Chef in a Sari - Mridula Baljekar Cookery writer and broadcaster Mirdula Baljekar owes much of what she has learnt about Indian food to her grandmother. Of course, this is not to play down or shun the immense skills she has acquired of her own accord when it comes to sub-continental cuisine, but her childhood in Assam, India, watching and helping her grandmother cooking for the family, seem to have left her mind with an imprint of bygone times. The kitchen was always very much my grandmothers domain, reflects Mridula, even though we had helpers, she loved to do all the cooking. Rather than sticking with purely traditional themes, Mridula spends much of her time creating new recipes, in which she blends the traditional with the contemporary, and aims to make Indian food quick, easy and healthy, and yet retain its traditional flavours. In addition to all the appearances, formulating and writing for books and articles, she is also a freelance consultant to various manufacturing organisations who supply Indian spices, spice mixes and ready meals to retail outlets. Ask Mridula how she became, such a professional and she’ll tell you that it’s a case of having one hand in the spice jar and the other on the notepad, and for her, it has worked to good advantage. There is a sheer sense of joy in sharing the knowledge and varied nature of Indian cuisine with the public.