A Turkish Dinner Party Menu for a Pakistani Home

A Turkish meal for guests unfolds slowly. It starts with small plates and conversation, moves on to soup, then a main course with rice, and ends with something sweet, tea and coffee. For a Pakistani host, that’s good news: most of the work can be done the day before, and you won’t be stuck at the stove frying while guests eat. Here’s a menu for 8–10 people that works with Pakistani ingredients and kitchens.

The menu

Meze (small plates)

• Kısır, a bulgur salad with tomato and pepper paste, herbs and pomegranate molasses.
• Çoban salatası, a fresh chopped salad, close to kachumber.
• A bowl of thick yogurt with garlic and dried mint (haydari), plus olives and white cheese.
• Bread: warm pide or naan.

Soup

• Mercimek çorbası, red lentil soup with lemon.

Main course (choose one)

• İzgara köfte, grilled meatballs, easy to make in large batches.
• Tas kebabı, a slow-cooked meat stew, for a winter evening.
• Hünkar beğendi, meat on smoky eggplant purée, if you want to impress.

On the side

• Şehriyeli pilav, buttery rice with toasted vermicelli.

Dessert

• Revani, a lemon-syrup semolina cake, or sütlaç, baked rice pudding.

To drink

• Ayran or gül şerbeti with the meal.
• Turkish tea and Turkish coffee after dessert.

Quantities for 8–10 guests

• Meat: about 1.5 kg mince for köfte, or 2 kg boneless meat for a stew.
• Rice: 4 cups uncooked rice for pilav.
• Lentils: 2 cups red lentils for soup.
• Bulgur: 2 cups fine bulgur for kısır.
• Yogurt: 1 kg for haydari and ayran.

You can scale all of this in our dawat planner, which adds up quantities and a cost estimate for the number of guests you enter.

The make-ahead plan

Two days before

• Shop for everything. Bulgur, pepper paste and pomegranate molasses may need a trip to a larger store; see our Turkish pantry guide.

The day before

• Bake revani and soak it in syrup, or make sütlaç. Both are better the next day.
• Make the lentil soup up to the blending stage and refrigerate.
• Mix and shape the köfte, cover and refrigerate. For tas kebabı, cook the stew completely; it improves overnight.
• Make the gül şerbeti syrup.

The morning of

• Make kısır (it needs time for the bulgur to soak up the dressing).
• Mix the haydari and chill.
• Wash and chop the salad vegetables but don’t dress them.

One hour before guests

• Make the pilav and keep it covered.
• Set out the meze plates.

When guests arrive

• Reheat the soup and finish it with the paprika-mint butter.
• Grill or pan-fry the köfte in batches, or reheat the stew.
• Dress the salad at the last minute.

Pakistani swaps

• No grill? Cook köfte on a hot tawa or in the oven at the highest setting.
• No pomegranate molasses? Use a little imli and lemon in kısır.
• No white cheese? Crumbled paneer with a pinch of salt works for the meze plate.
• Spice level: Turkish food is mild. Put chilli flakes (pul biber) and green chillies on the table for guests who want heat.

Serving the Turkish way

Put all the meze on the table at once and let people help themselves. Serve soup in small bowls, then bring the main course and pilav to the table in big dishes. After dessert, move to a sofa or a separate room for tea and coffee. In Turkey, that last hour of tea and talk is part of the meal.