Queen of Indian food ay Ubud Writers Festival

When I was a kid in the UK, BBC2 (the artsy channel) always offered a show called ‘Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooking’. Indian food is super popular in Britain, and this week Madhur Jaffrey spoke at the Ubud Readers & Writers Festival in Ubud.

Madhur Jaffrey broke with tradition in her TV shows, by steeping out of the kitchen and showing the environment where the food came from. As she says “Food doesn’t exist in a vacuum, it exists in a culture. I wanted the circumstances of a recipe, whether it’s for a picnic or a religious festival.”

Here in Seminyak, if I want Indian food I just step out of my house and walk around the corner. The 2 closest options are Gateway Of India, on Jl. Dhyana Pura (great menu, 50,000rp on sundays) and Queen’s Tandoor, on Jl. Seminyak, just up from Jl. Dhyana Pura.

Queen’s Tandoor is more expensive than Gateway. People in Kuta and Sanur can also enjoy the Gateway branches there. Wonder what would happen if Madhur Jaffrey walked into an Indian restaurant in Bali. They probably wouldn’t notice and slap a fried egg on top of her tandori chicken, and ask if she needed extra sambal. Interesting that her name, Madhur, means ‘sweet as honey’. Here in Indonesia, ‘madu’ is honey.

For those Indian food fans visiting Bali, here’s BaliEats list of places you can find it.