Chef Mariam Shah

13/07/2023

10PM and I realize I didn’t make lunch for tomorrow because I was too busy installing an AC and reveling in the fact that I did it myself! Taking a very intense summer class on homelessness. I have so many thoughts and feelings. But for now, mirchi ka saalan…

25/10/2022

Are you following me on Instagram?

4,188 Followers, 1,260 Following, 442 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐦 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐡 ()

17/05/2022

Ramps & Potatoes baby! Recipe reel tomorrow! 😘

15/05/2022

Recipe tomorrow! - not as good as your chef’s but a solid attempt nonetheless! 😂

28/04/2022

Fruit Chaat. My Nani used to make a chaat that had basically three ingredients. Bananas, guavas and the juice of many oranges. There was no mention of chaat masala in our house…to my Nani that was a cop out! She relied on the simplicity of sugar, salt & black pepper. Recipe tomorrow! Give it a try and obviously you can add chaat masala if you’re not fully satisfied with the flavors!

25/04/2022

Perhaps a regular occurrence, these bedtime stories will serve to educate you about recipes you may, as they say, be winging! So get cozy under your blankets & let Bibi Mariam lull you to sleep.

23/04/2022

Almost everyone eats & loves eggs but a lot of us never think about where our eggs come from. Grocery store eggs have minimal flavor if any, pale yellow yolks and whites that spread everywhere in your pan. But fresh eggs, local, from farms you trust, are abso!* # delicious! Swipe to see proof of how fresh these eggs from are. Thank you for making my DAYS! 🥰

🍅

22/04/2022

The key to a perfect “chaat” lies in the range of textures, the mix of sweet, sour, spicy & savory flavors and in layering your ingredients. Check out my reels for the ‘corn w/cumin & dried red chilies recipe’ and then create your chaat around it. Add yogurt & then build it with more ingredients. A friend’s mother likes to add toasted, shredded coconut, sometimes I fry up curry leaves & throw them in, if I don’t have “sev”, I crush up crackers and throw them on top…the whole point is to have a crazy cacophony of fireworks in your mouth! Try it! Let me know what you think! Feel free to ask questions! Love all y’all!

06/04/2022

More than a salad. I absolutely love salads. One would think that it would show on my body but the fact is that I also love potato chips! People underestimate the potential of a salad, how far it can be taken & what all it can include. Though I didn’t make a baba ghanoush, wouldn’t it make a lovely dressing? I roasted an eggplant & whizzed it up with some yogurt, plopped that over cooked & uncooked veggies & beans, and topped it off with crispy garlic, curry leaves, whole spices & slivered almonds. We tend to overdo it with multiple spices instead of staying in one harmonious lane. Recipe in stories today & will also be available in highlights.

Also, I love you guys.

02/04/2022

Never made “cutlets” before, but had the urge and went for it with a tiny bit of direction from my childhood memories. They turned out pretty great but if you decide to make them, play around with the flavors more. I’m definitely going to make these again and do the same! A loose recipe is available in my reels. Good luck!

28/03/2022

Thank you Willhy Farms] for this glorious, home delivered, treat today! If there’s one thing I could eat 56 times a day, it’s eggs & bread. Since I moved to the U.S., I’ve been craving eggs that taste…well, eggy! Store bought eggs have no flavor and are unnecessarily enormous, but local eggs from happy chickens are delicious! I love my community, I love my farmer friends and I love Sweet Pea, Momma, Vanna, Wh**ey Bulger and Goldie Hawn who’s eggs will bless my belly for the next week! Pictured: Willhy Farms] sourdough bread & fresh eggs.

24/03/2022

My lunch. I don’t think I have yet in my life had that made me say “Ah yes, very satisfying in all of the ways, thank you Lord.” Perhaps I just don’t like gnocchi. Perhaps I need to go to Italy. Perhaps I need to make some myself. Perhaps I need to use it in some other way…like as when my friends with kids visit. Basically, I have yet to fall in with gnocchi. And I’m going to dammit! Stay tuned for some

16/03/2022

Dinner tonight! Rali milli bhujia with naan.

15/03/2022

Check out my stories today to learn how to convert your stainless steel pots & pans into nonstick ones! Also saved to highlights: “Nonstick”.

09/03/2022

Who doesn’t love a glorious plate of buttery mushrooms? Please don’t raise your hand! Here are some and cooked to perfection! The “how to” coming soon!

01/08/2021

I think this was 2004, watercolor and collage one late night. Tell me:
what's stuck on?

05/06/2021

Who doesn't love a cool salad on a hot day?

Slice up your favorite veggies, you can even add fruit, play with texture, play with slicing direction & shapes, add a dressing of something salty (fish sauce, soy sauce), something sweet (brown sugar, honey) & sour (vinegar, limes, tamarind), some extra crunch with peanuts & crispy noodles & you're good to go!

The best part? You can slice everything in advance and store it in the fridge - assemble your salad right before serving. Also, make lots of that dressing, store it in a jar, it'll last for a couple of weeks!

18/04/2021

I didn’t mean to build a career in food; it was entirely an accident.

