Gilgit-Baltistan’s food is mountain food: wheat and barley from terraced fields, apricots and walnuts from the orchards, yak and mutton from high pastures — cooked simply, preserved carefully, and built to fuel hard work in cold air. It is also several cuisines, not one: Burusho dishes in Hunza, Wakhi food in Gojal, Balti cooking in Skardu and Ghanche, Shina food around Gilgit and Ghizer. This guide lists 26 traditional dishes of Gilgit-Baltistan — what each one is, where it comes from, and what to look for on a menu.
The short answer: The most famous dishes of Gilgit-Baltistan are Chapshuro (the meat-filled “Hunza pizza”), Mamtu (steamed dumplings), Balay (Balti noodle soup), Prapu (noodles in walnut sauce), Harissa, and the sprouted-wheat sweet Diram Fitti — washed down with Payo Cha (salt tea) or Tumoro wild-thyme tea. Hunza is best known for Chapshuro, Hoilo Garma and apricot-based dishes; Baltistan for Balay, Khambir bread and salt tea.
The 26 Dishes at a Glance
| # | Dish | Home | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chapshuro | Hunza & Nagar | Meat-filled baked bread — the “Hunza pizza” |
| 2 | Mamtu | Region-wide | Steamed meat dumplings |
| 3 | Balay | Baltistan | Hand-cut noodle soup in meat broth |
| 4 | Prapu | Hunza & Skardu | Noodles in ground-walnut sauce with apricot oil |
| 5 | Hoilo Garma | Hunza | Greens cooked with hand-rolled pasta pieces |
| 6 | Harissa | Region-wide | Slow-cooked meat and grain porridge |
| 7 | Burus Shapik | Hunza | Flatbreads filled with yogurt cheese |
| 8 | Molida | Gojal (Wakhi) | Crumbled flatbread with yogurt and apricot oil |
| 9 | Shopan | Hunza & Nagar | Seasoned sheep stomach/offal dish |
| 10 | Gittey | Hunza & Nagar | Spiced intestine sausage |
| 11 | Kharay Joli | Nagar | Beef cooked in desi ghee |
| 12 | Cholak | Ghizer | Spiced meat stew |
| 13 | Boiled Meat | Baltistan | Simply boiled meat, served to honoured guests |
| 14 | Giyaling | Hunza & Gilgit | Fried wheat flatbread (Go-lee / Goli) |
| 15 | Gyal | Hunza | Buckwheat pancake with apricot oil |
| 16 | Diram Fitti | Hunza | Sweet sprouted-wheat bread |
| 17 | Marzan | Hunza & Gilgit | Sprouted-wheat preparation with apricot oil |
| 18 | Fiti | Region-wide | Everyday wheat flatbread (name varies by language) |
| 19 | Khambir | Baltistan | Thick leavened whole-wheat bread |
| 20 | Buttering Daudo | Hunza | Dried-apricot soup, a winter warmer |
| 21 | Fenugreek Soup | Hunza | Sikarkuch’e Dagowang — fenugreek and wheat soup |
| 22 | Diltar | Hunza & Gilgit | Hearty lentil soup |
| 23 | Ronda | Hunza & Skardu | Warm apricot pudding |
| 24 | Tumoro Tea | Nagar & Hunza | Wild-thyme herbal tea |
| 25 | Payo Cha | Baltistan | Salt tea, often with butter |
| 26 | Chhamus | Hunza | Hand-kneaded apricot juice |
Hearty Mains and Savouries
1. Chapshuro (Chapshoro) — The region’s signature dish: minced beef, mutton or occasionally yak mixed with onion, green chilli, tomato and coriander, sealed between two layers of wheat dough and cooked on a griddle until golden. Often called the “Hunza pizza”, it is at its best eaten straight off the pan — the food street at Rakaposhi View Point in Nagar is famous for it.
2. Mamtu — Steamed dumplings filled with spiced minced meat and onion, served with chilli sauce or yogurt. Mamtu descends from Central Asian manti and is found across Gilgit-Baltistan, from Gilgit city bazaars to Hunza cafés. (The same dish appears on menus as momo or mamto.)
3. Balay — Baltistan’s hand-cut wheat-noodle soup: thick noodles in a rich meat broth, closer to a gravy than a thin soup. Balay has many local variants in Skardu’s villages — Traspi Balay is the best known — and noodle soups of the same family appear around Gilgit under names such as Dawdo.
