The dastarkhwān (the spread) and the wardrobe. Twelve foods, twelve garments, and a surprising number of them have travelled into English, or arrived from somewhere else first. Tap each picture, say it out loud, and you can order dinner and buy an outfit.
چائےchāy: teathe same root that gave English 'chai' and Russian chai
روٹیroṭī: flatbreadalso means livelihood: roṭī kamānā, to earn your bread
چاولchāwal: ricedāl chāwal is the everyday plate, the comfort food of the whole region
دالdāl: lentilssame spelling as ḍāl, the letter, but with the soft dental d
گوشتgosht: meatPersian; the silent-looking sh-t cluster is said as it is written
انڈاanḍā: eggretroflex ḍ, and the plural is anḍe
آمām: mangothe Kahānī bargaining story haggled over these
مٹھائیmiṭhāī: sweetsfrom mīṭhā, sweet; no celebration happens without a box of it
نمکnamak: saltnamak-halāl means loyal, salt is a bond you have eaten
چینیchīnī: sugarliterally 'Chinese': sugar arrived by way of China and kept the name
دہیdahī: yogurtthin it with water and salt and it becomes lassi
شلوار قمیضshalwār qamīz: shalwar kameezshalwār = the trousers, qamīz = the long shirt
دوپٹہdupaṭṭā: dupatta (long scarf)do (two) + paṭṭā (panel), from the two widths of cloth it was made of
کرتاkurtā: kurta (long shirt)worn loose over trousers or a shalwār
ٹوپیṭopī: capthe embroidered Sindhi ṭopī is a whole regional signature
چپلchappal: sandalsthe heavy leather Peshāwarī chappal is the famous one
سویٹرsweṭar: sweaterborrowed; a warm shirt is a garm qamīz
غرارہgharārā: gharara (flared formal trousers)wedding wear, gathered at the knee and flaring out below
شالshāl: shawlKashmir's shāl became the English 'shawl' and the French châle
پتلونpatlūn: trousersfrom the French pantalon, by way of the British
قمیضqamīz: shirtthe same qamīz as in shalwār qamīz, on its own
جرابjurāb: socka pair is jurābeṉ, with the nasal plural
جوتاjūtā: shoeone shoe is a jūtā, the pair is jūte
Good to know
✨ chīnī, the word for sugar, literally means 'Chinese'. Refined sugar reached the subcontinent along the trade routes with China attached to its name, and the name stuck for good.
✨ Salt runs deep in Urdu loyalty: namak-halāl is someone faithful to those whose salt they have eaten, namak-harām is the traitor. Pakistan also holds the Khewra Salt Mine, one of the largest in the world.
✨ Both shāl and pājāma left the subcontinent and became English words. Kashmiri shawls were such a European craze that the word wrapped itself around the language, and loose Urdu trousers became the West's sleepwear.
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