She has been cooking in the pubs of Cornwall for BBC 2 with recipes from her successful second book Indian food Made Easy and holds the key for Indian food buffs to be able to enjoy all the taste without it going to the waist! Anjum Anand is better known in the UK as the Nigella Lawson of Indian cuisine, for writing inventive books with healthy recipes and excels in pairing spices with as little fat as possible. She fiercely challenges the assertion that Indian cuisine is heavy and insists that it need not be blowtorch hot or swimming in oil, refuting the recipes of old British curry houses. She is eager to make Indian cooking as quick and easy as rustling up a stir fry, along with accounting for time and convenience in the kitchen whilst using bare essentials but with maximum flavour and taste. Her new book releases along with another series of her popular cookery programme in autumn ’08 on BBC 2.

I got into cooking...
“After graduation, I was working in my dad’s family business and then went to India to get some work experience. I worked in the Indian restaurant in Park Royal Hotel in New Delhi. I had also worked in Cafe Spice in New York and The Mondrian in L.A. When I came back home to London, I knew I wanted to get into cooking in a serious way. Without any help or guidance from anyone, I started writing my first book, Indian Every Day. I had travelled around India and learnt a lot about the tastes and flavours of various fresh ingredients. I took advice from Books for Cooks, a store in Notting Hill, in London, specialising in cookery books from around the world and knew straight away that this was what I wanted to do. My passion for cooking fulfills me.”

Inspiration...
“Comes from simplicity in everyday life and learning from new people. I enjoy using my imagination whilst tasting old and new dishes and adding my touches to give them a contemporary feel. I could have been inspired after visiting a Gujarati friend’s house, whose Maharashtrian maid from Mumbai had made delicious sautéed potatoes with freshly roasted desiccated coconut or it could be something that I have tasted at a non-Indian restaurant and have an urge to replicate with Indian spices. Anything unusual always excites my palate. When I visited Kolkata, I was intrigued by Bengali cuisine and learnt how to cook prawns with coconut and mustard seeds. I enjoy working with fresh natural ingredients and then doing my own spin on it, like I have added touches of ginger and garlic to the old British recipe of Anglo Indian tomato soup.”

Marriage...
“Happened much later than my parents expected; coming from a traditional Punjabi family they were naturally very over protective. I met my husband to be, Adarsh, at a family friend’s wedding in Jaipur, on a day when I was trying to get a car to take me to the Rambagh Palace Hotel for a workout. That’s where we got talking and became friends but married much later when we were both sure that it was right for us. Our daughter, Mahiya, is three years old and I often have to juggle shooting schedules to try and spend maximum time with her.”

My family...
“Has always been supportive and let me be the person I want to be. It’s a huge privilege when you can choose your own path in life. I was a business management student and was lucky to go out and work in restaurants, give demonstrations and talks to elitist gatherings in luxury hotels and do what I enjoy most without being judged by my parents or my in-laws.”

I eat...
“Everything that I like and taste anything new that captivates me. It’s good to nurture healthy eating habits from a young age and evolve with it. I enjoy vegetarian dishes even though I still eat chicken and fish. My favourite restaurant in Mumbai is India Jones at the Trident. I don't think we have anything like that in London. They source out the most unusual fresh ingredients for pan Asian cuisine and prepare recipes authentically.”