Beyond Measure

Cooking begins with the senses, and nobody knows this better than Bilal Bhatti. Before he became @GoldenGully, Bilal grew up learning to cook by paying close attention to his mother in the kitchen. He quickly realized that in order to cook like her, he’d need to rely on his senses instead of traditional measuring tools. She’d call for a “saucer” of flour when making roti and a “mug” of rice when making biryani, using typical household items as a standard for measurement rather than cups and teaspoons.

On the surface, Beyond Measure is a book about Pakistani cuisine. But at its heart, this book is for anyone who wants to learn to cook intuitively. This book will encourage you to learn flavor and ingredient profiles, learn basic (and some not so basic) cooking techniques, and then make the dishes your own. Like his mother and grandmother, Bilal encourages his followers not to be afraid of “failure” in the kitchen, as the commitment to persistence is core to immigrant home cooking.

Whether you’re looking to create the perfect blend of spices for your chai or to master making roti dough by feel, cooking requires a lot of trial and error. Take your time and enjoy the process.