Madhur Jaffrey: The woman who gave the world Indian food

Culinary legend Madhur Jaffrey celebrates the 50th anniversary of her seminal book, An Invitation to Indian Cooking, which put Indian food on tables around the world.

At a spirited 90 years of age, Madhur Jaffrey takes centre stage on the streaming platform MasterClass, her screen presence marked by a shiny bob, smoky-lined eyes, vivid red lips and a trove of lively, endearing anecdotes from her rich life. A true polymath, Madhur is more than a versatile actress whose cinematic impact has spanned several decades, she's a culinary chronicler and food icon. With over 30 cookbooks to her name, spanning the flavours of India, Asia and global vegetarian cuisine, as well as many television cookery shows (including on the BBC), Madhur Jaffrey is a household name for anyone with a taste for South Asian cuisine.

As Indian-born Nobel Laureate and cookbook author Abhijit Banerjee shared during this year's annual HC Mahindra Lecture at Harvard University, "While I could cook many Western dishes, I did not know how to cook Indian food. My first step was smart – to buy her [cookbook], An Invitation to Indian Cooking, and follow it with a certain amount of diligence. And that's how I learned to cook Indian food."

The 50th anniversary edition of Jaffrey's ground-breaking book comes out on 21 November, beautifully illustrated with Jaffrey's drawings and a foreword by chef and fellow cookbook author Yotam Ottolenghi.

"It's amazing how prescient the title of the book was for the arc of Jaffrey's writing career," said Matt Sartwell of the legendary New York City food bookstore Kitchen Arts and Letters. "When An Invitation to Indian Cooking first came out in 1973 in the US, cooking Indian food was challenging for many people, as the availability of ingredients was highly erratic. Fifty years ago, people didn't think casually about mail ordering from a vendor in some other part of the country," he recalled.

Born in 1933, in pre-Partition India, Jaffrey was the youngest of six children in an affluent Delhi-based family. Her histrionic talents took her to London, where she studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the city's theatre scene. She married fellow Indian dramatist Saeed Jaffrey, with whom she migrated to America in 1958. While she swiftly rose to fame as a film actress, notably in Merchant-Ivory productions, Jaffrey's journey in New York City took a different turn after parting ways with Saeed in 1966.

Navigating the complexities of solo parenthood with three children, Jaffrey found solace and purpose in her culinary prowess, cooking and entertaining frequently at home. After winning an award for her work in a film called Shakespeare Wallah, she was approached by The New York Times food critic, Craig Claiborne for an interview. This fortuitous meeting gave Jaffrey an unforeseen visibility, a windfall she astutely decided to channel into the creation of a cookbook.

As recounted by legendary book editor, Judith Jones, in her memoir, The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food, Jaffrey's manuscript was extremely compelling. Jones wrote, "When Madhur Jaffrey's manuscript came to me at Knopf, I was immediately persuaded that food-conscious Americans were ready for authentic Indian cuisine, particularly if they had someone as skilful as Madhur guiding them. She was canny enough to realise, it was apparent, that she had to seduce us slowly, step by step."

Jaffrey seamlessly transitioned into a cultural ambassador, expertly crafting and documenting Indian traditions and recipes for an intrigued American audience. Jaffrey explained that when she started writing about Indian food, she felt people knew so little about it. "In the global culinary arena, Indian cuisine often grapples with misconceptions and preconceived notions. Outsiders frequently blur the lines between spice and heat, a balance shaped by regional influences and contexts. Indian eateries abroad, unfortunately, perpetuated stereotypes by predominantly offering nationalistic dishes, while much of the food writing contributed to an air of mystique, rather than demystifying Indian flavours," she said.

"They always called it 'curry', and one curry powder went into everything, making it all taste the same," Jaffrey added. "I used to tell them we have such varied food in India. I feel if they know a little more about the variety within India and our exquisite dishes and ingredients – and trust me, even Indians don't know that – that would be great!"

"I think Madhur had a vision of where she wanted to take people," said Sartwell, "and she has stayed true to that, keeping her point of view, and these days, when you can get all the recipes you want for free, what people still tend to pay for is a point of view. And she offers people rewards for that. 

In 2022, Jaffrey was awarded one of India's highest civilian honours, the Pa Bhushan, for her cultural ambassadorship through cuisine. Indian journalist Vikram Doctor recounted how people would thank her for helping them learn how to cook through her clearly written and comprehensive recipes.

"I once saw how she got those recipes", he said excitedly. "During a visit to [the restaurant] Highway Gomantak, Madhur wanted to learn how to make the rice bhakri [round flatbreads] she was served, from the owners, the Potnis family. Madhur listened keenly as Mrs. Potnis concluded the steps involved, and remarked, 'Something is missing! Madhur persisted, and Mrs. Potnis finally ed one detail. Just before you put the bhakri on the hot tawa [frying pan or griddle], sprinkle some water. And indeed, that steam prevents the bhakri from sticking. It was a masterclass in how to get an Indian recipe."

Jaffrey herself reiterates her hunger for this sort of tacit knowledge. "There is nothing like traveling to the country, cooking with people in their homes, feeling the emotions as you sit down and eat the food together with the family. You see the hands moving, and how they are picking up the food, and there is an emotional content in all of that that makes the food so valuable."

"Everyone can cook from a good cookbook," she added. "I always try to eat at people's homes in India. I watch them cook, observe the heat, whether they are stirring it lazily or doing it swiftly, and write all these things for my readers. But if I don't watch someone make it, then what have I learned">window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'alternating-thumbnails-a', container: 'taboola-below-article', placement: 'Below Article', target_type: 'mix' });