
Sukaina was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan. Her mother is Indian and her father is Pakistani which meant Sukaina witnessed a beautiful fusion of cultures and customs growing up. In 2014, Sukaina left her family home in Pakistan for Sydney, where she married an Australian citizen with Pakistani roots.
Sukaina’s family spoke three languages at home: Hindi, Gujrati and Urdu. She confesses she is not quite fluent in Gujrati as she did not have the chance to live in India, rather, she visited only occasionally with her mother.
Sukaina maintains a strong connection with her family history and her friends back home. A key focus of their communication centres around the two Eids–one Eid marks the end of Ramadan while the other commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim (also known as Abraham) to follow Allah’s command to sacrifice his son.
Food is a huge part of her family’s lives and they enjoy preparing food and eating together as a group. For festivals like Eids, the families come together for prayers to start the day and then prepare feasts to celebrate. Indian diets feature more vegetables and lentils, while Pakistanis tend to eat more meat.
Her all-time favourite meal is a classic Biryani, which is a complex dish to master. The trick, she says, is to strike the right balance of flavours and textures. The dish, which consists of rice with any kind of meat, fresh herbs and saffron is typically featured at all Indian family gatherings. Sukaina has learned the art of making the perfect biryani from her mum but is equally fond of the dish at her local restaurant.
View more of Fast Ed’s photo series by clicking here.
Related Posts
-
Why cultural diversity is an important workplace conversation
-
4 reasons to introduce A Taste of Harmony to your workplace
-
Maxine – Reach Out
-
What did you eat today?
-
Pride in Diversity for Major Hotel Group – Accor Hotels
-
Kristin – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
ASF Audit’s first A Taste of Harmony celebration
-
Australia Post – 10 year participant and major supporter
-
Who makes the best desserts?
-
Matthew – Yoghurt Digital
-
Dave – Reach Out
-
How a garden in a Brighton backyard is connecting cultures
-
Caring about cultural diversity – AutoCare Services
-
What’s in your pantry?
-
Emma – Blackbird PR
-
Tammy – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
Flourish Australia leads by example, and wins a visit by Celebrity Chef, Fast Ed!
-
What is Australian cuisine?
-
Mckenzie – Yoghurt Digital
-
Arq Group
-
Fast Ed’s A Taste of Harmony Photo Series
-
Newmont
-
Department of Local Government, Racing and Multicultural Affairs, QLD
-
A Taste of Harmony Registration Competition 2026
-
A workplace champion for harmony – Department of Human Services
-
How entrepreneurship enables economic independence for migrant women
-
How many cuisines have you eaten in your life?
-
What’s your favourite food?
-
Sally – Blackbird PR
-
A Taste of Harmony brings ‘Besties’ together – Best and Less
-
City of Whittlesea
-
Australian Taxation Office
-
Ayca – Yoghurt Digital
-
William Ross
-
How does your heritage affect what you eat?
-
Multiculturalism a key ingredient of Melbourne’s ‘happy cafe’
-
What makes Australian food culture so diverse?
-
Dominique Rizzo: What I learnt about my cultural heritage
-
Mitchell – Reach Out
-
Phoebe – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
Centre for Multicultural Youth
-
Petra – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
Krisztina – Reach Out
-
Cultural cuisines you may never have tried (and should!)
-
Metro South Health
-
Chung Jae Lee: My Korean heritage
-
Angel – Reach Out
-
Carly Day: Learning more about my cultural background
-
Why your workplace should celebrate A Taste of Harmony
-
Melissa Leong – Learning more about my cultural heritage
-
Junnan – Yoghurt Digital
-
Tessa – Reach Out
-
What does food mean to you?
-
A Taste of Harmony at Harding Martin
-
Samantha – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
Cristina – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
Neha – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
Gilad – Yoghurt Digital
-
Joe – Yoghurt Digital



