My Life In Food: Nadiya Hussain
One of my earliest food memories takes me back to our little three-bed terraced house. I remember my dad digging a hole in the garden to set up a fire and cook meat. Even now, I can still smell it – the fire, the meat cooking – it’s such a vivid memory. That was my dad through and through. My mum never let us into the kitchen, but my dad always did. He was quite wild and bold in the kitchen, a bit of an eccentric, and that’s where a lot of my first memories of food come from.
The first thing I really learned to cook was rice. It’s technically not a dish, but it was something my whole family had to master. My grandad was a rice farmer, so it was essential we all knew how to cook it properly. The first actual dish I made was dal. I still remember learning how important it was to soak the lentils, cook them slowly and then finish with the tarka at the end. That’s one of the first dishes I taught my kids too. It might seem simple, but getting the balance of flavours is key. I like to use a combination of olive oil and butter to make it creamy, then I add dried chilies, Bengali five spice, onions and garlic, and cook it all until it's crispy. Pouring that over the bubbling lentils is where the magic happens – it all emulsifies, and you get this rich, thick dal. It's total soul food.
These days, I bake so many things that it's hard to pick a signature recipe, but it’s probably my loaded cookies. They seem simple, but they can go wrong if you don't let the dough rest properly. I chill mine overnight, which gives them a perfect shape. My sister-in-law still talks about these cookies I made for her four years ago when she was pregnant. They’re triple chocolate cookies sandwiched with vanilla Italian meringue, and inside there’s gooey salted caramel ganache. You have to cut them open to get to the filling, and they’re honestly like custard creams on crack.
When I’m at home and I want something comforting, it has to be rice and fish curry. I always crave my fish and orange curry – simple but full of flavour. I use fillets of tilapia and cook them with clementine, both the juice and the outer flesh. The citrusy flavour really cuts through the spice, and the smell is amazing. I usually have a container of this in the freezer because it’s the perfect dish to pull out when I’ve had a long day, and the kids have already eaten. Just a bit of rice, pop it in the microwave and I’m happy. When it comes to curries, I keep it simple. No chutneys or extra condiments for me. I might squeeze a wedge of lemon on the side or eat a green chili with it, but that’s about it. Oh, and I always have cherry tomatoes on the side – I eat them like grapes.
Biryani is another crowd-pleaser in my household. It’s an all-in-one dish and my family loves it, especially salmon biryani. Sometimes I add prawns too. It’s rich, aromatic and the rice is cooked with whole spices, so every bite is full of flavour. It might look complicated because of all the ingredients, but it’s really just two components: a thick curry with some kind of protein and rice. I don’t even layer mine like traditional biryani. I just plop the rice on top of the curry, add some crispy onions, put a lid on it, and let it steam. Then I mix it all together. It’s my cheat’s version, but it works, and makes everyone happy.
My family’s favourite cake is definitely tres leches. I make a Genoese sponge and soak it with evaporated milk until there are puddles. Then I cover it in Chantilly cream and drizzle salted caramel on top. It’s their ultimate comfort cake, and I can whip one up in 15 minutes flat if needed. It’s always a crowd-pleaser.
When it comes to eating out, I keep it simple. My go-to is Olive Tree, a Mediterranean Turkish place in Milton Keynes that does the most amazing kebabs. They have this lamb’s liver dish sautéed with light spices and topped with pomegranate molasses that I can never resist. The consistency of the food there is always spot on. I also love MK Dosa in Milton Keynes. It’s a vegetarian restaurant, which took some convincing for my husband, but once he tried it, he was hooked. They make crispy rolled pancakes called dosas with a runny lentil dip and spicy tapioca chips. You don’t miss the meat; the food is that good.
In London, I always end up going back to Dishoom. They do great chai and the crispy okra is my favourite thing on the menu. I always order one, then I kick myself for not ordering two – it’s that good. The vegetarian options are fantastic, and there’s something for everyone, but it’s the crispy okra that gets me every time.
I’ve always wanted to visit Asma Khan’s Darjeeling Express. She’s invited me multiple times, but I haven’t made it yet. I’m such a homebody, but it’s definitely on my list. Another place I’d love to visit is The Cheese Bar in London, where they serve cheese on a conveyor belt like in YO! Sushi. It sounds like my kind of place – just moving cheese!
