Customer Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding
Comment: This cookbook made me cry. The description of Pakistan is visually evocative and if you are an expatriate, you will be transported back to your childhood by Huma's description. Even if you are not from Pakistan it will tug on a cord some where.
As far as the recipes go they are uncluttered and easy to follow. The ingredients are easily available at Indian/Pakistani stores. It is not easy to find a reliable Pakistani cookbook and Indian cuisine is not exactly the same as Pakistani.
In her book, the basic recipe is the same for most curries which makes it easy for one to remember the format once you start using the book. Everything that I have tried so far has turned out great. I was especially excited to see Americanized recipes for rasgulla and rasmalai(using ricotta).
I hope that we see Huma on foodnetwork some day.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent for Everyday Pakistani Family Cooking
Comment: I had been looking for a Pakistani Cookbook like this for a loooong time, and thank goodness Huma Siddiqui has written this book. I'm a busy mother of three children and I wanted the children to grow up enjoying Pakistani food like I did. My mother is not too good at telling me recipes, everything is a pinch of this and a little bit of that, this book has precise measurements and tells you exactly how to cook delicious homemade Pakistani food. The recipes are not hard to follow, although I think you do have to have a certain familiarity with cooking tools and techniques (this is not the kind of book that teaches you technique, it's a recipe book, which is exactly what I was looking for) I own a dozen Indian cookbooks, but none of them helped me get that Pakistani taste I was looking for, there are slight differences between the two kinds of cuisines. The recipes in this book are definitely Pakistani, the kind of food you would eat in Islamabad homes.
I've made Aloo Gosht and Aloo Keema and the Cauliflower with Potatoes and Peas and so far and every recipe has turned out perfect. I was never good at making Aloo Gosht until I followed Huma's recipe, and even my Pakistani husband, who didn't know that I had used Huma's recipe, finally said "you finally got it, this is really good."
All the meals are family friendly everyday meals you would see in a Pakistani home. She even gives tips on cooking a big pot of Meat or Chicken curry on a Sunday and freezing family sized portions so you won't have to cook everyday during the week. That helps alot when you have a busy life. All you have to do is defrost the curry on the stove, add a few fresh veggies or potatoes to it, and make basmati rice in a rice cooker and dinner is ready in 30 mintues.
In addition to the recipes, I found Huma's personal memoir fascinating. She is a single mother who struggled very hard to raise her children by herself in Wisconsin, and yet still managed to put a home cooked Pakistani meal on the table for her children every day. It's very inspiring. If she can cook these recipes given her busy schedule, you can too.
Customer Rating:
Summary: True cultural experience
Comment: Reviewed by Juanita Watson for Reader Views (4/06)
"Jasmine in Her Hair" - Just the title alone intrigued me. I couldn't help but instantly be drawn into this delightful cookbook. Written by Huma Siddiqui, the recipes are rich with her family's heritage, creating a true cultural experience.
Huma beautifully weaves aspects of her culture with personal memories growing up in Pakistan, all along-side easy to follow recipes. I was able to prepare various dishes and while they were cooking, read about Pakistani culture and Huma's family; a middle-upper class family living in Pakistan in which food and tradition were integral parts of their lives. As I was cooking, the aroma of spices would fill the room creating a wonderful backdrop for reading the rich passages.
Huma talks about various aspects of Pakistani life including women and education, door to door street sellers, her family's experience during the two wars with India, religious celebrations, weddings, and then the difficult decision to come to America. Included are spectacular photos that complement the writings and recipes, visually rounding out the beauty of this book.
This cookbook, I feel, is a testament to the love of family, and the warmth of tradition. Huma speaks with honest motherly wisdom as she talks about her life, and the various ways food played a part in it. This book really moved me. Expecting a straight ahead cookbook, I received so much more. I gained a new appreciation of Pakistani culture and cooking through Huma's stories, and found out about a remarkable and inspiring woman at the same time.
The recipes I tried were all delicious, very easy to prepare, and uncomplicated in design. Plus, I found most ingredients already in my kitchen. Huma divides the recipes into six sections - Appetizers, Meat Dishes, Desserts, Rice & Bread Dishes, and Sauces & Drinks. I will continue to make recipes from this cookbook and revisit Huma and her family for years to come. Great book Huma - Well done!!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: A cookbook and a work of art
Comment: Jasmine In Her Hair by Huma Siddiqui is so much more than a cookbook. It is also a cultural lesson and an art book. A proud and loving Siddiqui pays homage to family, culture and cuisine in this stunning book filled with sumptuous recipes and grand tour of the author's beloved Pakistan.
