‘Never a dull moment around Tarla’

In the 1980s India knew her sauces and chutneys But to marry a hung curd dip with chips or cucumber and carrot fingers was not the stuff of desi snack parties Tarla Dalal was determined to change this How could she bring foreign countries into the Indian home for those who couldnrsquot afford to travel but were curious about international taste and keen to introduce it to their familiesThe Gujarati home chef who is credited with inspiring mothers to pack a Mexican wrap in their childrsquos lunch dabba and serve white sauce pasta and burritos at birthday parties is soon to get a biopic that traces her incredible journey Backed by directorproducer couple Nitesh and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari helmed by Piyush Gupta the film sees Huma Qureshi slip into the role of Dalal endearing buck teeth and jet black bob in place Dalal who hailed from Pune spent much of her life after she married Nalin Dalal in South Mumbairsquos Napean Sea Road neighbourhoodIt was back in 1966 that she decided to spread the love for cooking by holding a class for neighbours one that would present the women with canrsquotgowrong Indian dishes and simple Thai Mexican and Italian cuisine When they nudged her to record the recipes it did not indicate that she was at the cusp of launching a cookbook empire that would place a title or two in practically every urban Indian home Vakil amp Sons Indiarsquos most prominent publishers back then recognised the market opportunity when they learned of the popularity of her classes Her first book The Pleasure of Vegetarian Cooking printed in 1974 was a comprehensive selection of vegetarian recipes from Indian Western and Chinese cuisines It is believed to have sold 15 million copies to dateWith Dalal having passed on in 2013 following a heart attack Qureshi says all she had to rely on are written material and videos of her hit television shows ldquoAs actor I try to capture the vibe and charisma of the personmdashhow she spoke to the camera explained things While I cannot mimic her mine is an attempt to capture the soulrdquo That Qureshi comes from a family that runs Saleemrsquos a Mughlai restaurant in Delhi for over four decades makes her comfortable to play a chef ldquoIf you are asking me whether I can peel an onion and fry an egg the answer is yesrdquo she laughsDalalrsquos legacy say her friends lives on every time someone making pizza at home adds a spoonful of readymade ketchup to the homemade sauce for ldquochatakardquolsquoShe visited Pune bakeries to learn making biscuits and cakesrsquoRajnikant Dharamdas Shah Dalalrsquos brotherTarla grew up in a family of four on Laxmi Road Her younger brother Rajnikant Dharamdas Shah now 84 says the siblings were born in Alibag before Pune became their home due to their fatherrsquos business ldquoAfter getting married Tarla decided she wanted to learn how to make cakes and biscuits She went to Sathe Biscuits amp Chocolate Co Ltd Pasture Bakery on MG Road and Modern Bakery to sharpen her baking skillsrdquo Shah says that while growing up when their mother was visiting Mumbai Dalal would take charge of the kitchen waking up before school to cook for the family ldquoAfter she was married she moved to Brighton building on Napean Sea Road Whenever I visited her home and she was hosting us the table would be laid impeccably decorated with flowersrdquo Shah rememberslsquoDinner was always at 8 sharprsquoDalalrsquos daughter Renu was inspired by her motherrsquos culinary documentation and has written books herself PicShadab KhanDeepak Renu and Sanjay childrenDinner at the Dalal home in Mumbai was never later than 8 pm ldquoWersquod eat the simplest food While she did whip up Mexican and Thai delicacies our daily meals and lives were simple Mom was the first one to make tacos and burritos in the city and we got a taste of it all at a young age I loved her khow sueyrdquo recalls Sanjay who went on to become the publisher of her books and now helms the Tarla Dalal website ldquoTogether we even launched readytocook mixes called Tarla Dalal Mixes We sold the rights to a company in 2000 Mom and I made a good team and it was fun to watch her ideas grow She was a giving kind human being helping people at every steprdquoIn 2013 after Dalalrsquos passing Renu took inspiration and began to approach Indian cooking with a new style releasing her first book on her motherrsquos birthday June 3 She introduced interesting hybrids of everyday vegetarian food Her food style is fusion and inventive where she combines flavours of the world over with techniques of traditional Indian cuisine Her books include Simple and Delicious Vegetarian Cooking and Modern Vegetarian Recipes ldquoMy recipes are simple with innovation that bring something new to the table They include asparagus samosa with cheese sauce spaghetti with lentils chocolate pani purirdquo says Renu Tarla Dalalrsquos eldest son Deepak shares ldquoMom never repeated a dish once it