4. Prapu — Handmade wheat noodles covered with a thick sauce of ground walnuts, finished with apricot oil and local herbs. Prapu is a celebration of the region’s two orchard staples — walnuts and apricots — in a single bowl, and a good vegetarian option when made without meat.
5. Hoilo Garma — A Hunza classic: leafy greens (hoi, similar to spinach or mustard greens) cooked with hand-rolled flatbread pasta pieces, potato, garlic and onion, with apricot-kernel paste giving it a faint, nutty richness. Vegetarian, filling, and on the menu at traditional Hunza restaurants such as the Hunza Food Pavilion in Karimabad.
6. Harissa — Meat (chicken, lamb or beef) slow-cooked for hours with wheat, barley and sometimes rice and lentils until everything breaks down into a thick porridge, finished with ghee. A winter and gathering dish, comparable to haleem but distinct in its mountain preparation.
7. Burus Shapik — Two thin flatbreads sandwiching burus — a soft cheese made by boiling yogurt and draining the whey — mixed with mint and green onions, then brushed with walnut or apricot oil (or melted butter). Light, tangy and unmistakably Hunza.
8. Molida — A festive Wakhi dish from Gojal: flatbread crumbled and mixed with yogurt and apricot oil. Molida is an integral part of weddings and celebrations in the upper Hunza valleys.
9. Shopan — For adventurous eaters: sheep or goat stomach and offal, cleaned, marinated (often with vinegar or lemon to tame the smell) and cooked with flour and spices — red chilli, coriander, onion and mint. Served with rice or bread at family occasions in Hunza and Nagar.
10. Gittey — Cleaned intestines stuffed with a spiced mixture of wheat and buckwheat flour, chilli, coriander, mint and onion, then boiled for around 45 minutes and served with broth. A traditional sausage-making craft that wastes nothing from the animal.
11. Kharay Joli (Khar e Joli) — A Nagar Valley celebration dish of beef cooked in desi ghee with minimal additions, so the meat and butter carry the flavour. Rich enough that it is reserved for weddings and eagerly awaited feasts.
12. Cholak — Ghizer Valley’s meat stew: mutton or beef simmered with local spices and herbs. Simple, warming food from one of the region’s least-visited valleys.
13. Boiled Meat (Balti style) — In Baltistan, honoured guests are welcomed with meat that is simply boiled — with a few vegetables — and served without heavy spicing. The plainness is the point: good mountain meat, shown respect.
Breads
14. Giyaling (Go-lee / Goli) — A fried wheat flatbread, crisp outside and soft inside, eaten at breakfast with tea or butter and served alongside meat dishes. You will meet it in homes long before you find it on a menu.
15. Gyal — A pancake of buckwheat flour cooked on a flat iron plate, traditionally over a wood fire, giving it a gentle smokiness. Served savoury or sweet — with honey, or with apricot oil poured over.
16. Diram Fitti (Diram Phitti) — Hunza’s sprouted-wheat sweet: wheat grains are sprouted, dried and ground, and the naturally sweet flour is baked into a soft, cake-like bread — no added sugar. Eaten with butter or apricot oil, it is a breakfast dish, a snack, and the sweet served at weddings.
17. Marzan — A close relative of Diram Fitti: wheat is soaked and sprouted over many days (traditionally around two weeks), then ground and cooked into a thick, slightly sweet mixture, served with a pool of apricot oil in the middle. Slow to make, so it belongs to winter and special occasions.
18. Fiti — The everyday wheat flatbread of the region — and a small lesson in its languages: Fiti in Burushaski, Brat in Khowar, Rood in Balti, Chupati in Shina. Traditionally baked in the evening and eaten in the morning with salt tea.
19. Khambir — Baltistan’s thick, leavened whole-wheat bread, baked fresh for breakfast and eaten with butter tea. Heavier and more sustaining than a chapati — bread designed for cold mornings.
Soups, Sweets and Drinks
20. Buttering Daudo — A winter soup of dried apricots simmered until soft and sweet-sharp, sometimes with small wheat dumplings. Apricot soup is made in homes across Hunza through the cold season and is traditionally valued as a warming, restorative bowl.
21. Fenugreek Soup (Sikarkuch’e Dagowang) — Dried fenugreek stems are powdered and cooked with wheat flour into a thick, distinctively flavoured soup. A Hunza home dish that visitors rarely encounter in restaurants — ask at a homestay.
