50 Great Curries of India

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They are responsible for devising for the restaurant and food concepts. Camellia refines the food offer and handles marketing and PR, while Namita fine-tunes the food presentation, décor (which features stylish Indian folk art) and kitchen management. She has had a life-long passion for food and for exploring different cuisines. Over the last twenty years she has travelled the length and breadth of India and has been involved in the setting up several restaurants in these premier hotels, often featuring little know Indian dishes. The recipe appears in Camellia’s 50 Great Curries of India cookbook, which has sold 1.75 million copies worldwide. (It’s called The Great Curries of India in the U.S. edition.)

Opinions on the precise genesis of Chutney Mary vary. Camellia asserts that the restaurant is the result of a conversation between Mathrani and friend Neville Abraham on the former's wedding day. The feast served was so good it was entirely self-evident that all those involved should immediately enter the restaurant business together. Prior to Bombay Brasserie Indian restaurants did not exist, only curry houses,” she recalls. “The only middle-end restaurant was Gaylord in Mayfair. There were also a couple of good Pakistani restaurants in Knightsbridge.”

The chefs asked me to give them recipes to cook the regional food I was demanding, so I went and researched classical food from the best families,” says Camellia, even as we spoon up a rarein-restaurants tahiri, the recipe of which apparently came from Sheila Dhar, writer, singer, gourmand, Madhur Jaffrey’s cousin and wife of PN Dhar, advisor to Indira Gandhi. From the royal families of Rajasthan and Hyderabad to Delhi society, all were quizzed for recipes. The couple dubbed it the “greatest day in their restaurant’s six-year history”, as Prince William also entertained the crowds by answering the phone to take a lunch booking. Thanks for the comment and compliments. To be honest, I’m not sure that Camellia Panjabi’s recipes are like what you might get in a British Indian restaurant, although the pathia was tasty. She tends to go in for more ‘authentic’ Indian cooking. But, I’ve just bought ‘The Curry Secret’ book, so look out for another version soon!

But the thing that really set the Chutney Mary kitchen apart from other Indian restaurants was its recruitment policy and the way the kitchen was structured. Camellia and Namita went to great lengths to secure chefs with exactly the right regional cooking experience to cook the dishes on their section. To make the masala, toast the spices in a dry pan until aromatic. Grind to a powder in a food processor or pestle and mortar, and then mix in the remaining ingredients. Indeed, the success of Chutney Mary paved the way for the creation of what is arguably the UK’s most successful Indian restaurant business. The trio launched two further Indian fine dining restaurants - grill restaurant Amaya in Knightsbridge and the more traditional Veeraswamy near Piccadilly Circus - alongside the seven-strong Masala Zone, which started out as a casual dining chain but has in recent years transitioned to more of a mid-market proposition. Heat the oil in a suitable pan (I used a wok) and sweat off the onions. Add the paste you made in step 3 and fry for another couple of minutes.

Add the cumin, coriander, red chilli, garam masala and turmeric powders. And stir for another minute or so. Meanwhile, make the tadka. Heat the oil in a frying pan on a high heat, then add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Cook for 30 seconds, until they begin to pop, then stir into the curry. Serve with rice and coriander to garnish. In 1982 she set up the Bombay Brasserie in London, serving straightforward Indian dishes, such as aloo tuk (potatoes with yogurt and tamarind), and paneer goli kebabs (cottage cheese and potato balls with pomegranate and fig chutney). In 1992 the restaurant served its millionth customer.