Madison chef Sultan Ahmed to release 'Zameen' cookbook rooted in Pakistani cooking and Wisconsin farms

Sultan Ahmed, the chef and owner of Madison restaurant Sultan, is preparing to publish a cookbook built around dishes from his menu, along with some favorites of his customers. The book is titled "Zameen: Pakistani Roots, Wisconsin Soil."

Ahmed opened Sultan in 2023 at 1054 Williamson St. on the city's East Side. The restaurant serves modern interpretations of Pakistani food, blending traditional flavors and techniques with cooking styles from elsewhere in the world. Ahmed has described it as a "labor of love," and he reached it by an indirect route.

The idea for the book grew out of a long working relationship with Kayla Gendron of Spoonful Photography, who has photographed the restaurant's food. "I thought we should really showcase some full imagery of our food, and talk about our food philosophy and give customers a little bit of insight into the food and how it's made," Ahmed said. "I think a cookbook was just a natural step."

He also wants the book to make two broader points. The first is that South Asian cuisine has depth and richness that deserve wider recognition, a status he says it is gaining in the culinary world. He wants Pakistani food to be seen as cooking built on fresh ingredients, careful sourcing, attention to season and place, and high-level technique. "Spice cookery is very difficult, and it is a culinary technique like anything else," he said.

One example is Aloo Palak, spiced potatoes with curried spinach, among the longest-running dishes at Sultan. The traditional version starts with a Pakistani salan base of onions, tomatoes, fenugreek, ginger, garlic, bay leaf, coriander, chili powder, turmeric, cumin, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon, cooked in oil to release the spices' flavor. Boiled potatoes and chopped spinach are then added to the mix.

Sultan's version, which will appear in the book, keeps the components apart. The potatoes are boiled, spiced and blanched separately. The spinach, prepared with the spice mix, becomes a puree that serves as a sauce base for the potatoes, and the dish is finished with spinach chips. The aim is to highlight individual flavors rather than present a single homogeneous mixture. Other recipes in the book include a braised beef shank nihari and butter chicken French toast.

The second point concerns ingredients. "Zameen" is the Urdu word for "land," and Ahmed wants the book to focus on it. He estimates that about 70% of the produce used at Sultan comes from Wisconsin. "I think when you become a part of the community, the recognition of the food and the culture naturally follows," he said.

Ahmed believes factory farming and chemical treatments threaten the environment and lower food quality, and he hopes people will return to local and regional supply chains so that quality and animal welfare improve. He said all of the restaurant's proteins are humane, antibiotic- and hormone-free, and farmed in Wisconsin. Some items, such as lotus root, cannot be grown locally and must be imported, he said, but he considers smaller agricultural supply chains and support for the local economy vital to food in the United States.

The book is expected to be released Sunday, Sept. 20, with preorders opening soon. A launch party is planned for a week after the release. Links for the book and the party will be posted on Sultan's social media pages at a later date.