Photo Credit: Karishma Karamghandani
For Pernia Qureshi, food has always been more than nourishment—it’s memory, tradition, and love served warm. In her debut (and possibly only) cookbook Ammi’s Kitchen, she strives to preserve the heirloom recipes of her grandmother, whose Rampuri culinary legacy not only brought the family together for endless happy meals but also once drew long queues at a now-closed family restaurant in Delhi’s Khan Market. Through evocative imagery and carefully recorded dishes, Qureshi charts a personal journey in the kitchen from disappearing—with help from her father, aunts, and the chefs who once cooked alongside Ammi herself. The book isn’t just a compilation—it’s a deeply personal act of preservation, plated with nostalgia and styled with intention.
Excerpts From The Interview With Pernia Qureshi
T+L India: Was there a specific moment or realisation that prompted you to document these family recipes?
Pernia Qureshi: No, there wasn’t a moment per se. I had been thinking about it for a very long time, for years actually, even when Ammi was alive—because nobody in my generation really cooks. My dad is a passionate cook, and I have two aunts who cook really well, but after their generation, there’s no one to carry the legacy forward. And I was worried about that.
Photo Credit: Karishma Karamghandani
T+L India: Ammi’s Kitchen immediately evokes warmth and nostalgia—I can imagine little you hanging in the kitchen as your grandma cooked, the smells wafting through the house. Can you tell us a little about the making of the book.
Pernia Qureshi: Without my grandma, there would be no book, no recipes, and no legacy. My family had a restaurant called Rampur Kitchen in the late 1990s and early 2000s in Khan Market. It featured all our family recipes. Ammi came and trained the chefs, and even stayed on to ensure everything was running smoothly. The restaurant was very popular. There were always lines around the block because it was quite small—but even for takeaway, there were queues. We eventually had to close it because it wasn’t our primary business. I was in school, and it just became too much. So those were Ammi’s recipes—that was Rampur Kitchen. This, now, is Ammi’s Kitchen.
T+L India: Compiling family recipes, especially heirloom ones passed down through generations, can be a monumental task. What was your process for selecting, testing, and refining the dishes included in the book?
Photo Credit: Karishma Karamghandani
Photo Credit: Karishma Karamghandani
Photo Credit: Karishma Karamghandani
Photo Credit: Karishma Karamghandani
Pernia Qureshi: I honestly couldn’t have done this without the people in my family who actually cook, because I’m not a cook. But I am definitely someone who eats and wants to preserve these recipes. I had the help of my chef—a second-generation chef in our family and his father worked closely with Ammi. I had his help, my father’s help, and my aunt’s who helped me put everything down. It was definitely not a one-person job.
T+L India: Do you see parallels between building a fashion brand and curating a culinary brand like “Ammi’s Kitchen”?
Pernia Qureshi: Anything you do in life will have parallels—because how you approach something stays the same. Whether I’m working in the fashion industry or putting together a book of recipes, the common thread is me. My approach, aesthetic, and signature will naturally carry through everything I do, which I hope is a good thing.
I think the cover artwork is beautiful and captures Rampuri culture so well. The photographs inside have come out beautifully. My friend Karishma did such a great job with the shoot. My dad helped her style everything, and every single dish and prop in the photographs came from my kitchen in Delhi. We didn’t bring in anything from outside.
T+L India: Beyond this cookbook, do you envision further ventures in the culinary space—perhaps a restaurant, a food line, or more cookbooks?
Pernia Qureshi: Honestly, since I don’t cook myself and this book was created purely as a tribute to my grandmother’s legacy, I don’t see myself doing much more in the culinary space. My sister already runs a home kitchen service under the name Ammi’s Kitchen in Delhi. So that’s already happening.
I think I’m content with just this. Maybe we’ll explore doing something more with the Ammi’s Kitchen brand in the future—like a series on TV, OTT platforms, or social media. But it would only revolve around Ammi’s legacy. Outside of that, I’m not really interested in doing more with food.
T+L India: If you could share a meal from “Ammi’s Kitchen” with anyone in the world, who would it be and why?
Photo Credit: Karishma Karamghandani
Pernia Qureshi: If I could share a meal with anyone in the world, honestly, it would be my own family. My mom, my dad, my sister, my niece, and my daughter—my immediate family. I’d choose them every single time over anyone else, especially when it comes to a meal made with Ammi’s food and recipes. They’re my number one people to break bread with—always have been, always will be.
Related: Flavours Without Borders? Chef Sujan Sarkar On The Indian Palate’s Future
Note:
The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
Written By
Stuti Agarwal
Digital Editor
Stuti is a writer and editor with over ten years of experience in magazines and publishing houses, and ..Read Morean author of eight published children’s and young adult novels with Penguin Random House, Harper Collins and Juggernaut India. When she is not glued to the screen, she is busy having pasta cook-offs with herself and dreaming up magical adventures in her hometown of Darjeeling. Read Less
Dining and Cooking