Cooking was introduced to me not at home but in school, when one of our teachers, Mrs Mohammady took it upon herself to start cooking classes for girls. For this, she first had to convince the school headmistress that there would be no danger, since the girls would not be operating the stoves themselves. Then, she sought permission from the other teachers to let her use the staff room, as it was the place that had a makeshift stove to prepare tea.

Being a mother of daughters, Mrs Mohammady felt strongly about teaching them kitchen skills, which she considered a life skill. She wanted the same for boys but, unlike the girls, it was not so simple to get them to sacrifice one of their two sports or games periods to learn cooking. She started with girls in the sixth grade, who were older and responsible enough to be trusted in a kitchen, and who were also quite excited about taking cooking classes. I was one of them.

Mrs Mohammady encouraged us to put together and maintain our own cookbooks. We decorated them with pictures of cakes and pies, or whatever else in foreign magazines looked scrumptious enough for us to cut out and paste in. This went alongside recipes we penned of the cuisines we had learned to prepare. When we could not find pictures in magazines, we drew.

The first thing we made in the staff room kitchenette was crunchy caramelised peanut bars. Pancakes were next, followed by pakorray [vegetable fritters] and more such simple recipes.

With gas shutdowns a regular reality, these no-cook recipes are as useful today as they were when first learned decades ago…

Mrs Mohammady encouraged us to experiment and practise at home, though this proved harder than it sounds. My mother, though she appreciated the teacher for taking it upon herself to teach her daughter and her classfellows how to cook, did not feel entirely comfortable with me using the stove and oven at home.

At the same time, she did not want to dampen my enthusiasm entirely. Hence, she introduced me to recipes that did not involve fire. She took me to bookshops to look for cookbooks about salads, sandwiches, chutneys, shakes and desserts that did not require cooking.

Learning to make them was its own kind of pleasure. I continue to return to the recipes that I came up with in those days, especially in current times of gas shutdowns and shortages. Here, then, are some of the recipes I return to still — especially on days when the gas is out and patience is short.

SUMMER SALAD

Chop a medium-sized onion, bell pepper, carrot and half a cabbage into julienne slices. Take two medium-sized tomatoes and cut into small pieces. Transfer it all into a large bowl and squeeze the juice of one fresh lemon over it. Add half a teaspoon of salt, black pepper, chilli flakes and half a cup of plain yoghurt. If you like, sprinkle it with chopped fresh coriander before mixing it. The salad is ready. Serve cold.

COLD CUCUMBER SANDWICHES

Peel and slice a cucumber. Take a few bread slices and remove the edges before spreading mayonnaise on one side. Place the cucumber slices on the bread, add small pieces of bottled jalapeno slices to add taste (optional) and cover with the other slice to make a yummy snack that may be stored in the fridge and enjoyed cold.

SALTED MINT LASSI

Take two cups of yoghurt, one-fourth cup of mint leaves, half a teaspoon of crushed ginger, a teaspoon of salt, one-fourth teaspoon of black salt (optional) and one-fourth teaspoon of white cumin seeds. Transfer them to an electric blender along with half an ice tray of cubes. Mix in the blender on medium for 1-2 minutes and pour into a jug. Your chilled and refreshing lassi is ready.

PAAN LADDU

This one takes a little preparation, but most of it is hands-off. You need to first prepare gulkand, a simple concoction of rose petals and sugar. Just get lots of red rose petals from any roadside florist, rinse them and leave them to dry in a strainer. When the petals are dry, take a few at a time and add in two teaspoons of sugar to it before crushing and mixing them together with your hands in a bowl. Repeat the process by adding a handful of petals at a time and adding in more sugar. Transfer to a glass jar, close the lid and leave it in the sun for three to five days, after which the mixture starts looking similar to strawberry jam. Store it in the fridge.

Take a paan [betel leaf] or two from any paan shop. It’s even better if you have paan growing at home. Put the leaves (broken into little pieces) into the blender. Pour in a small can (about 400g) of sweetened condensed milk, a pinch (if powder) or two drops of green food colour (if in liquid form) and mix well.

Take two cups of desiccated coconut and mix it with the green betel leaves paste. Form small balls of the mixture, while placing a teaspoon of gulkand in the centre of each. Coat these balls with desiccated coconut before serving.

The writer is a member of staff. X: @HasanShazia

Published in Dawn, EOS, March 29th, 2026