When Meena Pathak first arrived in the UK in 1979, a young newly-wed fresh from the hustle and bustle of Bombay, she had serious culture shock. She was living in rural Northamptonshire with her husband, Kirit, and her mother-in-law. It rained all the time and during the day, everybody else went out to work, while she was left at home, on her own, in charge of the housework.
It could not have been more different than city life in Bombay, where the house was always busy with family or servants. She was brought up by her grandmother as her mother, a dentist, worked. She didn't know where her new family went to work but after a few weeks she discovered that her husband's family was in pickles, a business that had been set up by her father-in-law. They had a shop on London's Drummond Street, and a factory.
Food has always been a passion with Meena, 45. As a child, she became fascinated by the spices, textures and flavours the family cook would play with every day. 'He took it upon himself to teach me things.' She would help out making chutneys and other accompaniments - pastes of coriander, ginger, garlic and mint or tamarind.
The family were Brahmins, so ate a vegetarian diet. 'There are so many flavours in India and in fact you can go the whole year, and eat three four-course meals a day and not repeat a single dish.' During pickling season, she would work in the kitchen. Her grandmother held the secret to the family's pickle recipes and not even Meena, or her mother, was allowed to mix the spices. 'I saw and learnt, but no recipe was ever written down anywhere'.
Not surprisingly, when she left school, she went to catering college. So when she discovered she had married into a family business that was involved with food, there was no stopping her. There was so much more to Indian food than pickles, and she set about changing things at Patak's Pickles (the company dropped the 'h' in Pathak). 'At first, they thought I was like an animal out of a zoo, because I spoke my mind,' she says. 'But that didn't deter me.'
Over 20 years later, Patak's exports to more than 40 countries. As well as the original pickles and snacks that have been in production since 1956, there are curry sauces, poppadoms (imported from India), chapatis, and - Meena's big passion - pastes. Meena separates people who buy the ready-made sauces from those who buy the pastes. 'Paste people are creative cooks and weekenders,' she says. Tikka Masala 'cook-in' sauce however, is the best seller. It seems a peculiarly British obsession.
When she first arrived in the UK, she was horrified by what she saw people eating in restaurants. 'It was chip-shop sort of curry. Horrendous.' Things have improved and it is partly thanks to Meena's enthusiasm. Her fridge is crammed with goodies, including the fruits of her experimentations, which she still does from her spacious kitchen in Bolton. She does most of the cooking in the house (her children are now in their early twenties but often come home to eat), making fresh chapatis every day - rolling out the dough with a special, spindly wooden rolling pin - and cooking them for a few seconds each side on her well-used, heavy griddle.
The kitchen itself looks traditional, with English-style wooden units, but a fish tank with bright and exotic looking fish separates the kitchen from the dining room, where an African parrot chatters away from his corner. And there is a selection of miniature figures of Ganesh, who looks after new beginnings and prosperity.
The kitchen is packed with serious equipment, like a clever handle designed specifically to lift woks and griddles, or a baghar ladle for heating spices in oil over a flame. Meena loves pots and pans. She is having the family's huge, old-fashioned heirlooms - made of copper and used for cooking banquets - shipped over from India and plans to use them as 'sculpture' in the garden. 'They are antiques,' she says.
Her pestle and mortar is heavy brass and belonged to her great-grandmother. 'They don't make them like this any more,' she says. On one side of the kitchen is an Aga, which is not used. Instead, Meena pops her spices on a gas hob, before adding some of her own curry paste, shredded cabbage and carrots to a wok-like korai. 'The fact that I have used curry leaves makes this dish from the south,' she explains: southern Indian recipes and vegetarian dishes are next on her list for product development. Delicious!
