NADIYA Hussain has been without a kitchen for almost a month and a half, and it’s not going well. “I’ve literally gone bonkers without it,” says the Luton-born cookery writer.
She’s been nipping to her sister’s house five minutes down the road to cook, even though her sister will happily just feed her.
“I rely on my kitchen so much, for my own sanity, for my own mental wellbeing,” says Hussain.
“I don’t know who I am without my kitchen! I said it out loud to my friend. She goes, ‘You are not defined by your kitchen’. I said, ‘I think you’ll find I am!’”
For many of us though, it’s Hussain herself who’s a defining force when it comes to cooking. Since the moment she won the sixth series of the Great British Bake Off in 2015, she’s brought us recipes full of colour, fun and flavour.
Her cookbooks and TV shows have taught us to bake (Nadiya’s Everyday Baking), cut waste (Cook Once, Eat Twice), throw together curries (Nadiya’s Simple Spices), and feed our families well, but fast (Time To Eat). It’s all cheerful, tasty, nourishing stuff.
Her new cookbook, Rooza, feels different. It will still leave you full and happy, but it’s bigger, bolder and incredibly beautiful.
“Oh my goodness, I’m so excited. I can’t tell you. Books like this don’t exist,” says Hussain.
“It is probably one of the biggest privileges for me ever to be able to write something like this, because I know what this is going to mean to people who observe Ramadan.”
Rooza contains 30 three course meals, inspired by the cuisines of 30 countries – from Nepal to Tunisia, and Singapore to Syria – where people observe the Islamic holy month, during which they fast from sunrise to sunset, before coming together to eat and pray.
Hussain describes Ramadan, which will be observed from February 28 to March 30, as a much-loved but fleeting friend.
“Everyone’s got that friend that, no matter how long you’ve not spoken to each other for, how long you’ve been apart, when you’re together, it feels like you never left – that’s what Ramadan feels like,” she explains.
“Ramadan is something I grew up doing, but I never really valued it or understood what it really meant until I had my own family.”
Her children, who she and husband Abdal live with in Milton Keynes, are now 18, 17 and 14, and they all fast.
“There’s no question. That’s what I love about it. I love that we just do it and there’s no arguments, and trust me, that’s big when you’ve got teenagers, because they rebel and fight. They will fight for their rights when it comes to everything else,” she says.
During Ramadan, the kids are hungry, so her family are guaranteed to eat dinner together.
“I get 30 solid days with my kids. I love that, and I know it’s really selfish, but it’s the time when my children are mine,” says Hussain, adding with a laugh.
“When they have their own families, I’ll gatecrash and be like, ‘I’m coming for dinner now, it’s my turn!”
While her children might not question Ramadan, lots of people who don’t observe often do, especially the fasting element.
“It’s like, ‘Why would you do that to yourself?’ But we’re not hurting ourselves. It’s a huge part of our faith,” says Hussain, who hopes Rooza shows people that Ramadan is a celebration and “isn’t a torture for us”.
“This is joy. We love this. We enjoy this. There is a beautiful bright side to it that nobody really gets to see.”
She adds: “It’s the most peaceful, calm month of the year for us.”
Sadly, Hussain is prepared for the backlash she’ll inevitably face for writing Rooza.
“I can’t do a Cornish pasty without somebody having a go at me,” she says, resigned but stoic.
“So yes, of course, I’m totally ready for that to happen, but do I care? No. Can I handle it better? Absolutely. Is it right? No, it’s not right, but I know these things happen.
“Most importantly, I know those comments are not important.”
Hussain has spoken about having anxiety and panic disorder, and recently shared that she’s been diagnosed with two autoimmune disorders.
She also dedicates Rooza to mothers for all that they give and all that they do, yet she’s still “really bad at taking time for myself” and is planning to “try harder to carve out time” for herself in 2025, especially for her archery – she wants to start competing.
“There’s something very powerful about your stance, it’s the way you hold yourself. You cannot be a millimetre off; a millimetre off, and you’re not hitting that target,” she says.
“I feel powerful, controlled and really free in those moments when I let go and the arrow goes thunk when it hits.”
When we speak, Hussain is also gearing up to turn 40, and this time last year, had it in her head that by the time the big 4-0 rolled round, she was going to “have a six-pack” and be the fittest she’d ever been.
“I put all this pressure on myself,” she admits, “and I haven’t achieved any of those things I said I would.”
But she is infinitely happier.
“I’m happy inside. I’m happy at home, and I can’t want more than that,” she says.
“I have had a really tough year with my health, and that’s really put things into perspective. It’s not about having a six-pack, it’s about being happy and enjoying the things I love.”
Her husband Abdal was secretly making grand birthday plans (“I can tell he’s up to no good!”) and even though she reckoned she’d be cooking for her 40th bash, Hussain was still hoping for cake.
“I love the idea that somebody else has baked,” she laughs.
Rooza by Nadiya Hussain is published by Penguin Michael Joseph, priced £25. Photography by Chris Terry
