A brilliant palate

Bindu Gopal Rao

As a little girl, cooking was an integral part of Dipna Anand’s life. From watching her mother cook in the kitchen to hearing her father tell her stories of how her grandfather cooked for the maharajas in Kenya in the 1950s, food was all around. Born and brought up in a family of restaurateurs and chefs, she certainly has cooking in her blood and is now at the helm of affairs at the family restaurant in Southall, the UK.

The Brilliant, 45-year-old, has a strong reputation and was voted one of Ramsay’s best restaurants on his Channel 4 series. The restaurant specialises in Punjabi cuisine with a Kenyan slant.

Anand says she saw her father as inspiration and credits him for her success. “Watching my father cook and going to the restaurant as a child brought out the chef in me and I went on to study food technology. I won a national award for my low fat Indian food project. That was the start of many new chapters in my life,” Anand recalls.

She then pursued a degree in hospitality and catering at the University of West London, pursued a masters scholarship in catering and was offered a position as a chef lecturer at the same university. Today too, she continues teaching, specialising in Indian cooking.

“I also have my own cookery school that I run from the restaurant and my courses are not only informative but fun and exciting for the candidates at the same time. I love working with my family in the restaurant business and meeting customers. Just the whole environment of working in this buzzing hospitality industry is awesome. I recently opened my new restaurant called Dip in Brilliant in Chelsea. That serves Punjabi specialties and contemporary Indian dishes.” Her first cookbook titled Beyond Brilliant was launched in 2014 and her second cook-book that released in September 2018 is titled Dip in Brilliant.

Food tales

Having been in the food business for a long time, Anand says she did not consider the opening of a new restaurant as added pressure but looked at it as an opportunity to make their restaurant brand even stronger. “My grandfather had started the legacy in the 1950s, my dad and his brother carried it on and set up business in Southall. I felt it was my duty to continue to grow and exceed their expectations and do them proud.” Incidentally, the food served at the restaurant is exactly the same as that cooked at home.

“The British public today is very knowledgeable when it comes to Indian food. Therefore, it is important that we ensure we use authentic spices and merge flavours carefully and keep the quality and consistency of the food at a high standard continually. At Chelsea, we serve traditional Punjabi favourites like daal makhani, seekh kebabs and saag. However, we also have on the menu more contemporary dishes from my cookbooks and TV shows, such as dip-sea bass, an Indian version of fish and chips and not forgetting chicken tikka and paneer wraps, which are proving popular with the locals and also the Chelsea football fans.” Incidentally, keeping in mind the growing trend of veganism, she has also introduced a ‘Dip in Vegan’ menu and also a healthy options menu. 

Role play

Apart from her restaurants in Southall and Chelsea, Anand is a guest lecturer at the University of West London and has done a cookery show on B4U Music called Dip in Kitchen. She also carries out frequent food demonstrations at events and exhibitions, including food shows, and runs a cookery school in Southall.

“I have recently launched a ready meal concept called Dip in Box. I hope to venture out further into this market. I want to see my meals on supermarket shelves,” she says. 

Her company is part of a campaign called Just Eat, which encourages consumers to ask where does the food on their plate come from. Prince Charles is a supporter of the campaign and has also visited them in support of this. “We try to source ingredients as locally as we can. However, we do understand that it cannot be possible always. Some of our spices come from a brand called Rajah from India. Some of the spices, for example the garam masala, which is a 15-spice recipe created by my grandfather over 75 years ago, is made by us.”

Looking ahead, Anand says she wants to create a food show that focuses on her journey as chef. “Maybe a food trail from London to India. I think this would be a much loved idea…”