Chilghoza is the local name for Pine Nuts. Pine nuts are the edible seeds of pine trees. They are small elongated ivory-colored seeds from pine cones, measuring about 1 inch long. Chilghoza pines have similar appearance to stone pines found in the US featuring long slender, pointed kernels. Chilghoza is a distinct pine nut variety found in western Himalayan forests of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

It takes anywhere from *5 to *5 years for pine trees to begin producing pine nuts and up to triple that time for them to reach top production. The pine cones that come from the pine trees contain the pine nuts must be collected from the tree or forest floor. The cones are then heated, which opens up their scales and loosens the nuts and allows then to be extracted. When raw, the seeds have a soft texture and a sweet, buttery flavor.

They are often roasted to bring out the flavor and to add a little crunch.

About *0 species of pine produce seeds large enough to be worth harvesting; in other pines the seeds are also edible, but are too small to be of great value as a human food.