Where I’m at

An anxious summer solstice missive + cheerful recipe for tehri, yellow rice with potatoes, mint and cilantro, for the summer

Wow, this has been a week.

Israel launched an unprovoked attack on Iran just a few days ahead of the country’s scheduled nuclear talks with the US. We saw Tehran, a city of nearly 10 million, descend into chaos as residents in densely packed neighborhoods scramble to escape. Over 600 people have already been killed, and three hospitals attacked. My friend, Saghar has been posting regular updates on her stories on Instagram, and the scenes are terrifying.

Tehran’s population is the size of New York. A beautiful, deeply cultured city with hundreds of years of history behind it, Tehran has had a pivotal influence on Eastern culture, and especially its neighbors, Afghan and Pakistan. Iran has shaped our language, poetry, religion, our food. You cannot understand Pakistan without Iran. It’s why this attack feels personal.

It’s also happening in parallel to persistent bombardment and forced starvation in Gaza, where in the words of Mosab Abu Toha, “a situation that could hardly get any worse has gotten worse.”

It’s no secret where the United States stands in all of this, and so here we are again, screaming into the void.

So how am I?

Read Jia Tolentino’s My Brain Finally Broke.

We are in the middle of packing up our incredibly comfortable life in Manila to return to the US end of July. After experiencing the luxurious expat bubble in Southeast Asia for the past six years, I’m feeling all kinds of anxious. While I enjoyed a brief afterglow following the successful release of my cookbook, Pakistan, I was immediately faced with the daunting task of finding a job in a country where my field of work, international development, has been destroyed, and an economy sliding into recession. We will be saying goodbye to affordable childcare, and a loving group of friends that reminded me of what it was like to show up the old Global South way - spontaneous hangs, mutual vulnerability, being present during the good, bad and ugly – versus scheduling friend dates weeks in advance.

My husband, Saptarshi, keeps reminding me that it was my idea to return to the US. The past nine years abroad have been very special but I’m worried that expat life might have broken our brains. Publishing the cookbook brought back a lot of buried sentiments about the pain of immigration, and the deep sense of uprootedness that I was just beginning to address when we decided to pack up our bags and leave for our post Juarez, Mexico in 2016.

Side note: A couple of old reported pieces for TASTE from back in the day:

Young Chefs of Juarez

The Last Cantinas of Juarez (there’s only one left now.)

Saptarshi grew up as a brown man in the US, and is much more intimately familiar with the racial dynamics that plague the country that routinely put minorities at risk. There is an instinctual desire to protect our son, and shield him from a broken system but I also cannot help my desire to forge and maintain a connection to an ecosystem that I have a stake in. It’s so easy to keep your head buried in the sand when you are an expat.

We won’t really know what America has in store for us until the end of the year. While I’m afraid, I’m also excited to be reunited with my siblings, friends, and seasons. I’m looking forward to the country’s expansive landscape, bright produce, its diverse metropolises, and finally walking through pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods as the trees change color. And I’m so excited to do it with our son, Haris, and dog, Suji, both new additions to the family since we left.

In the spirit of keeping an eye on the silver lining, here are some things that made me smile this month.

Zahir Janmohamed’s interview with Zohran Mamdani, For Zohran Mamdani, Food is Personal, Political, and Powerful, the mayoral candidate of everyone’s dreams.

Sanam Maher’s fantastic piece on the history of sushi in Pakistan for Vittles.

I love Yasmin Khan’s cookbooks, and her latest, Sabzi is now available for pre-order!

Samin Nosrat is also back in the game (woohoo!) with Good Things that comes out this September.

At home, I have been cooking a lot from Zaynab Issa’s very classy, very clever debut cookbook, Third Culture Cooking. I’ll include a short review of it in my next Substack for paid subscribers.

Summer Recipes

There are no new recipes on the blog but here are a few to consider this season:

Fried Pumpkin Flowers

Bhindi Masala (Okra with Tomatoes and Onion) or Kurkuri Bhindi (Crispy Fried Okra)

Matar Pulao (Rice with Peas)

Afghan Style Kadoo Borani (Squash with Yogurt) for paid subscribers

Tehri

Yellow Rice with Cilantro, Mint, and Potatoes

Serves 2 or 3 as a side

Here’s a teaser recipe from my debut cookbook, Pakistan. If you haven’t already bought it, I hope this sunny recipe will convince you to buy a copy. Amazon is currently offering a 54% discount so if you were waiting for the price to drop, this is your chance!

There are many recipes like this that are delicious but very accessible to beginner cooks as well as those who are new to South Asian cuisine. Tehri is a rice dish that my mother would often serve during the summer. It’s light and cheerful, and pairs beautifully with this mint chutney.

Ingredients

1/3 cup (80 ml) vegetable oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds (kalonji)

1 medium yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic paste

1 1/2 teaspoons ginger paste

2 Roma tomatoes, finely diced

1 bird’s eye chile, sliced lengthwise

1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 large Yukon gold potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 cup (8 g) roughly chopped cilantro

1/4 cup roughly chopped mint leaves

1 cup (185 g) basmati rice, rinsed in several changes of water

Preparation

In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat the oil until it begins to shimmer. Add the cumin seeds and nigella seeds and fry on medium-low heat for a few seconds until they begin to sputter. Add the onion and fry for 7 to 10 minutes until an even golden brown. Stir in the garlic paste and ginger paste and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute until the pastes stop smelling raw. Fold in the tomatoes, chile, salt, chili powder, and turmeric. Increase the heat to high and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes soften and break down and the oil begins to separate from the sauce.

Add the potato and enough water to just submerge it. Cover the pot and let the potato simmer for 5 to 7 minutes until it is partially cooked. Taste and add more for salt as needed.

Fold in half of the cilantro and half of the mint leaves and the rice. Pour in 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and let the rice cook, uncovered, for about 10 minutes until the water boils out.

Once the water has evaporated, bring the heat to the lowest setting possible. Wrap a tight-fitting lid with a clean kitchen towel and place it securely on the pot. Let the rice steam for at least 10 to 12 minutes until fluffy. Transfer to a serving platter and fluff with a fork. Garnish with the remaining mint and cilantro.

Happy summer solstice!