Hi I'm Izza--the face and the creator behind this food blog. It has me make making mischief in the kitchen for years but over the years I have experimented with so many cuisines and in the process refined my cooking techniques. Each recipe I share in these pages are some of my favorites.
Past Musings
I grew up in Karachi in a big family with an even bigger appetite. It goes without saying that there was food galore. A simple gathering with my extended family became a feast because my Abaji (paternal grandfather) would have it no other way. He also was one of the first people in my life to influence my culinary instincts in ways I can only describe in nostalgia. He was the head chef. He sourced the fresh meat, meticulously prepared from the butcher's. He purchased all the fresh produce. He orchestrated the feasts on Sundays with a mutton or lamb or prawn special. I have vivid memories of me and my cousins running down the driveway to greet him and help him gather all the fruit bags.
In the midst of it all, there was me indulging in BBC Food shows--something about the garlic sizzling in the pan, I tell you.
How I got started
I was a bratty kid growing up. If there was a scuffle, there was Izza. Trouble really had a way of finding me. My dad to this day calls me a "pressure cooker." I'd let you figure that one out by yourself :p I wouldn't say that food was my calling back then. I enjoyed watching cooking shows but only ventured into the kitchen when I started college. I secured a work-study program at the UCLA pastry kitchen and it immediately sparked my interest in baking. I helped bake for more than 20,000 students on campus and learned so many tips and tricks of mass baking! I also stole so much cookie dough!
As soon as I graduated, I had my sister shoot my first recipe: this Banana Bread and named my blog Rookie With A Cookie. And that was it! This space was born and I’m so glad. It keeps me passionate about all things sweet and savory.
I hope that as you browse through my recipe videos and connect with me on here and through my socials, you feel my passion and joy for food, life and story-telling.
Love and peace,
Izza
Hareem Atif Khan
Hi,
I’m stuck at home with (thankfully—mildly symptomatic version of) the Covid infection, and a need to get cold Kheer into my system (fellow Punjabi from Pakistan here). I almost ordered Kheer from this one Indian place (I’m in NYC) but knew store-bought wouldn’t taste right. Your recipe caught my eye because of the way you’ve written it up—your voice and personality shines through. So I clicked the About section, and read your own comment about how the chef’s personality makes the difference. Don’t stop cooking and, more importantly, don’t stop writing! Thanks for creating and sharing this space.
Best,
Hareem
Rookie With A Cookie
Hi Hareem! Thank you so much for your sweet message. I wish you a speedy recovery and glad the symptoms are mild. I hope once you've regained your health, you give this kheer a try. This truly parallels the ones I've had from the best places in Karachi. You will love it! I truly believe the magic is in the hands of the host and I'm glad it resonated with you; the warmer the energy, the tastier the food 🙂
zara sheikh
I love all your recipes, my favorite one is the take out style thai beef chili. Keep up the good work!
Rookie With A Cookie
Thank you Zara! So happy you've been trying my recipes and loving them
Brenda Malcolm
Please make a cookbook your recipes are brilliant.
Haitham
light and easy
thank you for sharing
Tarang
Your seekh kababs are awesome! So is the karahi chicken. Perfect every time. My kabab grilling multiplied manyfold this summer with this recipe. Post a recipe for grilled chicken tikka and other grill recipes if you make any!
Rookie With A Cookie
Thank you so much Tarang! I'm so happy that you loved the recipes! I can't wait to share more recipes that I love. Currently testing koobideh kebabs 🙂
Tarang
Izza, your seekh kabab and karachi chicken recipes are fabulous. The best ever, and truly easy to follow. Have to try the chicken tikka masala, but I am sure it will turn out great as well. Thank you!
Mahesh Singh
Hi there Izza - just followed you and also tried to post a comment on your Seekh Kabab recipe page. Not sure if they have posted - hopefully they will! I tried your kebab recipe this past weekend - and they came out fabulous! Thank you very much for it - I look forward to trying out your other recipes as well. I have one request - can you check your website/ blog settings and fix them so the latest comments appear on the top instead of at the bottom of the comments section? That way, it is easier (I'm guessing) to figure out if your comment posted or not - AND - it is usually more useful for readers to know what the most recent comments have been rather than something from over 2 years ago 🙂 Anyway, thanks again for the awesome seekh kebab recipe!
