In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Manju Malhi was awarded the esteemed British Empire Medal (BEM) — a Commonwealth award for meritorious civil service recognised by the Crown.
This was for remote cooking classes she took for the residents at London’s old age charity ‘Open Age’.
She was even invited to the coronation of King Charles III when he was crowned Britain’s monarch on 6 May 2023.
What is it about food that drives the chef to constantly experiment and create an impact that draws royal attention?
Malhi credits her mother.
Born in West London to parents who hailed from Punjab and Maharashtra, Malhi grew up in a household inspired by both Britain and India.
One of the many rituals her mother brought back to London was that of making papads (a thin deep-fried circular bread) from scratch.
Malhi’s formal foray into the culinary scene was in 2000 when she participated in a competition organised by the BBC.
“Entrants were required to send in a video demonstrating their culinary skills. I decided to prepare a coriander chutney in the garden!”
Her simplicity of choice got her the winning prize, and from then on, there was no looking back.
At the centre of every recipe Malhi chooses, is a deep ingrained love for the two cultures she has grown up hearing about.
Her journey has been a star-studded one — doing cooking shows on TV, authoring cookbooks, catering, creating special menus for British and Bollywood stars on location, and more.
“I couldn’t find a cookbook with recipes featuring British ingredients with Indian spices. So I thought I should get one published,” she shares.
“My mother combined Indian flavours with British ingredients and even to this day we ‘desi-fy’ quite a few dishes by adding extra chilli or another spice note.”
Here’s a dish she has innovated — tarka bread. They are inspired by the potato vadas she grew up eating on Chowpatty Beach in Mumbai.