A drink for every hour
In Pakistan, what people drink follows the clock and the weather. Mornings and late nights belong to strong doodh patti. Summer afternoons call for lassi, shikanjvi or a glass of Rooh Afza with ice. Winter evenings bring Kashmiri chai at weddings and qehwa after heavy meals. Younger Pakistanis have added their own café culture on top: cold coffee, frappés and the mint margarita, which every restaurant in the country seems to serve.
Desi drinks and café drinks
This section covers both. The traditional drinks, chai, lassi, sharbat, kanji and falooda, are made the way Pakistani homes and dhabas make them, with notes on the small details that matter: how many times to let chai rise, why lassi needs ice-cold yogurt, how long kanji should ferment. The café drinks are written for home kitchens without an espresso machine, using instant coffee, a whisk or a blender, because that’s what most of us actually have.
A few general rules
Use full-fat milk for chai, coffee and shakes unless you want a thin drink. Chill everything for cold drinks, including the glasses; ice melts fast in a Pakistani summer and waters a drink down. Sweeten to taste at the end, not at the start, especially with fruit, which varies so much in sweetness. And for anything blended, add liquid gradually: you can always thin a shake, but you can’t thicken it again.