Writer, TV Presenter, Owner Mridula Baljekar

When Mridula moved to England from Asam in India, she qualified as a PA and worked for a Director of a Merchant bank in the heart of London’s financial institution. Mridula soon turned her attention to the subject she has always been passionate about and began teaching Indian cookery at the local Adult Education Institute. Career : Mridula Baljekar is the best-selling author of many Indian cookery books, including the Low Fat Indian Vegetarian Cooking, Fat Free Indian Cooking and Real Fast Indian Food. She was born and raised in North East India and when she moved to England she turned her childhood passion for cooking into a highly successful career. Her ‘THE COMPLETE INDIAN COOKBOOK‘which sold nearly a million copies worldwide. Mridula has written many best-selling cookery books since then and her latest, GREAT INDIAN FEASTS, published in 2005 was voted the ‘Best Asian Cuisine Cookbook in the World’ by Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in May 2006. It also won ‘Cookery Book of the Year’ in the same year. Mridula presented her own series ‘Mridula’s Indian Kitchen’ and the highly acclaimed ‘Spice Trail’ on Carlton Food Network. She has also appeared on Channel 4 (Gloria's Open House), BBC2 ( The Heaven and Earth Show) and Sky one. In India she appeared on the most mopular channel NDTV and also Door Darshan. She opened a contemporary Indian restaurant in Windsor, Berkshire, England, called Spice Route which won several prestigious awards (winner at the Best in Britain Awards 2002-2006). Mridula has now sold her award-winning restaurant and is behind a smart new restaurant in Mill Hill, London called Atithi to showcase her unique style of Indian cuisine. Mridula offers consultancy services to upmarket restaurants and is a consultant for Asian wedding menus for a prestigious British company . She is also currently involved in developing a range of spice blends for McCormick-Schwartz Spice Company.