Chef of the Month
Crowned as the restaurant with the best vegetarian
choice, in the 2007 Manchester Food and Drink Awards,
Dilli was the first Ayurvedic restaurant outside
London.
Chef director Ravi Bajaj was originally destined to
be an engineer or to join the Navy. Mum wasn’t keen on
the Navy so Ravi began to study engineering. Luckily
for us whilst Ravi was good at maths and chemistry he
struggled with his IT exams. Not able to face the
final exam he went to see a movie instead.
Arriving home it was patently obvious to Dad that
something was wrong and when the young Ravi explained
he was asked what he intended to do instead. This was
the 80’s, India was changing and young Ravi was
inspired to study the growing hotel and catering
management industry.
After graduating, Ravi - who had never been
particularly interested in food preparation - had a
change of heart and applied to Taj hotels, the
recognised premier hospitality provider in India. He
was taken on as a trainee chef at their hotel in
Mumbai (then Bombay) ultimately becoming sous chef.
His innovative style led to the development of
award-winning products for the food services and
retail sector.
Ravi moved to England in 1995 and worked for a number
of companies before opening Dilli in 2005. Since then
the discriminating tastes he has catered for include
the Princess Anne, the High Commissioner of India, the
Hon. Michael Heseltine and Margaret Beckett MP.
Ravi isn’t in the kitchen as much, these days, as
he works on expanding the Dilli business. That’s when
Chef Naeem (shortlisted for Manchester Food & Drink
chef of the year 2007) takes the helm.
Ravi has given us this recipe for you to try at
home: -
Alleppey Prawn Curry
Dilli is open every day:
Lunch: 12 noon to 3pm
Dinner: 6pm to 11pm (10pm on Sunday)
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Q: What did you find the
hardest kitchen skill to learn? Very little
really - but I have no patience for pastry. I do think
that the hardest step for a chef is moving up to
‘executive chef’ which brings a whole new set of
challenges relating to business rather than cooking.
Q: What did you find the
hardest business skill to learn? For a
restaurant to succeed you have to not only create
great food but you must be a skilled administrator
too. You have to be prepared to train your staff so,
if you are away, the food will still be consistently
prepared to the same high standard. When you invest in
training everybody grows.
Q: Who cooks at home?
At the end of a long day at work I want to leave the
kitchen behind and my wife and mother are both
excellent cooks.
Q: What ingredient couldn’t you live without? Black
pepper and fresh coriander
Q: Is there any food you
won’t eat and why? I am a Hindu and don’t
eat beef and while I would prefer not to handle it at
all I will do so if absolutely necessary.
Q: Favourite school dinner?
I often took a “tiffin box” to school - the equivalent
of an English lunchbox. This would usually contain
delicious leftovers from the previous evening meal. In
the winter we had facilities at school for heating our
lunches. When I look back I probably didn’t appreciate
the quality of the food then.
Q: Who would you most like to
cook a meal for? My wife and my mother. |