22. Diltar — A hearty lentil soup, cooked with potatoes and sometimes bones for depth, often made in large batches for communal meals. In Hunza it is also served cold on hot summer days.
23. Ronda — A warm pudding of dried apricots cooked down with flour and ghee — naturally sweet, served warm in Hunza and Skardu homes. One of the region’s few true desserts.
24. Tumoro Tea (Tumuro Chai) — A caffeine-free herbal tea brewed from tumoro, the wild thyme that grows in the mountains around Nagar and Hunza. Locals drink it daily and traditionally reach for it against colds and headaches.
25. Payo Cha — Baltistan’s salt tea: payo means salt, and the tea is brewed with salt — often with milk and butter whisked in — producing the savoury, pinkish-brown drink also known across the region as butter tea. It is the daily drink of Ghanche and Khaplu and the first thing offered to a guest.
26. Chhamus — Hunza’s apricot juice: dried apricots are soaked, then traditionally kneaded by hand for hours until they dissolve into a thick, tangy juice. Served with meals and at celebrations; the blender version is easier, the hand-made one is the real thing.
On the side: expect Dugdugi (a sharp pickle of radish, turnip or carrot in salt, oil and spices) and Pheti (thick whisked yogurt) to appear alongside main dishes without ever being listed as dishes themselves.
Where to Try These Dishes
You will taste the most authentic versions in homes and homestays — and Gilgit-Baltistan’s hospitality means travellers are often fed without asking. In restaurants: traditional Hunza cooking is served at the Hunza Food Pavilion near Baltit Fort in Karimabad and at cafés in Altit; the food street at Rakaposhi View Point in Nagar is the famous stop for Chapshuro on the Karakoram Highway; Skardu and Gilgit city have eateries serving Balay, Mamtu and Harissa, especially in winter. Build the food into the trip itself with our guides to the best places to visit in Gilgit-Baltistan, the best places to visit in Skardu and things to do in Nagar Valley.
Why the Food Tastes the Way It Does
Three forces shape this cuisine: altitude (short growing seasons, so grains, lentils and dried stores dominate), orchards (apricots and walnuts appear as fruit, oil, kernel paste and sauce — almost nothing is wasted), and preservation (sun-drying fruit, fermenting and drying dairy, and sprouting wheat to unlock sweetness without sugar). Spicing is light by lowland Pakistani standards — the flavour comes from the ingredients, the wood fire and time.
FAQs
1. What are the most famous dishes of Gilgit-Baltistan?
Chapshuro, Mamtu, Balay, Prapu, Harissa and Diram Fitti are the dishes the region is best known for, with Payo Cha (salt tea) as its signature drink. This guide lists 26 traditional dishes in total.
2. What is Chapshuro?
Chapshuro is a baked wheat bread filled with spiced minced meat (beef, mutton or yak), onion, green chilli, tomato and coriander, cooked on a griddle. It comes from Hunza and Nagar and is often called the “Hunza pizza”.
3. What food is Hunza famous for?
Hunza is famous for Chapshuro, Hoilo Garma (greens with hand-rolled pasta), Diram Fitti (sprouted-wheat sweet), apricot dishes and juices such as Chhamus, and Tumoro wild-thyme tea.
4. What food is Skardu and Baltistan famous for?
Baltistan is known for Balay (hand-cut noodle soup), Prapu, Khambir bread, simply boiled meat for guests, and Payo Cha — salt tea, often made with butter.
5. Are there vegetarian dishes in Gilgit-Baltistan?
Yes. Hoilo Garma, Prapu (when made without meat), Burus Shapik, Gyal, Diram Fitti, Fenugreek Soup and Diltar are all vegetarian, and breads such as Giyaling, Fiti and Khambir accompany every meal.
6. What is the traditional drink of Gilgit-Baltistan?
Payo Cha — tea brewed with salt, often with milk and butter — is the everyday traditional drink, especially in Baltistan. Tumoro tea, brewed from wild thyme, is the region’s herbal alternative.
7. Where can visitors try traditional Gilgit-Baltistan food?
In homestays and local homes first of all; in restaurants, try the Hunza Food Pavilion in Karimabad, the food street at Rakaposhi View Point in Nagar for Chapshuro, and local eateries in Skardu and Gilgit city for Balay, Mamtu and Harissa.
