Our lives, our homes and kitchens, our joys or sorrows, even our future – all carry an echo of history.

Not many would know that one of the oldest human civilisations developed in South Asia on the banks of the river Indus, the Indus Valley Civilisation. The region has been called Sindh since ancient times, and has seen many empires come and go: the Achaemenid Empire, Alexander the Great, the Umayyad Caliphate, the Rajputs, the Mughals and the British Raj.

Using food as a medium to trace history, this book pays homage to the unheard voices of the people of Sindh, who became refugees in their own country after India’s independence from the British and the Partition. Unlike the provinces of Bengal and Punjab, Sindh in its entirety became a part of Pakistan. My family, like so many others, had to flee overnight to India for refuge, and resurrect their lives from nothing.

The memories of their kitchens in Sindh and recreating those dishes in their new homelands brought them familiarity, solace, and hope for a new future. In our troubled times today, this book reminds us of what is gained by those who give refuge, and what refugees bring.

The book has more than 150 recipes collected from Sindhis across the world and will appeal to vegans, pescatarians and meat-eaters alike. The instructions are detailed with a how-to for its ingredients, vivid pictures of the dishes and Sindh’s iconic sites – charting my travels there in early 2020.

Language: English
Print Length: 352 pages

Publication date: 18/12/23
Weight 1000g, Dimensions 25.4 × 2.5 × 17.7cm