For ten years I worked as a professional actor & simultaneously built & headed an art department at a private school in Karachi, Pakistan - the country of my birth. At 31, I moved to the US to pursue the visual arts at Bennington College in Vermont. I thought I was headed for a career in Art Administration, but a year after graduating & innumerable job applications I was still unemployed. Had it not been for the generosity of friends, I would have been homeless. As I adventured from couches, to beds to basements & screened in porches, I took over the daily task of cooking them meals. This is when a friend encouraged me to sell samosas at the local farmer’s market. I had no idea those deep fried, flaky pockets, with their cumin seed dotted crusts & potato, scallion & coriander seed fillings would lead not only to a loyal following at the market but steer me into a culinary career.

Since then, I have worked as a personal chef, a line cook, a grill cook, a brunch chef, a pastry chef, in hole in the wall restaurants & Michelin starred restaurants. I’ve been a caterer & a vendor & the creator of more than a dozen pop-up kitchens in restaurants & at farms in Vermont & New York. I was nominated for the title of Outstanding Female Chef in Santé Magazine & have received rave reviews from patrons & critics alike.

Now, five & a half years later, I’m not just feeding people, I’m trying to bring to light the history of Pakistani cuisine, educating people about a multifaceted & misunderstood country. I am raising awareness about the sweeping of Pakistani cuisine under the much more convenient carpet of Indian food in restaurants as well as in some of America’s largest food publications. I am working to ignite necessary conversations about diversity & inclusivity & about the usurping & clumsy renaming of South East Asian dishes by a predominantly White culinary world. And I’m trying to do all of this while staying true to who I am; larger than life, brutally honest, unabashedly proud of my failures and achievements.

02/04/2021

Crispy rice w/ eggs! Check out my stories or highlights for the recipe! This incredibly satisfying recipe comes together in less than ten minutes & uses what you probably have in your fridge already! I hope you'll give it a shot and share your versions with me! Kisses!
PS: It took me 800 hours to upload the video and the quality is so poor! 😭 I'm kinda bummed about it but it is what it is! No one really understands how tiring Instagram is... unless of course you also use it as a medium to communicate with the entire universe!

26/03/2021

Watch stories for a super quick recipe! Take your ramen (or your Maggie Noodles!) & some of that chili crisp I taught you to make (igtv videos) & then call me on 1-800-bestchefever, to let me know how I changed your life! Takes 5 minutes and is totally capable of being an actual meal with the addition of eggs, meat, seafood, tofu, veggies, beans... Whatever you want; the bowl's your oyster! 😜

22/03/2021

This isn't going particularly well! 🤦🏽‍♀️ I'm so out of practice and I feel so tired and I need someone else to come record me slicing stuff and talking and messing up!

22/03/2021

What recipe do you want to see first? Go to my stories & make yourself heard!
I've been receiving messages about why I haven't been active on here which is surprising and flattering and lovely and perhaps even a little motivating! I was talking to my therapist about a theory I have for this inactivity, because I'm not depressed, I'm just really tired. Check out my stories for more on that & what I've been up to for the past two weeks!
Today I'm going to make a couple of recipe videos - I want to share my version of a besan ki roti (chickpea/gram flour flatbread), the chili crisp, the cornbread, the crispy rice with eggs, achaari chicken, and gooey chocolatey goodness! So head to my stores & let me know what you want to see first? So far chili crisp is winning!

26/02/2021

Gluten free, chickpea flour "flatbread"! Besan ki Roti (roti made with gram/chickpea flour) requires the addition of regular flour to make it easier to roll out, but I decided to make a batter essentially, adding extra water, and made thin, crepe like, 'roti's'! Topped off with some spicy bhujia & yogurt...oh baby! My fancy Niagra lunch!

25/02/2021

Make your own Garam Masala!! These are all spices easily available in most grocery stores, as is garam masala, but there's nothing like making your own! A little bit of extra knowledge: is a highly aromatic spice blend & often people use it as a sprinkle on dishes that have finished cooking. There are however lots of times when it's used at the beginning of a recipe, along with other spices (check my Yakhni Pulao in highlights). There are also MANY recipes for garam masala and some families (ahem) never give away their particular blend. Besides the ones in this recipe other spices people add include: Caraway seeds or black cumin, fennel, coriander seeds, bay leaves, mace (outer covering of nutmeg), nutmeg and sometimes star anise. I wish I could share mine with you, but unless I have kids, it goes to the grave with me! 😜😂😘 Store in an airtight jar - will last for a long time!

22/02/2021

I wanted a thing. I attempted a thing. It was a good thing.

20/02/2021

I should teach y'all this Achaari Chicken next! I have a🤰🏽friend in Amherst who's about to pop a 👶🏽 any day! For some months she's been ordering food from me because, JFC, pregnancy is hard af (not that I know first hand)! This is her favorite dish on the menu...honestly, it's pretty sick!

17/02/2021

That & situation ain't got nothin' on me! Isn't this with & way sexier? Yes. Yes it is. 😜

16/02/2021

I know the craze is super no fuss, but would I be me if I didn't complicate things just a little? 😉 What do you think is happening here?