Ashia Ismail-Singer, a resident of three continents, an author of three books, and a
mother of two takes inspiration from her mom’s recipes, was mindful of her young and
picky tasting audience when she cooked up three exciting, child-friendly recipes to cater
to the diverse tastes of young visitors the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival’s (SCRF
2023) Cookery Corner.
“I chose to make items, which even the children can make at home without supervision
or maybe a little from the parents. Each of my sessions during the Festival will have
recipes on a similar thought,” she noted while whipping up Indian flatbread Naan
accompanied by a dish of aubergine and flavourful tuna kebabs.
With origins from the western Indian state of Gujarat, Ashia was born in the African
country of Malawi, moved to the UK and is now based in New Zealand. This is her first
visit to Sharjah and the reading festival.
“The publisher of my first cookbook, which was a sell-out in 2018, told me about this
festival, and it has been a very pleasant arrival in Sharjah and I am very impressed by
the facilities on display here,” noted Ismail-Singer.
Making notes of her recipes in the audience were Mr and Mrs Mohammed Al-Redha
who hail from Jordan. “We both enjoy cooking and we have plans to open a restaurant
in the near future. So while we brought our children here to have some fun and learn,
we thought we could also use some tips from the SCRF cookery sessions that always
focus on healthy, simple and tasty recipes for children,” Mr Al-Redha said.
Her second cookbook was released last year and the third one is in production. “I use
spices and recipes, which fuse the East and West. I draw inspiration from the different
countries I have lived in, and created modern Indian food to suit the way we live today.”
As far as the most popular dish in the Ismail-Singer household is concerned, “Carrot
halwa is an all-time favourite!”