The neighbourhood bakery
Every Pakistani neighbourhood has a bakery, and every evening it fills up with people buying something for tea: a box of biscuits, a few warm patties, a slice of cake. The bakery counter is its own little world, part British colonial legacy, part South Asian tradition, with glass jars of biscuits, trays of puff pastry and cabinets of cream pastries.
Biscuits for chai
The jars hold the biscuits Pakistanis dip into their chai. Nankhatai are crumbly cardamom shortbreads with cracked tops; zeera biscuits are buttery and lightly salty with toasted cumin; coconut macaroons are chewy and golden; and cake rusk is a twice-baked butter cake, crisp enough to dunk.
Cakes and breads
Tea cake is the plain, buttery loaf bought for guests. Bakarkhani is an old, flaky layered bread from Mughal-era kitchens, perfect with Kashmiri chai. Chicken bread is a soft milk loaf braided around a creamy filling.
Puff pastry and cream
Chicken patties are the savoury bestseller: flaky squares filled with peppery chicken. On the sweet side, cream rolls are sugar-crusted pastry horns full of whipped cream, and pineapple pastry is the iconic syrup-soaked cream cake slice.
Baking at home
- Ready-made puff pastry makes patties and cream rolls easy; it’s sold frozen in supermarkets everywhere.
- No oven? Many Pakistani home bakers use a heavy pot on a stand (or a layer of salt), covered, over low heat. Biscuits and cakes bake well this way; puff pastry is better in an oven.
- Weigh if you can. Baking is more precise than curry; our kitchen measurements guide converts cups to grams.
- Store biscuits airtight. Most keep for two to three weeks in a tin.
Serving
Put together a tea tray with two or three bakes, some mithai and a pot of doodh patti. Our Pakistani tea party guide shows how.