Tarla Dalal was born on 3rd June 1936 near Pune in Western India and my first memories of her are of watching this sweet old lady on television cooking some amazing food, I was about 20 or so at that time and didnt’ give it second thought apart from pestering my mum to make some of her dishes for me, especially the Indo Chinese ones.
It wasn’t until a few years ago when talking about another favorite chef Sanjeev Kapoor with a friend of mine that we got talking about her again. I was surprised to learn quite some facinating information about her from my friend who it turned out was an ardent fan and owned quite a few of her cook books as well.
Her first book , The Pleasures of Vegetarian Cooking, was published in the year 1974 , well before I was born! She has written over 150 books since then with sales into the millions!
While informing me of this fact, my friend put it in perspective for me, he said ..
“She was publishing and teaching people to cook, when your favorite chef ( Sanjeev ) was still running about in his kaccha! ( underwear ) “…
This fascinated me so much, that I began reading up on her and was even more surprised to learn she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Indian Government in the year 2007, the fourth highest civilian award in India. Her very first book is considered to be one amongst the world’s cookery classics and has even been translated into multiple languages including Dutch and Russian!
According to India Today , one of India’s leading news magazine, she has sold the maximum number of books in any field as compared to any other Indian author. Even conservatively they peg her recipes as having been tried in over 20 million Indian homes alone! This was quite a few years ago… I’m certain that number has increased massively over the last decade!
A whole new level of respect for her was dawning in me and was cemented when I realised she was still extremely active and teaching people to cook even at 77! Now that’s dedication. I dug up some of her latest videos and got my mum to watch as well and we both were amazed at how sweetly and with child like enthusiasm she would take her viewers through the steps. To do something for well over half a century and not loose even a ‘pinch’ of excitement was truly exceptional.
Unfortunately and sadly, she passed away earlier this month following a heart attack. We all have heard about people who are lucky enough to be working and more importantly enjoying their work till the day they pass and she was truly one of those.
Most of us are familiar with the old adage ‘the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach’ ; true or not, one thing is sure, like myself, I’m sure there are millions of people worldwide whose hearts she has touched through our palate. All I can say to her is thank you m’am. Thank you for your wonderful recipes, thank you for your child like enthusiasm and thank you most importantly for showing us how important it is in life to enjoy what you are doing. Rest in Peace ..
Until the next post my dear food lovers… eat well .. stay happy!
PS : Remember to check out this week’s authentic indian food menu on our menu page – www.indiantiffinexeter.co.uk/menu.php