Rookie With A Cookie
Hi Mahesh, we get a handful of spam, so comments don’t post until I approve them from my end. I have adjusted the layout for the new comments to appear on top. Thanks for alerting me of this:)
Mahesh Singh
Awesome - thank you. Hope you will post more kebab and meat curry recipes. While I am all for a balanced diet (definitely desserts!), and salads/ veggies have their place, I am a meat maniac - especially of Indian, Pakistani and middle-Eastern recipes - (and of course steak) - and love to try out different recipes!
Buck
Hi Izza! As promised, I'm writing back to let you know that I made the seekh kabab last night (with ground turkey) and again tonight (with ground sirloin) and both turnred out delicious. The only change I made tonight was to double up on a few of the spices as, like you, I enjoy it SPICEY! I also found your recipe for Tandoori chicken and made that tonight as well. All I can say is AMAZING!! I tweeked the recipe a tad to my liking and my wife said it was the best chicken she had ever eaten. She got out of her car when she got home and said that was all she could smell on the barbeque. I'm so glad I found your site and am looking forward to trying many more of your recipes in the future. Cheers from a frigid Ontario, Canada!
Rookie With A Cookie
So happy to hear that Buck! It always puts a smile on my face when I read such wonderful comments:) Happy cooking and thanks for writing in.
Madhav W
Hi Izza:
I googled Seekh Kabab and your recipe popped up. I made it last week and it was excellent, I like my kababs spicy so I put a little more green chilli and chili powder. The only problem is that in spite of turning the exhaust fan full blast and opening all windows and door of my kitchen the house was filled with the delicious aroma and smoke. Wonder what the neighbors had to say. Tomorrow I'm going to follow the same recipe but make cutlets and shallow fry them in a pan.
Rookie With A Cookie
Shallow frying them would be delicious and I do that when I don't want to fuss around with skewers or the oven. Would make a delicious sandwich too with some pickled onions and raita. Thanks for trying this out.
Zee
Hi Izza,
Where are you based out of? Wondering if we can collaborate on a project. You can reply to me on email!
Thanks,
Zee
Rookie With A Cookie
Hi Zee, I am based in Los Angeles. I am open to collaborating on relevant projects. Please email me at rookiewithacookie@gmail.com 🙂
Younis Mustafa
Hi Izza,
Hope you doing well , your Pakistani recipes is fantastic so please i need more recipes from Pakistan pls.
Regards
Younis Mustafa
Amman Jordan
Rookie With A Cookie
Hi Younis, Thank you so much for trying out my recipes. I'll be putting up a lot more Pakistani recipe videos on my YouTube channel. Is there something specific you want me to make? Also, don't forget to subscribe to my channel! I would love the same support on my videos:)
Azmay Naseem Sheikh
Hi Izza, I ve been trying your recipes since a pretty long time and they're just amazing!! ? Your cookies have always been a great teatime snack...keep going ? will try other recipes too 😀
Rookie With A Cookie
Aw Thank you so much cutie! This made me really happy
Kari
I would love to pin your site, but there isn't a pin available on it 🙁
Rookie With A Cookie
Hi Kari! That's so sweet of you. I actually did not know that you could Pin an entire website. I'll figure out how to add that. But in the mean time, you can pin my individual posts:)
Lori
Izza, I would love to keep the recipes on my Facebook page, I am not real computer savvy and don't know if I can find these get recipes again.
Thank you so much for the wonderful ides and can't wait to make the pizcookie this when my grandsons come for a visit!
Your the best!
Rookie With A Cookie
You're most welcome, Lori! I would love to know how it turns out:)
Naeem
MA May u get all u wished for.
Naeem Ahmed Khan Malik
I'm ur fan.