Mandira Sarkar

I’m Mandira, founder and chief plate spinner at Mandira's Kitchen. I arrived in Britain unable to cook and eventually gave up a perfectly sensible career in management consultancy to cook for a living. Not quite what my parents had in mind.

Today, I run an award-winning artisan Indian food business from a 400-year-old barn overlooking Silent Pool in the Surrey Hills. We have a lovely café, deliver handmade freezer meals across the UK, run cookery classes and supper clubs, and cater for weddings, private parties and corporate events.

Everything starts with proper food, family recipes and ingredients your grandmother would recognise. We’ve appeared on the BBC and Channel 4, earned Great Taste Awards and fed everyone from Nigella to royalty. I still get just as excited when someone comes back for another samosa.

I’d love to meet local businesses looking for catering beyond the usual beige sandwich platter, a team day involving spices and a little friendly competition, or somewhere special to bring people together.