Pakistan – a Cookbook for the Intrepid Taste Seeker
Welcome to Cookbook of the Week . In this series, I highlight cookbooks that are unique, easy to use, or just special to me. While searching for a specific recipe online serves a quick purpose, flipping through a truly excellent cookbook has its own magic.
I cook every day (no surprises) and most of the time the dishes I cook hit the spot. But there are some special dishes that I cook that cause a spontaneous exclamation from my partner or make me shake my head in disbelief that all my intentions for that dish have been realized. The dish I made yesterday did just that and the recipe was from Pakistan , my cookbook of the week.
About the book
Pakistan is Maryam Jillani’s new cookbook and debut. With perhaps the most vibrant and mesmerizing cover I have ever seen, this cookbook is a comprehensive insight into what Pakistani food is all about. Jillani includes dishes from Islamabad to Karachi in Pakistan, as well as dishes originating from India and Afghanistan. It reminds me of how I learned that many of my favorite Thai dishes came from other places, such as sweet and savory padons from China, and thin, flaky Thai roti came from India. Cuisine is not entirely bounded by boundaries and, like language, influences neighbors and changes over time.
Pakistan has a recipe for every taste, such as street snacks, vegetarian side dishes, desserts and hearty meat dishes. It has chapter breaks that combine personal stories with beautiful photography – food, people preparing food, and landscapes – all with a rather hypnotic contrast of light and shadow.
While it may just be the artist’s trained eye creating beautiful visuals, I can’t help but associate balance and contrast in photography with the way flavors come through in Pakistani dishes.
A great cookbook for the intrepid taste seeker.
This is not a cookbook for a dieter. This isn’t going to be an interesting cookbook for someone who says, “Oh, I don’t make (fill in the blank).” Whether it’s a healthy dollop of frying oil, a generous teaspoon of Kashmiri red chili powder, or sweet and tart tamarind paste, this cookbook is for the intrepid. This is for the home cook who bought mango powder from an Asian market but doesn’t know where to best use it. Because intrepid cooks know that the surprise of new seasonings, ingredients and flavors is likely to be a huge revelation to your overall cooking. You like new combinations and then you start using them in your own, completely new mixtures.
However, keep in mind that this cookbook may include ingredients that you may have difficulty finding depending on your region. While plain yogurt may be available at your local supermarket, carom seeds or fresh curry leaves may not be available. But don’t let that stop you; There are quite a few recipes that rely entirely on ingredients available in Western supermarkets. Also, Pakistan has an excellent section at the beginning of the book that discusses the fresh herbs and spices used in the recipes and how to substitute them if possible.
The dish I cooked this week
This week I made Borani Banjan, or Afghani style fried eggplant in yogurt. My partner and I ended up eating it along with some fried chicken thighs, and the dish made us both stop and appreciate the food on our plates.
I would say this recipe is an eggplant dish, but the onions and tomatoes take center stage. I chose it because the title said it was loved for its ease of preparation (I really like that) and also because the picture showed how it should be served – red-orange steamed vegetables on top of tangy yogurt and herbs sprinkled on top. I prefer well cooked (soft) eggplant to yogurt. Add a hot, salty sauce and I achieved all my goals for the day.
The recipe consisted of ingredients that I could easily buy from the store, except, unfortunately, Kashmiri chillies. I only had cayenne pepper in my cupboard, so I said “screw it” and used that instead. While I can’t wait to try this recipe with said chili powder, I had a great time eating this spicy, warming, bitter and salty dish. The eggplant slices are fried in vegetable oil, set aside, and the remaining ingredients are then cooked in more oil. The eggplant is added back in and the whole thing is steamed to create a strong and spicy side dish. Served with cooling yogurt, you are hit with hot, cold, herbal dry mints and round background notes of vegetables and turmeric. It’s been a wild ride with huge flavors and now I want more of where that came from.
How to buy
The Pakistani hardcover is amazing, so I would recommend that you go out of your way and purchase it. But I understand that if you are an avid cookbook reader, you may prefer a less intrusive e-reader at a lower price. Like most new hardcover cookbooks, you can probably find it easily at your local bookstore.