Sana - Montreal
Updated: Sep 2, 2023
Indian restaurants have become incredibly commonplace in Canada today, specifically North Indian restaurants. If you have been to a couple of Indian restaurants and have tried a lot of the common dishes and want something a little different I would highly recommend going to another type of South Asian restaurant! It may be a little more difficult to find but in Montreal at least you can find Pakistani, South Indian, and Bengali spots that serve up some amazing food including Sana which serves up delicious Pakistani food!
The beauty of trying these other cuisines is that they share a lot of similarities to North Indian food so if you are accustomed to North Indian food these cuisines will be like a fun twist on this cuisine. In this post I will tell you guys about my absolute favorite Pakistani restaurant in Montreal and what you have to order when you visit. First I’ll provide a little background on the difference between Pakistani and Indian food though so keep reading to learn more about it!
INDIAN VS. PAKISTANI FOOD
Understanding the difference between Indian and Pakistani food is complicated because these two countries recently separated in 1947. The main difference that you will find between these two countries is that Pakistan is a majority Muslim country whereas India is a majority Hindu country, religiously. This religious separation and borders that were developed do not translate to delineations in cuisine though.
This is because the region of India and Pakistan is the most ethnically diverse region on the planet, and as such each of these ethnic groups has a unique cuisine. For example, when I referred to North Indian and Pakistani this is a gross generalization of the cuisine common to many native Hindi/Urdu or Punjabi speakers. This is what most people in Western countries understand to be “Indian” food but even then, there are some dishes that are more common or unique between the borders for this cuisine.
If you go to South India, you will find that although curries may still be a staple food, they are wildly different, often with the unique addition of coconut, and the accompaniments and breads are very unique as well, like dosas and uthappam. If you travel to the east of India, you will find many Bengali speakers whose cuisine will resemble that of what you would find in Bangladesh, again with many curries but often with the aroma of mustard oil and accompanied by rice.
Even within the North and West of India there are unique cuisines like Assamese cuisine which uses exotic ingredients from the region to create flavorful dishes served with rice. Seafood is also quite popular in these other regions of India owing to direct access to the ocean or major lakes/rivers, but in Western countries you usually only see one or two seafood dishes on the menu.
This variety of cuisines of cuisines does not only apply to India but also Pakistan. I will give one simple example of this… my own native cuisine! My family originates from Northern Pakistan where the people/tribes are related to the native people of Afghanistan. This makes our cuisine really different from the rest of Pakistan, but we also prepare dishes from the more dominant Pakistani cuisines, so I feel like I get the best of both worlds! Between chapli kebabs, paye, biryani, and daal we cover pretty much all of my favorite foods!
WHAT SHOULD I ORDER AT SANA?
HALWA PURI
First off I have to mention halwa puri, an absolute breakfast staple in Pakistan. Although this is originally a Punjab dish (spanning across India and Pakistan) I think it is definitely more popular in Pakistan and I find that it is mostly only served in Pakistani restaurants here in Canada!
This dish is so different from what most people imagine as breakfast in the best possible way. It consist of a soft and fluffy fried flat bread, the puri, and is consumed along with channa (chickpeas) and halwa which is sort of like a sweet semolina pudding. The channa is usually pretty different from the channa you would have at dinner time, with more warm spices, and the sweet and salty combination is to die for. Overall this is a great breakfast that is filling and super delicious but don’t worry you can get it at any time of day and it will still be amazing.
NIHARI
This dish is truly stunning and something I think that a lot of people in Western countries would enjoy if they tried it! I say this because compared to the common curries you find in Indian restaurants this dish is more like a stew with a super unique amazing flavour and ultra tender meat.
It is found in India as a lamb or goat dish whereas in Pakistan it can be beef, lamb or goat. Although this dish is also common in India and originated there it was more popular among Muslims in India who brought this dish over to modern-day Pakistan at partition where this dish exploded in popularity. As such, in Canada you will usually only find nihari at Pakistani restaurants. Although I will say out of all the dishes I am going to mention I think Sana’s nihari is their weakest dish it is still delicious and absolutely a must try if you have never had nihari!
HALEEM
In contrast to nihari, I think that haleem is really different from anything I’ve seen offered in Western countries but trust me it is probably the tastiest dish on this list. Haleem is a stew with pulled meat thickened with lentils and wheat. This creates a super thick stew that can be easily eaten with flatbreads. Despite being very thick it isn’t as heavy as you’d think and the flavor is out of this world!
This dish originates from the dish harees which is similar to South Asian haleem and found throughout the Middle East. This dish is also common amongst Muslims in India but similar to nihari is more popular in Pakistani restaurants in Canada because most Muslims in the region are found in Pakistan. At Sana this dish is amazing especially with the addition of some lemon on top so definitely do not miss this dish when you visit!
CHIPS AND NUGGETS
I thought I would include this just because it is something that is common in Pakistani restaurants that I haven’t really seen in Indian restaurants as much. Pretty much, like Western restaurants it is really common to see chips (French fries) and some kind of nuggets (chicken or fish) at Pakistani restaurants with these dishes being geared towards children.
There are also often other British/Western dishes offered that are geared towards children. This is because the strong flavors of most South Asian dishes can be overwhelming to children and if you have spent time with kids you know most of them love French fries and nuggets. I noticed that Sana offers “fish and chips” and although I haven’t tried it, I can’t help but speculate that this dish is offered with children in mind. Let me know if this is also common in Indian restaurants in India if you guys know!
MAASH DAAL
Lastly my personal favourite dish of these must be mash daal because as you all know daal is probably my favourite food, I eat it almost everyday! Maash daal is a version of daal that to my understanding is more common in Pakistan and is beloved by many for its amazing texture and flavour.
You will find that this daal is a bit less soft and stewy and has a bit more texture to it, accompanied by a pleasant densely packed flavour of spices in each bite. I would strongly recommend for anyone to try this dish but if you love daal or are a vegetarian then this is definitely a must try and the one at Sana is amazing so trust me you won’t be disappointed.
I hope you guys enjoyed this post and go visit Sana soon for some delicious, authentic, Pakistani food! In my opinion it is the best Pakistani food in Montreal, so I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do.
Also, I would just like to add that as with all of my restaurant posts on the blog these are not paid advertisements (if there is ever an advertised post I will clearly state it as such) and the restaurants don’t even know about these posts. These are just restaurants that I genuinely love and think that everyone should try! If you enjoyed this post consider subscribing to my mailing list, checkout my other blog posts, and checkout my social medias for more foodie content!
References: https://www.finedininglovers.com/recipes/main-course/dosa-batter https://www.tourism-of-india.com/blog/assam-cuisine/ https://www.archanaskitchen.com/aar-macher-jhol-recipe-bengali-fish-curry https://www.teaforturmeric.com/chapli-kabab/ https://www.tasteatlas.com/halwa-poori https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihari https://www.licious.in/blog/recipe/chicken-haleem-cooking-methods https://recipes.timesofindia.com/recipes/fish-and-chips/rs59736398.cms https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1023882-maash-ki-daal
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