was checked and gone for publishing into one of her books Then she would move on to the nextrdquo he laughs adding ldquoEven if we loved it it was never made againrdquoHe remembers the breads she made ldquoFresh out of the oven it was the nicestrdquo While it was Renu who was encouraged to take up cooking he would be the passing visitor who walked in to grab a bite ldquoThe kitchen was momrsquos domain She was a task master Only those who were competent were allowed insiderdquo he signs off lsquoTarla Ben was like an elder sisterrsquoAnjana Shah sisterinlaw and early studentOne of Dalalrsquos first students was her sisterinlaw Anjana Shah ldquoWhen Nalin Bhai first brought her to our home we thought they made an odd pair Nalin Bhai was well educated and a renowned chemist and Tarla Ben was a graduate and came across as a simple girl Little did I know then that she had the ability to adapt without losing her corerdquo says AnjanaAlthough Nalinrsquos family was a progressive Gujarati unit and Dalal came from a modest traditional home she settled in easily and inspired the family to practice Vaishnav traditions ldquoShe was eager to learn and growrdquo says Anjana adding ldquoNalin bhai was fond of food and Tarla took a nosedive into learning new cuisines for which she took a couple of classes too The family was social and Tarla Ben threw these wonderful parties She was a natural hostessrdquoWhen Anjana lost her husband in an air crash early Dalal ensured she was always around for company ldquoShe treated me like the daughter of the house She held the family together and although she grew famous humility never left herrdquoDalal always wore silk sarees a marker of her interest in tradition along with listening to bhajans haveli sangeet cooking and travelling Anjana remembers having meals with Dalal at Thai pavilion Grand Maratha and Thaker Bhojnalay ldquoOnce we were on our way to a wedding and she saw a Rajasthani thali restaurant lsquoLagan ne maro goli letrsquos go try this food To hell with the weddingrsquo she said There was never a dull moment with herrdquolsquoWherever we travelled people knew herrsquoArun and Sudha Mehta of Vakil amp Sons published Dalalrsquos first book in 1974 and several hit titles after PicsBipin KokateArun and Sudha Mehta proprietors Vakil amp SonsWhen we met them Mehta and his wife Sudha Ben are sitting in the garden of their Napean Sea Road bungalow the greenery and open calm a reminder of old Bombay They were Dalalrsquos first publishers and closest friendsThe first book they printed The Pleasures of Vegetarian Cooking saw a first print run of 3000 copies in 1974 following which it was regularly reprinted with the latest the 35th edition printed as recently as 2021 recalls Arun MehtaIn 1965 Dalal told Arunrsquos uncle G Mehta who helmed the printing press then that she wanted to write a book ldquoBairaao cookery books vache Do married women read cook books They are in the kitchen from age seven why would they need a bookrdquo he had asked herldquoBy then Tarla was taking classes and doing exceptionally well She didnrsquot take no for an answer and started prepping for the book designing the photographs and writing the recipes Nalin Bhai made her write the recipes step by step systematically Then he got someone to try them to check for measurements and the dishes turned out well We priced the book at R35 It was an instant bestseller We even sold across Africa and America Of course she was not satisfied with just one book and wanted to write more We went on to publish the next two books The Delights of Vegetarian Cooking and The Joys of Vegetarian Cookingrdquo says ArunIn 1987 Dalalrsquos son Sanjay stepped in to start his own firm to publish and market his motherrsquos books But this didnrsquot end their friendship with the Mehtas We ldquotravelled all over the world together including Europerdquo says Arun ldquoWherever we travelled people knew her Any restaurant we visited the chef came out to present his best dishes to her at the table She was a star in her own rightrdquoOnce on a trip to South India when she spotted a bunch of bananas over ripening she made up a dessert from it Another time in Manali she went and got local ingredients to create cocktails Recalling a trip to Udaipur Sudha says Dalal had sworn not to buy another saree ldquoBut she ended up buying eight at a go That was Tarla Ben Her multilingual style of talking centred around Gujarati made her a hit lsquoTaste achha lagta hairsquo shersquod go Once she made dhokla at her residence and I asked her if she had tweaked the recipe lsquoMine donrsquot come out like thisrsquo I said ldquoSudha tu maari recipe follow nathi kartirsquo you are not following my recipe to the teerdquo Sudha laughs at the memoryDalal passed away a day after returning from their last trip to Mahableshwar says SudhaIt was a fiveday trip to and she had complained of ill health She was taking medication to manage the symptoms but was quite uncomfortablerdquo