This year marks the 70th anniversary of India’s Independence and the beginning of the UK-India Year of Culture.
On Monday, The Queen hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace to launch the '2017 UK-India Year of Culture', guests enjoyed a special Indian themed menu put together between the Royal Chefs and chefs from the UK’s oldest Indian Restaurant, Veeraswamy which is based in Mayfair.
To celebrate the launch of the UK-India Year of Culture and Veeraswamy’s achievement, The Staff Canteen takes a look at some of the UK’s best chefs in Indian cuisine.
Cyrus Todiwala
Cyrus Todiwala OBE, chef patron of Café Spice Namaste
Cyrus Todiwala OBE was brought up in Mumbai. Inspired by his mother to become a chef, he quickly worked his way through the ranks from trainee chef to corporate executive chef before moving to London to run Café Spice Namaste.
Now an author of six books and a big TV cooking show personality, Cyrus also regularly makes appearances at food festivals and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts and the Master Chefs of Great Britain.
Having already been recognised by Her Majesty The Queen when he cooked for her Diamond Jubilee Tour, Cryus Todiwala OBE is definitely in the top group of chefs cooking Indian cuisine in the UK today.
Peter Joseph originally started cooking after completing a three year diploma in hotel management in India. Now head chef of the Michelin starred Tamarind restaurant in Mayfair since 2012. Alongside his role as head chef, Peter also heads up the Tamarind’s event catering division which caters for the Lords Cricket Ground and regularly sees 2000 guests at major events.
Favourite ingredients of Peter’s include fresh coriander, cardamom and ginger.
Combining his Indian heritage with British ingredients, Atul Kochhar is the owner of several restaurants including the Michelin starred Benares.
With various restaurants worldwide and several successful books, Atul is highly praised as bringing an innovative take to Indian cuisine and he too has previously received royal invitations to cook, during the President of India’s state visit, as well as for Prince Charles at St James’s Palace.
Naved Nasir first discovered his passion for cooking growing up in Mumbai. Since then he has worked in various top kitchens in India and has since opened four restaurants across London.
Inspired by helping the authentic North Indian chefs cook as a child, Naved takes his senior staff to Bombay every year to show them what he is attempting to recreate through his restaurants.
He attributes his food to ‘thinking like an Indian’, whereby he brings together authentic Indian dishes and classic British ideas to create innovative and interesting menus.
Having previously ranked on Yelp! UK 100 Best Restaurants and his fast expansion over the past few years, Naved is one to watch on the UK’s Indian cuisine scene.
Vivek Singh is one of the most successful and respected modern Indian chefs in the country, with four renowned London restaurants to his name – the authentic dining experience of The Cinnamon Club, the City’s Cinnamon Kitchen, Cinnamon Soho and mostly recently Covent Garden’s Cinnamon Bazaar.
His refined approach to Indian cuisine changed the perception of Indian food in the UK and his success and reputation has continued to grow with the publication of five cookbooks, media appearances and a regular guest slot on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen.
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