From the crowded, colourful streets of India to the white sands of Bamburi beach onto the sprawling, urban landscape of London, it’s fair to say my childhood was varied. So too are the flavours and food styles I’ve been surrounded by throughout my life.

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My earliest childhood memories go back to Bamburi beach in Mombasa, where I spent most of my weekends. The weekends were about taking a family picnic, typically consisting of Gujarati food such as parathas, pickle and bateta nu saak (semi dry potato curry). But my real favourite was a beach snack, semi ripe mango dipped in a chilli powder and salt mixture. The crystal waters, clear blue skies and this special mango snack is still my idea of bliss from my childhood.

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In the early 90s, my family moved to London. As a single mother of four children, my mother worked long hours and the responsibility of cooking fresh rotli (bread) and shaak (curry) for my siblings fell to me when I was only 9. It was all about creating that magical puff in the rotli and getting the maximum flavour in my curry with what little I had. My brothers and sisters and I would always watch Ready, Steady, Cook. Then we would wonder what we could make with ingredients for £5 or what we would make from the cupboards.

 

As the main cook in the house, my fascination with food grew alongside my love of cookery programmes. By the time I was at university, my recipes had expanded and I was pretty much feeding my flatmates freshly cooked meals every evening.

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To add another influence to my repertoire, a short spell in Paris inspired me to dabble in desserts. On my daily commute I would pass exquisite and delicate French patisserie displayed in shop windows. Back then I could only dream of making desserts as beautiful and delicious as those. Now I do it for real.

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My cooking is now reflective of all the heritage, cultures and places that have influenced me. The explosive tangy, sweet, savoury and spicy flavour of east African food is where my love for food really started. I often tap into my Gujarati heritage in my pursuit to make my cheesecake as equally exquisite on the palate and the eye, as those in French patisserie shops.

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My love of food and creating new dishes has never stopped. With age came confidence. With confidence, belief in myself and my understanding of how flavours work. Add to that the ever growing support from my family, friends and colleagues, I've managed to turn my passion into something more. This is how I created Bamburi.