Menus & occasions · 3 min read ·
What to Cook for Eid ul Fitr: A Complete Menu
A complete Pakistani Eid ul Fitr menu: sheer khurma for the morning, a lunch of biryani or qorma, sides, desserts and drinks, plus what to make ahead so you enjoy the day too.
Eid ul Fitr starts early. After a month of fasting, the day begins with Eid prayers and a bowl of something sweet, and runs into a long afternoon of visiting relatives and receiving guests. For whoever is cooking, the trick is to have almost everything done before the morning, so the day can be spent with family rather than at the stove.
Here’s a classic Pakistani Eid ul Fitr menu, with what to make in advance.
Eid morning: sheer khurma
The one dish almost every Pakistani home makes on Eid ul Fitr morning is sheer khurma: fine vermicelli toasted in ghee and simmered in milk with dates, nuts and cardamom. It’s traditionally eaten before going to Eid prayers, and it’s offered to every guest who visits during the day.
Make ahead: prepare the dates and slice the nuts a few days before Eid. Toast the vermicelli the night before. Cook the sheer khurma on Eid morning; it takes about 30 minutes, and it thickens as it stands, so keep some hot milk aside to loosen it for later guests.
Alongside it, many families set out a plate of samosas or shami kebabs, mithai from the bakery, and chai.
Eid lunch: the main meal
Eid lunch is usually the biggest meal of the day. A typical menu has one rice dish, one meat dish and a few sides.
Rice: chicken biryani or a fragrant yakhni pulao.
Meat: mutton qorma or chicken qorma, eaten with naan or sheermal from the bakery.
Sides: kheera raita, a kachumber salad, and shami kebabs fried fresh.
Dessert: sheer khurma again, or a chilled fruit trifle made the day before.
A make-ahead plan
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| A week before | Make and freeze shami kebabs. Buy dry fruits, vermicelli and spices. |
| Two days before | Make the qorma; it tastes better after a day or two in the fridge. |
| Chand raat (the night before) | Make the trifle. Toast vermicelli. Marinate chicken for biryani. Make the biryani masala. |
| Eid morning, early | Cook sheer khurma. |
| After prayers | Boil rice, layer and dum the biryani. Fry shami kebabs. Make raita and salad. Warm the qorma. |
With the masala ready the night before, biryani takes about an hour from boiling the rice to serving, and most of that is hands-off.
Drinks for the day
Guests keep coming through the afternoon, so keep something cold ready. A jug of Rooh Afza milk, shikanjvi or a big batch of mint margarita base in the fridge means you only need to add ice. In winter, Kashmiri chai is a special Eid treat.
Cooking for many visitors
Eid visiting means you rarely know exactly how many people will turn up. Sheer khurma is ideal for that, because it stretches with a little more milk. Shami kebabs can go from freezer to pan in fifteen minutes. And a pot of qorma reheats well for anyone who arrives late. If you’re expecting a crowd, our guide to planning a dawat explains how to scale recipes for 15 to 20 people.
