Dainty delicacies on ntv

Siddika Kabir(R) and host Sharmin Lucky preparing delicious recipes

A little before moving on to your dinner tables, you can catch Siddika Kabir and her mouth-watering recipes every Wednesday at 8:00 pm on ntv. Produced by Sara Zaker'sDdhoni-ChitraLimited, Siddika Kabir's Recipe, as the show is called, is a 52 episode production.

Siddika Kabir has been involved with cooking shows on television since 1965. An MA in Food and Nutrition and Food Adminstrations from Oklahoma State University, she was also the principal of Home Economics College in Dhaka. Currently, she is also a freelance consultant for Nestle and Dano. She is, however, more popular for her famous book 'Ranna Khaddya Pushti' and 'Bangladesh Curry Cookbook'.

She remarks that back in her younger days there were not many good schools or institutions for cooking. However, the women in her family happened to be expert cooks of their own times. 'My maternal grandmother was known to be a wonderful cook at Kolkata.

Even today, my very young cousins and nieces happen to be very good with food experimenting.'

Siddika Kabir uses her own recipes on the show. 'All of them can be found in my cook-books of course,' she says. 'I am an avid reader of the English and the European books as well, and try to experiment with their food ideas and recipes. However, I prefer to keep them the way they are, and avoid the mixing of our eastern ingredients in them.'

Siddika Kabir wants to build up her own institution where cooking would be taught academically. 'Staying healthy has always been significant in our lives,' she emphasises. 'There are a lot of young people who have an urge to learn to cook healthy dishes as well as delicious ones and only a professional academy can provide one with all the know-how and the scientific ways to look ever fresh and scrumptious.'