Imperfect Holidays
Trying to get the holidays right + recipe ideas for Thanksgiving
Welcome to Pakistan Eats, a newsletter by me, Maryam Jillani. If you like what you read, consider supporting my work by ordering my cookbook, Pakistan, or becoming a paid subscriber. Thank you for being here.
Paid subscribers will be getting a monthly bonus newsletter, which contain a mix of exclusive recipes, book reviews, travel guides, menu recommendations, and briefs on stuff that I’m loving lately. My last Substack featured a recipe for chicken corn soup, and a review of the food memoir, Slow Noodles.
It’s Thanksgiving week!
We will be heading to Houston, Texas tomorrow to celebrate Thanksgiving with my in-laws. It’s one of my husband’s favorite holidays. As a Bengali, the Thanksgiving table he grew up with was a colorful mix of traditional Bengali dishes like mangsho, a rich goat curry, alongside American classics. So, while I always lament that I didn’t marry into Christmas, I did marry into a very immigrant Thanksgiving tradition, which I’m excited to return to after several years overseas.
(Wrote a little bit about immigrant holiday traditions for TASTE a while ago.)
Of course, celebrating a food-focused holiday outside of your own kitchen comes with a few drawbacks. As a food writer, Taurus sun + Virgo moon, I love a curated and integrated menu, and dinner table but somehow, both allude me during the holidays. We have been on the move since 2016, and the chaos of that lifestyle has begun to settle into my subconscious. We live far away from our families, in countries with holidays different from the ones we celebrate. We always seem to be in some form of transition. We are always very busy (why are we always so busy?) And so, I never seem to have my hosting and cooking act together during the holidays.
Given how slow and hectic our transition back into DC has been, my husband and I are having a lot of conversations about how to simplify our life. But the focus on simplification somehow always comes at the expense of taking the time out to celebrate - holidays, birthdays, anniversaries - when as relatively new parents, we really want to raise our son in a culture of celebrating oneself, our friends, extended family, and all the religious and cultural traditions. How to do it without killing oneself?
These are some of the questions I wrestled with these past two years, as I rushed to put together last-minute Eid dinners, organize haphazard toddler birthday parties, and force trick or treating on a two-year old. For Thanksgiving, Saptarshi and I promised that we will finally nail down baking a pie. We attempt it every other year, and always bicker as a result but hoping this year will be different. Please send good vibes! I’m also going to be making a couple of desi sides to complement my in-laws very South Asian American, colorful Thanksgiving menu. Here are some recipe ideas if you are looking to do the same.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Izzah’s Whole Steam Roast Chicken
An Easy Bagara Baingan (Eggplant in Tempered Spices)
Zaynab Issa’s Lemon Mashed Potatoes
Archana’s Spiced Brussel Sprouts
Andy’s Honeyed Cranberries with Tahini
Hetal Vasavada’s Tender Coconut Cream Pie
Thanks for being here.
Maryam