After growing up in Cumbria, Roopa Gulati has cooked in Delhi’s hotel kitchens, street bazaars, palaces, TV studios and in homes across India. We caught up with Roopa ahead of the launch of her new book Indian Kitchens, which was published at the end of March.
Where in Cumbria were you brought up?
I was brought up about 4 miles outside of Carlisle. My parents emigrated from India and my dad was an eye surgeon at Cumberland Infirmary. One of his colleagues said Cumbria was the best place to bring up a family and I wholeheartedly agree. I’m so proud of my northern roots and glad that my first years were spent in the Lake District.
What did you love about it?
In addition to being a beautiful place to live, Cumbria is home to a glorious selection of amazing produce and producers. For example, my mum always used to tell me that Herdwick lamb makes the best curry. The fat and the flavour just can’t be beaten. We would often go to India on holiday and I would be disappointed about the quality of the meat compared to what was available in the green pastures of the Lakes. For many years, I always assumed that the best Indian food you could find was my mum’s cooking in a small corner of Cumbria.
Do you still visit Cumbria?
I was brought up in Cumbria but I lived in India for around 20 years. When I came back, my girls were city girls so although I wanted to head back up north, I had to give up the green for London. Cumbria will always be my spiritual home though. I try and get up there every few months but I’ve been blessed to be involved with and help judge the Cumbria Food Awards. It’s such a pleasure to be able to stay in touch with the caterers, restaurateurs, farmers, growers, artisans and food lovers in the north. It is my link to the Lakes and my childhood so it makes me so happy to support the awards.
What is so special about the food in the region?
Everything is so joined up and there is a real community feel around the food. Everyone really does support local, whether it’s a local bakery, café, butcher or greengrocer. I also think they’re very supportive of young people and the next generation as well.
How has it changed since when you were growing up there?
The Cumbria now is very different from the Cumbria I grew up in. When I was little, it was very tough to get hold of specific Indian ingredients and spices. I remember there was one shop in Carlisle where you could buy aubergines and I had a friend at school who had never eaten garlic before. My parents would often have to take a 360-mile round trip to stock up in London. Everything has really moved on and the food now available in Cumbria is so diverse and of such high quality, whether it’s in a simple café, tearoom, pub or restaurant.
What did you eat growing up then?
My mum actually studied Wordsworth at university so when she first came to Cumbria, she knew the poetry but didn’t know that much about the cuisine. She was a very curious cook though and our neighbours taught her how to bake English-style, so she would be making scones, Victoria sponge and apple pies. In return, she showed them how to make chapatis, chicken curry and the dishes she was brought up on. For them, it was a real revelation.
We would often have a British classic for lunch such as Cumberland sausage and mash. Then for our evening meal we would go Indian with a meat curry, rice, dal, raita, chapatis and a salad – the full Indian monty. This was every night. I have always regretted not saying thank you to mum as I just took it for granted. When I started running my own kitchen, I realised just how much work she put into those meals. She never bought ready ground spices and she always made her own garam masala.
Tell us how and why you first became interested in food?
I was ten years old when I was finally given permission to use the oven without supervision. It took a while for me to appreciate the nuances of mum’s instinctive style of cooking – the carefully blended spices, puffed chapatis, and fragrant biryanis. Initially, I was more inclined towards making towering cakes, decorated with ruffs of buttercream.
Can you remember the first dish/recipe you cooked?
Not satisfied with a simple Victoria sponge, I over-extended myself and baked a Danish layer cake from a Marks and Spencer cookbook when I was 10 years old. I remember the layers of sponge and whipped cream sliding in different directions over the kitchen counter. The washing up afterwards was epic. It didn’t put me off cooking though!
Favourite dish to cook?
There’s nothing like a massive pot of chicken curry and stack of parathas to welcome the family and friends around the table.
What is your Signature Dish?
Pistachio and cardamom biscuits are top of the family’s wish list at the moment. They’re inspired by nan khatai – shortbread-like biscuits, sold by street hawkers in city bazaars across northern India. These buttery biscuits are traditionally baked in makeshift charcoal ovens. I’ve adapted the recipe used in Indian Kitchens to include sweet cardamom, semolina for crunch, and gram flour, which takes on a lovely nutty, toasted flavour when baked.
How did it progress into a career?
In the late 1970s I completed a diploma at the Cordon Bleu Cookery School in London. Besides whipping up hot souffles, baking Genoise sponges and simmering demi-glace sauces, I learnt to value the importance of standardising recipes and writing instructions with precision and clarity. Later, I worked as a chef at The Taj Hotel in New Delhi, where I understood more about their regional cooking traditions from others in the kitchens. Over time, colleagues became friends, and I was invited to their homes for diverse and delicious meals. There’s no better way to appreciate India’s rich culinary heritage.
Your mum’s legacy continues through your cooking – what will be your legacy?
I would like to think it is my freshly made and ground garam masala. That is what I would like to see my children and their children making, using and appreciating. A garam masala is a very personal thing and every family or cook will have a slightly different take on it. Making your own garam masala or just grinding your own spices makes a huge difference to your final dishes and flavour. Pre-ground spices just don’t have the freshness and many garam masalas are often bulked out with coriander seeds for volume. Whole spices are not adulterated, and the quality of your spice mix will move to new levels if you use whole spices and roast and grind them yourself.
What’s the key to a good garam masala?
