Welcome to our family kitchen, we are Shaista and Sarah Ahmed – die-hard foodies. I came into a family where every meal was a celebration of sorts and food was the glue that bonded us together.

Inspired by my father-in-law’s love and appreciation for good food and my mother-in-law’s immense knowledge of sumptuous Mughlai fare, I learned the elaborate art of cooking non-vegetarian food. Guided by her meticulous ways, I started from the very basic everyday fare of bhindi salan, aaloo, arbi, lobia and saag salan and slowly moved on to mastering the elaborate feasts of shabdegh, pasannde, nahari, biryani, raan and paaya.

The learning process began in the holy month of Ramadan, where everyday we would prepare a 20 Kg degh for the Sunnah of sharing our meals with others in the holy month. This tradition has been passed on from generations. I was delegated the task of weighing the masalas that go into it and also supervise the family ‘khansama’ during the cooking process.

Coming from Lucknow and my association with the Siddiqui family and my MIL’s guidance awakened the foodie in me- a foodie who knew to cook as well as she knew to savor good food.

I can proudly state the fact now that years of experience and my passion for cooking have made me adept at dissecting the masalas with one whiff of the aroma of food. Today, blessed with a daughter, son and two precious grandchildren I work towards keeping our family tradition alive of celebrating bonds through food.

With the support and inspiration of my beautiful daughter-in-law Sarah, I now share my culinary art and passion with the world around me. Together, we welcome you to join us at our dastarkhwan and come break bread with us!