If you love to try new foods and enjoy cooking, Jasmine In Her Hair is the cookbook to try. And vegetarians will enjoy the selection of meatless meals. You may not keep this book in the kitchen but display it proudly on your coffee table for everyone to enjoy.
Some of the recipes I read and/or tried that were especially appealing are:
- Potato Patties (Yummy!)
- Aloo, Gobi aur Matar ki Sabzi (Potatoes, Cauliflower and Peas Curry)
- Aloo Keema (Ground Beef with Potatoes) Can you tell I love potatoes yet?
- Cholay (Spicy Chickpeas)
- Matar Oykai (Rice with Peas)
- Masala Chai (Spice tea) Ah, this is so fine!
- Shahi Tukra (Pakistani Bread Pudding) This is my favorite!!!
- Kheer (Rice Pudding) Another favorite!
Armchair Interviews says: Read the captivating stories and enjoy the tantalizing recipes.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Food For Thought
Comment: Jasmine in Her Hair:
Culture and Cuisine from Pakistan
By Huma Siddiqui
April 2004, Paperback
White Jasmine Press
ISBN 0974837105
Cooking and eating is so much more than a utilitarian or even a nutritional experience. Food can invoke the response of Proust's madeleines, conjuring, through scent, texture, visual appeal, and gradual taste, memory and all those things that make up the human imagination. Great cultures are built on food, and for some, it is a critical tie between the generations, as parents hand down their recipes, gossip in the kitchen and come together to eat in celebration of major events. Cookbooks that provide only recipes with no context, no culture, may be useful in the kitchen, but they miss an opportunity to make use of the medium. A loaf of bread is so much more than the sum of its flour, water and yeast. A soup is much more than water, stock and vegetables. It is in the spirit that Huma Siddiqui has created Jasmine in Her Hair. This is so much more than a cookbook, although it does provide over 55 recipes for a wide variety of foods from Siddiqui's native Pakistan, including appetizers (starters), meat and vegetarian main courses, desserts, rice and bread dishes, sauces and drinks. Each section is prefaced with a personal and evocative essay which puts the food that follows into context.
The essays are the true heart of the book, and go into some detail on things like the importance of spices to Pakistani cuisine, traditions like the exchange of scarfs, recollections about servants, education, glass bangles, traditional food `walas,' the war between India and Pakistan, traditional Pakistani celebrations, and some reflections on Siddiqui's personal travails, her migrant experience, and the business she put together after her marriage failed and she moved to the US. All of the writing reflects Siddiqui's deep respect for tradition, family, and good food, and ties together the recipes which follow:
For many years after the wars because of the shortage of cattle, we used to have two meatless days, which were every Tuesday and Wednesday of the week. All the meat shops were closed during those two days. Sometimes extra meat could be purchased in advance to make up for the two days or only vegetarian dishes were cooked. The men in my family always complained about not having meat dishes but my mom would make the most of the opportunity and ask the cook to prepare a variety of delicious vegetable dishes. (64)
The recipes themselves are easy to follow, requiring no special techniques or fancy ingredients, other than simple Indian spices like cumin, coriander, garam masala, or turmeric, found in most supermarkets or at Siddiqui`s own White Jasmine mail order shop (naturally). Most of the recipes can be done quickly, with only 10 minutes or so of preparation time, and include many well known traditional dishes like samosas, Chicken Tikka, Lamb Korma, the delectable Aloo Sabzi (spicy potatoes), biryanis, pilaos and chutneys. Like most dishes from the sub-Indian continent, these are great for entertaining, full of wonderful subtle flavours, with excellent holding and reheating properties (so they can mostly be done the day before or early in the day for a dinner party). The celebration section is particularly nice, and contains fancier and more unusual recipes such as an exfoliating paste called Ubtan designed to buff a bride's skin for the wedding day, a variety of scented Halwas, fancy puddings and sweet balls.
The book is very nicely presented, with attractive, colourful full page photographs, and in a clear demonstration of the values espoused by Siddiqui, the book has a forward from Siddiqui's son and an afterward from her daughter. For anyone interested in finding out more about South East Asian cuisine, this is a lovely, easy to follow cookbook, which also provides food for thought. For more information visit: http://www.whitejasmine.com/
Magdalena Ball
http://www.compulsivereader.com/html
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