Fish and chips is my go-to takeaway. I always get it with curry sauce, mushy peas, lots of salt and vinegar, a pickled onion and a pickled egg. I grate the pickled egg over my fish and chips to spread the flavour without overwhelming it.
If I’ve been filming or in the test kitchen all day and need something quick, I turn to mashed potatoes. But not just any mashed potatoes – I love Smash. I make mine with milk and lots of butter. I season them with plenty of salt (because unseasoned mash is a crime) and add mayonnaise to make them extra rich and creamy. Sometimes, I even top them with a can of tomato soup and grated cheese before grilling the whole thing. It sounds a bit crazy, but it works, trust me.
My perfect meal would start with a prawn cocktail. It’s so simple and satisfying. For my main, I’d go for a homemade chicken korma, the kind my mum makes. It’s aromatic, lightly spiced, and has no cream – completely different from what you’d find in restaurants. Just a bowl of that with plain rice and I’m in heaven. For dessert, it’s got to be an Eton mess. I love cream, berries and meringue, so it’s the perfect sweet treat for me.
A couple of years ago, we went to Marrakech and stayed at the Mandarin Oriental, where I had one of my most memorable meals. I fell in love with msemen, a layered Moroccan flatbread served with honey and argan oil. You mix the honey and oil together, and dip the bread in – so simple but absolutely delicious. They serve it everywhere in Morocco with lots of dips and sides, which I love because you can keep going back for more. I’m a huge fan of bread, so dipping it into different sauces was heaven for me. Honestly, I came home looking and feeling like a layered flatbread after that trip.
I always bring back ingredients from my travels. When I went to Morocco, I visited the spice markets and got things like za’atar, sumac, rose petals, and pistachios. I love collecting spices and local ingredients on holidays. Last year, I went to Naples and visited Mount Vesuvius. Just before climbing, there’s a little shop selling lemons and lemon products. These lemons were huge, about the size of my head. Everyone was buying the products, but I asked if I could just buy a lemon. The owner refused because he said his lemons were specially bred for that region and didn’t want me growing them elsewhere. I even offered £50, but he still wouldn’t sell me one.
As a Muslim, I don’t drink alcohol or eat pork. That said, I can’t say I dislike them since I’ve never tried them. I’m pretty open to eating most things – offal, tripe, liver, lungs – but the one thing I just can’t bring myself to eat is snails. I was offered some while filming in Cambodia, and I couldn’t do it. The idea of eating what is essentially a slug didn’t sit right with me.
I’m obsessed with kombucha. I used to make my own with a SCOBY, but after a bit of a disaster where it burst in my garage, I’ve stuck to buying it. I love a peach and green tea kombucha, and I’m not too picky about the brand – I just enjoy the tangy, refreshing flavour.
I buy my food from a variety of places, depending on what I’m making. I love supporting local businesses and fresh markets, but sometimes I rely on bigger supermarkets for convenience. Ultimately, it’s about quality and freshness for me. I do online shops quite a lot because a lot of my food shopping is work-related. Then, I usually do a big shop every two weeks, usually at Sainsbury’s, Asda, or Tesco. For meat, I go to our local butcher. I like to get all my meat from there. I also buy a lot of my fish from Morrisons because they have a really great selection – they do things like cod roe, razor clams and more unusual items. For fruit and veg, I go to a farm shop, which isn’t far from me. It’s about 20 minutes away, so when I’m visiting my mum, I stop by on the way home to pick up fresh produce.
My new show ‘Cook Once, Eat Twice’ is all about cooking in a way that allows you to make the most out of your ingredients, save money and reduce waste. The show is based on chapters from my new book, including batch cooking and using up ingredients that are most commonly wasted in the UK. The freezer is your best friend when it comes to cooking on a budget. Most things can be frozen, and it’s important to make space in your freezer. Another tip: don’t throw anything away unless it’s going to poison you. For example, I save garlic peelings, roast them, and mix them with salt to make garlic salt. Leftovers don’t have to be wasted. If you’ve got a portion left, put it in an individual container and freeze it. After a couple of weeks, you’ll have several different meals you can pull out whenever you need something quick. What might have been thrown away could become a whole meal later.
Nadiya’s new cookbook, Cook Once, Eat Twice (HB, Penguin Michael Joseph), is out now. Her accompanying TV show of the same name airs Tuesday nights on BBC2 from 17th September.
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