“How we turned our Punjabi home cooking into a thriving businessRead the rest of the Telegraph article by clicking here
A career crisis and a move back home had unexpected benefits for Safia Hothi-Bellamy and her mother Surinder, who now run the Pure Punjabi food company….”
We are mother and daughter team, Surinder and Safia, who are maintaining and passing down the traditional cookery methods of our mothers and grandmothers.
Traditionally, when Indian girls were brought up, their mothers taught them all the essential know-how that they would need when they got married. These skills included a vast repertoire of culinary talents. Being able to impress your mother-in-law with your talents was of utmost importance. Therefore, being able to make yoghurt from scratch or to know the precise quantities of each type of masala were critical in your success as a daughter-in-law.
As
many Punjabi newlyweds and families ventured abroad to try and offer
their (future) children more opportunities, the emphasis turned from
successfully impressing (future) in-laws to fighting to ensure that your
new life was a success. Therefore, many Punjabi mothers wanted to ensure that their daughter were well equipped for their new lives in a new country. Due
to this shift in priorities, from cooking, to education and financial
success, many Indian mothers haven’t passed on these time-honoured
traditions.
However, as the first of her brothers and sisters to flee the home country, our mother/grandmother, Seso Kaur (see picture), clung to what she knew. For her, passing on her knowledge and skills was a necessity, as she was still in the mindset of training Surinder to be a skilled daughter-in-law. Therefore, Surinder was taught all the exact spice blends, how to make a variety of dairy products including ghee, paneer (cottage cheese) and yoghurt, how to make all the traditional breads and an array of starters, mains and sweet Indian desserts – and let’s not forget a good cup of cha (tea)!
When
Surinder had her own children, most unusually, she decided that,
in addition to academic and financial achievement, she would pass these traditional skills on to the next generation (despite her upbringing being completely different to her mother’s). However,
she did make a modern change to her methods…instead of teaching just
her daughter, she taught her sons as well. Safia, and her brothers Samir
and Arun, are extremely proud of their culinary skills and that they can
be self-sufficient with their in-depth knowledge of Punjabi cuisine and not rely on shop bought products to create dishes.
Out of her three children, Safia gets the most enjoyment from cooking. She feels as though cooking Punjabi food and preserving these time-honoured skills, preserves the memory of her late grandmother. There’s a sense of continuity in using the same pots and pans and using the same methods as the previous generations.
As featured in
Recognition
