I became a veggie in 1982. Even as a kid I wouldn't eat a chicken leg or a wing because I could see it was part of an animal. My Nana once rolled something out on the kitchen table that turned out to be an ox tongue. That put me off for life.

It is very nice to go to a restaurant as a vegetarian and have choices and it is particularly true of Indian cuisine. They have different food festivals here, though the house cuisine is Keralan. They do particularly fine pickles too.

I do cook, though I haven't been cooking very often recently. What I really love is having a few friends for dinner and spending the day getting ingredients together. I put some music on and I prepare some good dishes from what's in season. For my last dinner party I made mushrooms en croute with foaming Hollandaise sauce.

Eating on location can be a problem. It depends which country you're in. I was working in France recently and the woman preparing the food went 'Phhht!' when I told her I was a vegetarian. I got boiled potatoes one day and when I complained, the next day I got boiled potatoes and a fried egg. In Spain it got a bit tricky because they weren't very good with veggies. The make-up girls bought a wok and we made our own food in a trailer. We were the envy of the set.

I always liked vegetables as a kid. I grew up in an industrial working-class area in County Durham and my dad cooked throughout the week and my mum cooked Sunday lunch. She used to make Yorkshire pudding with onions just for me. We had chips every day - my dad once prepared chips, baked beans and peas for our tea. It was very conventional food.

I remember when I had my first avocado. I was 17 and I got it mixed up with aubergine and tried to stir-fry it. Between 17 to 19 I was on a rapid learning curve. I came to London and in my twenties I learnt about nutrition. I think it is important to know about food and how far it goes beyond nutrition and fuel.

It is interesting how you use food. I have chocolate every day. Preferably the darker the better - 70 per cent cocoa content or more. I like good chocolate. I buy it from Sainsbury's, M&S, Rococo and L'Artisan du Chocolat. The hot chocolate from the Chocolate Society is very good. It's like the ones you get in Florence or Venice. I remember drinking one in Florence so quickly I got a headache.

I once was in a hotel which we were told had a very good chef and we were served cannelloni stuffed with potato. That was pretty disgusting. The woman told us later that she had just sacked her chef and that she had cooked it herself. Even if you don't cook you should realise that food should have some flavour! And I don't like okra. What's the point of it? I tried to eat [strong smelling fruit] durian once. I couldn't - my nose wouldn't let me. I couldn't get it down. I must use my sense of smell a lot because it physically prevented me from eating it.

I lose weight when I am working, probably because of irregular meals. And when I go home I eat well. If I never worked I'd be a balloon. I have been on a diet for health reasons. It was for asthma and it worked. No salt. No social life, either, but I looked great. I have never dieted for weight. I don't have the discipline.

I like champagne and I love a good margarita. The best one I've ever had was a frozen margarita in New York. It looked like a Slush Puppy but pretty soon I was as animated as everyone else in the bar. Yes, I have a juicer. My favourite is carrot, ginger and apple. The only problem is cleaning the bloody thing afterwards.

Rasa

55-56 Stoke Newington Church Street, London N16, 020 7249 0344

History

Chef and founder Das Sreedharan opened his first Rasa in 1994 and has subsequently created half a dozen restaurants, mostly in London. He hosts regular storytelling evenings and arranges trips to Kerala to learn about the cuisine, which is his speciality.

Popular dishes

Vegetarian Keralan feast £15; Rasa Kaya, £4, plus brilliant and unusual chutneys and pickles and fresh Keralan breads.

Who eats there

Jamie Oliver is a regular.

Opens

Weekdays: 6pm-10.45pm

Weekends: 12-3pm and 6-11.30 pm