Nihari, haleem & slow-cooked Balochi recipes

Balochi Rosh Recipe

Name: Balochi Rosh
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 2 h 30 min
Total time: 2 h 40 min
Cuisine: Pakistani
Ingredients: 1½ kg Mutton (goat, with bone), lamb or mutton with bone and fat, large pieces (ribs, shoulder, neck); 2 medium onions Onions, quartered; 2½ tsp Salt, adjust to taste; 8 cups Water; 2 medium tomatoes Tomatoes, whole; 3 Green chillies, whole; ½ tsp Ground black pepper, to serve

بلوچی روش بنانے کا طریقہ

Balochi rosh: bone-in mutton simmered slowly with onion and salt until tender, served as a clear, fatty broth with bread torn into it.

Prep

10 min

Cook

2 hr 30 min

Total

2 hr 40 min

Serves

Difficulty

Easy

Spice

Mild

Rosh is the mutton broth of Balochistan and the Pashtun belt around Quetta: a big pot of lamb on the bone, onion, salt and water, left to simmer until the meat is soft and the broth tastes deeply of mutton. It is a winter and Eid dish, eaten from a shared bowl with bread soaked in the broth and the meat eaten by hand. The quality of the meat matters more than anything you add.

Ingredients

6 servings

For 6 servings

Cups & chamachGrams & ml

1½ kg Mutton (goat, with bone), lamb or mutton with bone and fat, large pieces (ribs, shoulder, neck)≈ 6 pao
2 medium onions Onions, quartered
2½ tsp Salt, adjust to taste
8 cups Water
2 medium tomatoes Tomatoes, whole (optional)
3 Green chillies, whole (optional)
½ tsp Ground black pepper, to serve (optional)

Method

Put the mutton in a large heavy pot without any oil. Cover and cook on medium-low heat, turning once, so the meat releases its own juices and fat.
⏱ 15 min
Uncover and let the juices dry off, then fry the meat in its own fat until lightly coloured.
⏱ 8 min
Add the onions, salt and 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil and skim off the scum that rises.
⏱ 5 min
Cover and simmer on low heat until the meat is very tender and coming off the bone. Add the whole tomatoes and green chillies, if using, for the last 15 minutes.
⏱ 120 min
Taste the broth and adjust the salt. Serve the meat on a platter and the broth in bowls, with black pepper on the side.

Tips for the best result

Use lamb with plenty of fat and bone; that is where all the flavour of rosh comes from.
In Quetta, rosh is often cooked from dried salted meat (landi) in winter. With fresh meat, this method gives a cleaner, lighter broth.

Common mistakes

Boiling it hard. The broth turns cloudy and the meat tightens; keep it at a gentle simmer.
Salting too much at the start. The broth reduces; add most of the salt early and correct at the end.

How to serve

Serve with kaak or thick roti torn into the broth, sliced onion and green chillies.

Storing and reheating

Keeps 3 days in the fridge; lift off the set fat if you want a lighter broth. Freezes well for 2 months.

Nutrition and cost

Worked out from the ingredients, not measured in a lab. Treat both as a rough guide.

Per serving Estimate

Calories: 675kcal
Protein: 42g
Fat: 54g
Carbs: 4g
Fibre: 0.7g
Sodium: 1120mg

Estimated from USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2018), public domain values for the raw ingredients (100% of the recipe by weight had data). Deep-frying oil is counted at 20%; bones and water lost in cooking are not subtracted, so bone-in and fried dishes can read high. Not medical advice. Method

Cost per servingEstimate

≈ Rs 610

Whole dish ≈ Rs 3,650 · 100% of ingredients by weight priced

Prices in

From the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics weekly SPI, week ended 29 Oct 2026. Spices, herbs and some vegetables are not in the SPI and are left out unless you add your price, so the real cost is a little higher. How this works

Balochi Rosh: questions people ask

Does rosh have any spices?

Traditional rosh has only salt and onion; some families add tomatoes, green chillies or a little black pepper. Garam masala and red chilli are not part of it.