About Sabina
“Be creative and have fun whilst cooking!
Remember that every accident is a new opportunity in the making!” – Sabina Huq
Inspired by the movie “Julie & Julia” and the act of actually finishing what I had set out to do a really long time ago……I decided to put together a website full of all my recipes. Some have been passed down from my mother, others (mostly others) are based on interesting concoctions that I have tried out over the years via trial and error. Needless to say, they work!
Who am I? No one special. Just an average Bangladeshi woman (of Sylheti descent) currently living in the U.S with a passion for experimenting with cooking. I was born and raised in the UK, I have a background in Law & Health Care Ethics and I spent several years working for the UK National Health Service (NHS) before moving to New York in 2001 to join my husband. Since then, we’ve lived on both the East and the West Coast and today, my heart resides in Westchester County, NY.
Outside of the kitchen, I’m a licensed real estate agent in Westchester County, NY and I love advising first time homebuyers in the purchase of their new home. I’m brokered by eXp Realty, one of the world’s fastest-growing real estate brokerages presently in over 24 countries! If you’re local to NY, you can check out my website here.
Why did I decide to create this website? Well, firstly there appears to be a market for Bangladeshi recipes online and secondly, it’s pretty much a given that today’s working women cannot escape the daily household chores that have to be done, in particular – cooking. With this in mind, I came up with some easy recipes for the busy woman (some of which will take you around 30 minutes, others, somewhat longer).
So come on inside and take a peek. I promise you won’t be disappointed; and best of all, you don’t have to be “Deshi” to make these dishes. Above all else, be creative and have fun whilst cooking! Remember that every accident is a new opportunity in the making!
I’d like to reiterate that only some of the dishes are authentic Bangladeshi recipes, others are my own concoctions in my attempts to find easier, healthier, contemporary ways of cooking Bangladeshi food without feeling like I’m missing out. Most of the ingredients I mention can be found at your local supermarket, so no need to worry about making that extra trip to a South Asian store miles from anywhere.
All I ask is that you shoot me an email to let me know of a recipe you particularly liked or disliked. I’m always open to constructive criticism! Also, please email me with any recipes that you’d like to share. I promise to post them right away! And last but by no means least, my sincere thanks to all my friends and family who have contributed their recipes to this website (keep them coming), and to Abba (my father) for his assistance in helping me write a brief synopsis of our beloved Sylhet.
By the way, my apologies for what may seem like spelling errors – I wasn’t sure whether to spell certain things (like yogurt/yoghurt) the American or English way!
“Julia Child began learning to cook when she was thirty-seven years
old. She started because she wanted to feed her husband Paul. She
started because though she’d fallen in love with great food late, when
she did she’d fallen hard. She started because she was in Paris. She
started because she didn’t know what else to do.”
Quote from The Julie/Julia Project
Email me your recipes to [email protected] or click here to leave a comment about the site.
Really enjoyed browsing through your website. Great recipe ideas. Thanks and keep up the good work.
loving the site! its Ramadan and wanted to explore some desi favs and seems like ur site has all the recipes that i need and some more :). and they are very easy to follow..for busy men too. thanks 🙂
I am so happy to have found your blog online! I recently came to the US and I am a very new cook in need of deshi recipes which is so HARD to find on the net! I already tried your piyaju recipe and it came out just like I wished it to 🙂 Can’t wait to try out the others! All the best with your endeavor!
Wow…pleased to see some men have stumbled across my site and found it valuable too!
Hello.. U just reminded me of home.. Thanks for all the lovely dishes u wrote and took the pain to share.. Indeed a great work .. Thanks ..
Well I can’t cook – can barely make toast. But this is a great website and I really enjoyed going through it. It is a great project – almost visionary. And as any Deshi knows – Deshi food rocks! Sometimes, if I have something as simple as lovely warm rice, a well thought out dal, a sophisticated aloo bortha and an elegantly simple derosh bhaji – I can feel tears bubbling in my eyes. You may laugh but it is true. I feel like, I am this food and this food is me. This food defines my culture, my heritage, who I am and what makes me happy. Deshi food is what unites all Deshis – no matter where we are born or raised or live, no matter what we believe or think, no matter what class or creed. My happiest times were sitting beside my Dad and enjoying this food with him. And whats the point of all this? I suppose I’m just trying to say that there is much more to wonderful food than great taste. And anyone who promotes original Deshi food like this is a hero of mine. Lead on!
Junel – Thank you for your very well-thought out message. I can almost imagine sitting at the dinner table with you devouring all these mouth-watering dishes you mention. I agree, the simple ones are always the most satisfying and simplicity defines the essence of my website. Thanks again and please continue to spread the word. Here’s to your dad! 🙂
Sabina Apa.. shukriya.. I found your recipes very useful and have tried them many a times with success. I am of sylethi origin ( from Assam, India). I am a freelance writer and live in Bangalore India, away from my folks. I really missed my “maa er hater ranna” and came across your site while searching for sylethi recipes. Thank you it has been of great help as I could enjoy certain dishes after years.. The recipes are easy to follow and have been written in a very colloquial yet simple language..
sabina i love your recepies its so easy to follow and cook very delicous thank you.
Sultana, thank you for your continued support. Keep those comments coming if you make anything else from the site.
If you could message me with some hints about how you made this website look this cool , Id be appreciative!
Wanted to drop a remark and let you know your Feed is not functioning today. I tried adding it to my Google reader account but got absolutely nothing.
Thank you. It should be working now.
Im so proud of you, specially knowing dt ur from my sylhet, nd we hv the same dream lol! Im reallyyyyy inspired by the movie, Julie & Julia..nd now by u. Ur website is very nice, nd seems like u hv a good career. Keep up d good work…
Thank you so much Safa. Please share some of your recipes with us all.
Thanks so much for this website. I hope you write a cook book some day. I have only been to Bangladesh two times but I stayed with a friend both times and she cooked the best food on the planet. I had such a hard time reading the Bangladeshi cookbooks but your recipes are so readable. Please add recipes for ruti and Aloo Bhorta and kichuri. Thanks!
Jenni, Kichuri is on there in the rice section. Thanks for your comments, hope whatever you make turns out great!
Just wanted to say your chicken liver bhuna recipe is amazing. Due to anaemia I have been trying to eat liver but not managed to due to the taste, this is the first recipe I have found that made it not only edible but actually enjoyable! Will be trying some of your other recipes soon.
No idea if you still tend to this website. I have just discovered a gap in my cookbook library. Food from Indian sub continent. I think I’d need many as different regions do different things. So I am going to start with your prawn masala and spinach curry and a lovely big bowl of basmati. Wish me luck!
Hi Anne, thanks for writing in. Best of luck experimenting with some of my recipes. Your choices are good ones, easy to make and super tasty. Please write back and share how they turned out.