Summers Under The Tamarind Tree: A dream is launched

A Spring night in London, 7th April 2016 – the air is filled with a sense of surreal excitement as friends, family and colleagues gather at London’s only cookbook shop, Books For Cooks, off quaint Portobello Road.  ‘Summers Under The Tamarind Tree’ is the star of the evening as I walk up to a window display that was only a dream a few years ago, one that I could only imagine would ever be as well received as it has been. I am thankful, as I walk into an evening of it’s celebration.

Amongst the flurry of congratulations, signings and a few minutes of an emotional talk about the inception, seed and birth of this book; I get little time to really take in what is going on. Everyone was there to rejoice the first book of it’s kind – one that celebrates the flavour of MY homeland, the dream is shared with all those in the room.

Beef kofta curry with poppy seeds, lentil battered cauliflower pakoras, my Dadi’s semolina brittle, potato bhujia and walnut and cardamom halva balls – are served. A flavour of Pakistan is shared around. I speak about how my mother helped cooked some of these, and how I can never come close to her flavour!

An evening with those I love, admire and who share a similar passion for authenticity coupled with a team from Quarto Group / Frances Lincoln, my supportive publishers and my literary agency Greene & Heaton – I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect celebration of my debut cookbook.

A book that is a tribute to the women of my family; some still here, others no longer and the people of my homeland – I hope that Summers Under The Tamarind Tree, a memoir filled with the flavours I grew up with, whets your appetite just as much as it fuels my love for Pakistan and it’s authentic cuisine.

I will end by sharing some exciting news: I have have been commissioned to write my next book: out April 2017, a follow up filled with nostalgia and sweetness. More soon…