It’s about getting the blend right. No one spice should dominate. Instead, they should all work in perfect harmony. For me, I use brown cardamom seeds for earthiness and black cumin because they add a beautiful smokiness to the final blend. Then sweet cinnamon for balance and black peppercorns for warmth. Nutmeg and mace finish it off. I use a coffee grinder as life is often too short but when you pound the spices by hand, it releases the oils and provides more aromatics.
How do you use the garam masala?
You can use it in so many ways but it is a great addition towards the end of the cooking time to lift flavour. When I make a curry, I will add garam masala when I add the liquid because I don’t like the spices to get scorched. Sometimes I will add a teaspoon straight to a tamarind and date sauce or simply sprinkled on some roast potatoes with 5 mins to go.
Most important piece of kitchen equipment?
My NutriBullet pulverises masalas to a paste within seconds. I usually add a bit of water to help break down the ingredients.
Three kitchen secrets for success
- Grind your own garam masala – it’s so much more fragrant than shop-bought varieties.
- When pounding green cardamom seeds with a mortar and pestle, add a pinch of granulated sugar to the seeds. The sugar is abrasive and helps speed up the grinding process.
- It’s worth making your own tamarind pulp – readymade varieties often have a metallic aftertaste. I buy wet, seedless tamarind, and simmer it in water until soft. It’s then pushed through a sieve and any fibres are discarded. It’s a good idea to make a large batch and freeze the pulp in ice cube trays.
How has Indian food progressed in the UK since you were a child?
It’s completely different. It used to be the stereotypical curry house alongside Indian community cafes, but thanks to some incredible Indian chefs who came over to work in the UK, it has been transformed. We’re seeing them use fantastic British produce alongside the spices and ingredients of India. The likes of Karunesh Khanna, Vivek Singh and Atul Kochhar have led the way when it comes to fine dining but there are also the small cafés and then the casual dining brands such as Masala Zone, Hoppers and Dishoom that have helped present Indian food in such a different and exciting way.
Is there plenty more for us to discover then?
I think we’re only at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to discovering the cuisine and ingredients of India. Thanks to the innovation of the last decade, the fact that people are travelling further and due to the rise of street food, I think there is a greater understanding of the Indian regions and the different cooking styles, ingredients and techniques within them. That means that you no longer go out for an Indian but instead for Bengali, Rajasthani, Keralan, Gujarati or something else. I think that is a trend that is going to continue as there is a real curiosity for the regional intricacies, recipes and cooking styles of India. My dream is for people to be aware that the food from these Indian regions is as different as Italian food is from French or Greek food. Each region has a distinct identity so I am passionate about people discovering and enjoying the intricacies.
What do you love most about your job?
The best thing about starting a new project, such as a cookbook, is to open a word document and fill it with ideas and thoughts. Perhaps I begin with a rough outline of a recipe, a childhood memory of a dish I’m keen to recreate, or a description of a kitchen that evokes emotional connections. Gradually these ideas take shape and evolve into the beginnings of a book.
What were your other passions as a youngster or were you always destined to be a chef?
Even though I worked as a chef for several years, I’m more of a home cook at heart. I used to play classical guitar as a child and completed grade 8 before briefly considering whether to take it up as a profession. However, I’d often land up for music classes with burns on my hands and plasters on my fingers – battle wounds from the kitchen.
Who have been your key mentors?
Ronnie Lobo, the General Manager at the Taj Hotel, New Delhi, gave me so much encouragement when I worked in hotel kitchens. I ended up training young chefs, and together we hosted several successful food festivals. Madhur Jaffrey has done so much to revolutionise the perception of South Asian dishes here in the UK. Guy Dimond, Food & Drink Editor at Time Out magazine, was a brilliant mentor back in the early 2000s. I worked for the magazine as a freelancer for 15 years. I also admire food writers such as Diana Henry, Ravinder Bhogal, Bee Wilson, Ozlem Warren and many others. Each brings something new and distinctive to the table.
Who are you most proud to have cooked for?
In India, I cooked for Nelson Mandela when he visited the Taj Hotel. Before an important state dinner, he made time to visit the main kitchen and shake hands with the pot-washers and cooks.
Guilty pleasure?
Milk chocolate bounties
Favourite restaurant to eat?
I love Ravinder Bhogal’s Jikoni in Marylebone for its creative, spice-infused dishes. Walking into her restaurant feels as if I’m entering a cosy family home, where the cooking is always spot on. The crisp-fried aubergine cloaked in Sichuan caramel is one of my favourite choices.
What do you do when you are not cooking? How do you switch off?
That’s a hard one, I usually cook to relax, especially on a weekend, when I have the radio on and a glass of wine close by. Our four young granddaughters are great at keeping me grounded, and when I’m not cooking, we’re often playing hide and seek!
What would you like to see from the government to help the hospitality sector?
More financial support – London has lost so many good restaurants.
Tell us about the new book?
Indian Kitchens is a book about the talents of India’s home cooks, who, without fanfare, put meals on plates and keep cultural traditions alive and communities together. I travelled to India to meet twelve talented home cooks, who have each provided a recipe for Indian Kitchens. I’ve also shared their backstories, which helps contextualise their recipes. Dishes include coconutty Mangalorean chicken curry, Gujarati dal, Rajasthani poppadom curry, and slow-cooked pork in black pepper masala. My favourite recipes also feature in the book with many drawn from my mother’s cooking style and others gleaned from almost two decades spent living in New Delhi. Indian food doesn’t need to be complex – the simplest of dishes are often the most memorable.
What are your big goals for 2025?
I’d love for the pages of Indian Kitchens to be smudged with ghee and splashes of masala – it’s a book that I hope will be well used in the kitchen.
