Chef, author and food critic Anjali Pathak grew up understanding that spices were magical ingredients and quickly learnt that just a few could transform a simple dish into something extraordinary. Born in the famous Pathak family, who founded the Patak's brand, her book, Secrets From My Indian Family Kitchen, to be published in 2015, takes its inspiration from the recipes that Anjali learnt from her family.
Indian food can sometimes feel complicated, with seemingly endless ingredient lists, so Anjali has carefully picked a selection of dishes in her book, for all occasions that are easy to create and don’t need a vast array of ingredients. Scattered throughout are Anjali’s ‘My Secret’ stamps giving you tips on how to make the most of your ingredients, ways to tweak the recipes for slightly different yet still scrumptious results and her favourite serving suggestions.
Anjali Pathak’s first memories are of making chapatis with her grandmother who founded the family business, doing her homework on the kitchen table as her mother presented her with dish upon dish to test and her father’s favourite phrase – ‘can we get that into a jar?’ Anjali grew up understanding that spices were magical ingredients and quickly learnt that just a few could transform a simple dish into something extraordinary.
Speaking about her childhood experience, Anjali said, “Baa at Allcroft Road, Kentish Town – this was the first home Baa and Bapuji rented upon arriving in London from Kenya in 1956. Baa would cook up sweets in the tiny kitchen here, sales of which led to the opening of the Drummond Street grocery store. Thus, Patak’s was born. Baa and Bapuji invest in a van to keep up with delivery demands following the opening of the Drummond Street store!”
Secrets From My Indian Family Kitchen takes its inspiration from the recipes that she learnt from her family in a beautiful collection of authentic Indian dishes and modern creations that are perfect for all cooks. Each recipe has a special memory on her journey of discovery into the wonderful flavours and ingredients of Indian cooking.
