Meet Kanwal

For Kanwal, food is the language of love. Hailing from Lahore, Pakistan, she remembers her grandmother (Baree ami) using any occassion – often even making up occasions – in order to get the family together to laugh, eat, and share the delicious and deeply-spiced meals she’d been working on.

Graduating from Lahore’s esteemed National College of Arts as a textile/fashion designer, Kanwal spent more time in her grandma’s house than she did in her own house growing up. Her grandmother always wanted her around to keep a close eye on what she was doing. “She would show me how to roast the spices, how to knead the flour for roti, basically how to pour love  in  the dishes,” says Kanwal. “It was like she  was serving us – all the time making us eat. It was her way of showing us how much she loved us and I miss that so much.” 

It was these formative experiences that gave Kanwal her love of cooking. As she got older, Kanwal began studying her grandmother’s technique so she could emulate and cook her favourite foods on her own: getting the lentils just right, browning the spices in just the right way, perfecting the all-important desserts. 

“In my heart, giving back and having that connection with your inner self is very important, you can really make a big difference and heal people with kindness and compassion.”

Biryani is one of  Pakistan’s national dishes, but Kanwal’s grandmother wasn’t a biryani maker, and the budding cook instead learned the art of the biryani from her daughter’s godmother. Fast forward to 2024, and Kanwal’s biryani has made her something of a minor celebrity among her friends and family. 

Kanwal makes her biryani with chicken breast, potatoes, and hard-boiled eggs. Her approach is a little unorthodox as the meat is without bones but, as Kanwal says, “this is my version – Kanwal’s version. It's easy to eat and is a full meal, you don’t need anything else.”

Cooking for Kanwal is a therapeutic experience. Having spent many years running a high-end fashion brand back in Pakistan, Kanwal arrived in Melbourne in 2019 with her daughter, and now uses cooking to help connect her back to her country, her grandmother, and the places and people she knows and loves. “I cook from my heart,” she says. “It’s to do with family and love, and how you connect and bring people together. A shared meal is always a uniting factor.”  

Now, having spent years living the high life in Pakistan before arriving in Melbourne in 2019 , where a health scare forced her to pause and reflect on her path forward, Kanwal is committed to helping people and giving back in any way she can. “The world needs more kindness, everybody needs to be loved, everybody is finding a sense of  belonging,” she says. “In my heart, giving back and having that connection with your inner self is very important, you can really make a big difference and heal people with kindness and compassion.” 

This beautiful piece was written by our friend Oliver Pelling from GOOD & PROPER.