit lengthwise
- Julienne-cut slices of ginger, which are used often in Karahi dishes, Haleem and Nihari
Crispy fried onions, a garnishing reserved mainly for rice dishes, korma, haleem and nihari- Lemon slices or wedges
- A drizzle of cream, used in richer dishes such as Butter Chicken or Saag Paneer.
- A good dollop of ghee or butter! This goes very well with dry vegetable-based dishes, such as Palak, Saag, Sabzi etc.
- Tomato slices or wedges
And for desserts, here are some garnishing ideas:
- Crushed nuts of any variety – almonds are used very commonly, but pistachios are great too because of their beautiful colour. You can also use pecans, walnuts, cashews, hazelnuts etc
- Raisins
- Some dishes such as zarda and mutanjan can be garnished with mithai (gulab jamuns, chum chums, rasgullas etc), either whole or sliced
- Crumbled khoya goes well over almost all desserts, but especially over any sort of halwa
- Silver leaf, known as chandi ka warq, if that is available to you. It is a beautiful addition to most Pakistani desserts
- A small sprinkling of saffron goes very well over some desserts such as kheer
All in all, garnishing serves to just help your cooking 'pop' a bit more - it takes just a few extra moment, but really helps make your food just that little bit more presentable and appealing.
Hope this post has helped give you some ideas on how to present your food! If you've enjoyed this read, I'd love to keep in touch with you + send you more tips on how you can up your Pakistani cooking game!
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