Madhur Jaffrey - Wonderful Woman No. 136

Madhur Jaffrey - Born 1933
Indian Actress, Cook, Food Writer and Author

Added to the album by Sarah, A Wonderful Woman

Having now done some research into the life of Mafhur Jaffrey, I feel rather ignorant. I once saw her do the 'omelette challege' on the BBC's cookery show Saturday Kitchen but I am ashamed to say that, until now, this had been my only exposure to this Wonderful Woman. I did not know that she was a celebrated actress, I did not even really know about her excellence as a cookery writer. I am grateful to Sarah for changing this and nominating her to the album.

After graduating with honours from Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 1957, Madhur embarked on a career in film and theatre. From the 1960s to now she has appeared in over 20 films, made in both India and the U.S.A. among them are Six Degrees of Separation, The Perfect Murder and Shakespeare Wallah, for which she was awarded the prize for Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival.

In 1973, Madhur produced her first cook book, An Invitation to Indian Cooking

and she has subsequently produced almost 30 books, which focus on Indian, Asian and vegetarian cuisine. She has hosted numerous cookery shows on television and is now widely considered as the world authority on Indian food.

In addition to her cook books, Madhur has published four other books, which are largely about travel in India. Her latest, published in 2006, is a personal memoir about her childhood in India.

I expect there is much more to this Wonderful Woman than my research has uncovered and than I have poured into these few short blog paragraghs... what is clear though is that Madhur Jaffrey has been brilliantly successful in not one but two careers, she has perfected her craft as both an actress and a culinary writer and she is admired by countless budding cooks across the world. She is clearly a very Wonderful Woman.

A book that changed me ... Robin Hood. When I was a little girl, I would become him in my mind. It gave me the belief – nothing to do with being male or female – that I could do anything. It made me feel invulnerable. There was a pure joy at being anything I wanted to be.
Madhur Jaffrey