Dipna was born into a family of cooks and chefs. Her family owns the 40 year old legendary restaurant The Brilliant in South hall, London; she wanted to change the way people looked at Indian fare. All thanks to her many people now see curry and desi food as healthy. So we at AAW got chatting with this great woman who has recently been awarded the prestigious British Curry Award:
1. How does it feel to win the British Curry Award?
Winning awards and obtaining accolades for me is motivational because it inspires me to work even harder and aim even higher. Thus for me I am motivated by such achievements and strive to do even better. My Restaurant has won the British Curry Award for Best Restaurant in London Suburbs for four years and this is something we truly value. The British Curry Awards in the UK are known as the Curry Oscars and therefore winning these prestigious awards is nothing less than Brilliant.
When my award was announced by the Prime Minster at The British Curry Award event, it really was a special indescribable moment that I will never forget. It makes me feel that my hard work has paid off and its very satisfying to know people appreciate my work. When people are proud of your success, that feeling on satisfaction is like no other and inside you feel you want to continue doing more and giving it your best all of the time, its a real boost.
2. How did you bring about this concept for healthy Indian food?
People sometimes have a pre-conception that Indian food is always unhealthy, greasy, oily and fattening but I am out to change that. Indian food does not have to be unhealthy, it depends on how you cook it, what cooking methods you use and how you use spices. I am not saying eliminate all the fat used in the dish, I believe you slightly adapt some of the ingredients to make the same dish a ‘healthier alternative’. Tandoori cooking is a great way to cook as when you barbeque the food in the clay oven, any excessive fats tend to drip off. When I am making a curry, I try not to use saturated fat if I can help it. I use vegetable oils such as rapeseed and corn oil in place of butter and ghee, although I understand that ghee is nutritionally good for you too. It’s about using ingredients in moderation also, for example if a recipe for chicken masala says 50g butter, instead you could use 20g and add a few extra spices for more flavour. Our Indian spices are great, not only full of flavour but they also have numerous health benefits and medicinal properties, we need to make use of these. Other ways to make food healthier is for example substitute ingredients such as cream for low fat yoghurt or crème fraiche choices and use leaner cuts of meat when possible.
3. How different is your real Indian food from the regular fare offered?
Very different and it is important to be unique and different and important to keep ahead of this competitive market. When we introduced a healthy options menu in my restaurant it took off right from day one and people responded to it more than positively. It no longer acceptable in my book to see oil/butter/ghee floating on the top of your food or layers of fat seeping from the foods, its off putting. So with some of my food I keep it as healthy as possible. This is not to say I only specialise in the healthy dishes, I am simply saying Indian food can be tasty yet good for you at the same time. Something else I particularly focus on is the way in which the food is presented on the plate, if it looks good, the customers wants to eat it and if the customer wants to eat if, you have almost already won them over and wow’ed them with the look of your dish.
4. Tell us about your journey as a chef?
Having been born and brought up in a family of restaurateurs and chefs, it’s fair to say I have cooking in my blood. Our restaurant in South hall, called The Brilliant which has been open for 40 years has a strong reputation and Brilliant is now a brand which is recognized internationally, especially after we were voted as one of Ramsay’s Best Restaurant for his Channel 4 series. The restaurant specializes in Punjabi cooking with a Kenyan slant. Most of the recipes on the menu date back to 1950 and were created by my grandfather when the first Brilliant Restaurant opened in Nairobi, Kenya. The Brilliant is in its third generation, there is a story behind the Brilliant Legacy and I feel it’s my duty to carry that legacy on.
From a young age I took a keen interest in cooking and was continually watching over mum in the kitchen and then when I went to the restaurant I was intrigued to watch my dad cooking in the kitchen and tell me the stories about Granddad and how he used to cook for the Maharajas back in Kenya in the 1950’s. Thus watching my father and going to the restaurant as a child brought out the chef in me and I went on to do Food Technology and won a National Award for my low fat Indian food project for the subject, this was the start of many new chapters in my life.
5. What are your favourite dishes?
I love to cook Punjabi food as it’s what I specialise in and one of my favourite dishes to cook are my Stuffed Soya Mushrooms that I won a national award for when doing a project on Low Fat Indian Food. The award was given to me by the British Nutrition Foundation. It is always a fun recipe to cook because you marinate the big Portobello mushrooms and then make a delicious filling and stuff the mushrooms using your hands to shape and push the filling right in. You then cook the mushrooms in the oven. I especially enjoy cooking these for my mum as they are her favourite dish. I also like cooking Tandoori items at home using Tandoori style marinations and home-cooking methods. I also enjoy cooking dishes from other cuisines including Chinese, Thai, Traditional English and general Continental too
My favourite cuisine (of course after Punjabi) is Japanese, I absolutely love Sushi and generally enjoy Pan Asian dishes. My all time favourite North Indian dish to eat is Tandoori Lamb chops.
6. Any tips for cooking for the ladies in Indian kitchen?
The kitchen is like a lab, its all about playing around with ingredients, flavours and textures and learning new ways to cook. People should not be reluctant to use spices, it is the spice in our food that gives all the wonderful flavour to our cooking. Always think about ways you could adapt one or two ingredients in a dish to make it ‘healthier’ and always think about how you will make a dish look wow. I do love foods such as samosas and onion bhajis however these are deep fried, so instead of letting the dishes seep in as much oil, my mum always says add a teaspoon of white vinegar to the oil before cooking and this makes the food less greasy, it really does as I have tried it.
If you have a passion for food, love to cook and have that fire in your belly, chase your dreams and you are sure to achieve. There is no other career as rewarding as a chef’s career and when the food you cook makes someone smile, that feeling is immeasurable. So if you are thinking of pursuing a career in the chef world or hospitality and catering industry, take that step as you will never look back.
7. What’s next? What are your plans in India?
My future aim is to teach the nation how to cook ‘real’ Indian food with my own TV cookery show. I also want to open up more cookery schools, not just specialising in Indian cooking but varied cuisines also. My aim now is to promote my book Beyond Brilliant in India and take India by storm with my delicious healthy and tasty dishes. I also specialise in European dishes and want to bring Indo/British cuisine to India. I specialise in doing pop up chef events here in London. On a pop up event, I will go into a kitchen, cook food for 300+ guests with a team of assistants and serve lunch to corporate and elite clients. India is my favourite country to visit and I want to spend more time here to further brighten my culinary journey.
I will start recipe book number 2 hopefully in 2015 (middle) and then hopefully do a TV show before this. I have also recently just started working with a company called Criterion Ices who are one of the finest producers of ice-creams. I have developed two unique ice-creams for them, one is Gulab Jamun infused ice-cream and one is Jalebi infused ice-cream. I am working on other flavours too, such as Gajar Halwa and Kheer ice-cream too. Gulab Jamun and Jalebi ice-cream are now available in my restaurant and also available to buy from Criterion Ices directly. I am in the process of getting small tubs of the ice-creams made and then hopefully get them into the supermarket. Watch this space!
