From the earliest times, the use of spices, herbs, seeds, and flavorings and seasonings have transformed rather ordinary staple foods into an exotic cuisine. Similar to that of northern India, with a dollop of Middle Eastern influence thrown in for good measure, the diet is peppered with baked and deep-fried breads, masala (hot and spicy) sauces accompanying meat and seafood mains, lentil mush (dhal), curried vegetables and rice. The different regions in Pakistan also lend character to the cuisine. In Punjab, the Moghlai cuisine uses tandoor ovens while cooks in Baluchistan use the saji method of barbecuing whole lambs in a deep pit.
