The chaunsa, sindhri, anwar ratol: Pakistan’s mangoes. Oh, and the dohsehri. That’s the one you soften with your fingers, till it feels like soft pulp and then you pierce a tiny hole at the top. You suck out all the juice. And that’s how you eat that mango. But my favourite, which appears in late July, is the langra- with a thick parrot-green skin. And when you cut into it, the juice starts to ooze out-like perfect yolk from a softly poached egg-and forms a puddle in your plate. The flesh is fibrous and honeycomb-sweet. (more…)

“A monarch, regardless of being a queen or a king, must defend his or her land and treat the people with justice,” declared the Sassanian Empress Porandokht, (AD 630-31). An advocate of sexual egalitarianism, she was the first female monarch to rule over the Sassanian Empire. Under her 16-month rule, before she died, Empress Porandokht signed a peace treaty with the Byzantines and reformed her empire by re-structuring and lowering taxes.

Every era has had their crop of strong women, and Mader, my paternal grandmother, was most certainly one from hers. (more…)

A Persian-Influenced Easter

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter in advance with a Persian-influenced lamb dish. This is based on Khoresht-e-Portaghal; a Persian meat-based stew made with oranges.  (more…)

Click here for the winning recipe, and here for my interview, (above).

I am pleased and honoured to share with my readers that my recipe for Borani Esfanaaj won the Food52 competition for ‘Your Best Spinach Recipe’ this week and will be published in a crowdsourced cookbook entitled ‘Food52′ by HarperStudio. (Here is my recipe and the story of inspiration behind it, on my blog). (more…)

This recipe won the competition on Food 52 for “Your Best Spinach Recipe”. It will be published in the Food 52 book by HarperStudio. Here is the link.

In Memoriam- for Mader and the innocent victims who died on Friday, March 12th in Lahore…

Asked what one thing he wanted from the outside world before being hanged, a prisoner once said, “Bring me a bottle of Shalimar, to remind me of the best things in life.”

Feeling a little flat all day, after hearing about the 10 suicide bombings which took place in my hometown of Lahore, I took a little walk after work to our local department store. I went to the Chanel counter to apply Chanel No. 19 to my wrists. Bergamot and sweet cut grass, the scents of my grandmother, Mader, who left us 20 years ago this March. (more…)

The Sultan Missed a Delight

The Nimat-Namah, known as The Sultan’s Book of Delights, is a late 15th Century book inscribed in Persian, for the Delhi Sultanate represented by Sultan of Mandu, Ghias ud-din Shah and completed under the reign of his son, Sultan Nasir ud-din Shah. Bearing the son’s seal, this gem is housed at the Oriental and India Office Collections of the British Library, containing page after page of fifty intricate miniatures, painted in the distinctive Shirazi school style in jewel-like tones. (more…)

A Mellow Yellow Fever

In his memoirs; the Tuzk-e-Jahangiri, Mughal Emperor Jahangir expresses his desire to visit Pampore, Kashmir, to see the land where the fields turn amethyst in the Autumn, when the saffron crocus sativus is ready for harvesting. It is from this flower that delicate hands nimbly extract three crimson-hued stigmas, also known as “Red Gold”; the most dear spice in the world. A spice which was once known to be worth its weight in gold. (more…)