You can change people’s life and attitude by changing their wardrobe and in a similar way we can affect our mood and feelings by what we choose to put inside us, in terms of food, according to Amrik Singh Dhaliwal, the brainchild of Indian food brand Holyfood.
He is a man who knows his fashion as well as food and he strongly believes that ready-made food can taste good and be good for you as well, something he sets out to prove to me not only by talking but by showing me around the Holyfood kitchen and also inviting me in for a cooking lesson with him. Within walking distance from London’s Portobello Road, I am about to put on a chef’s jacket to enter the kitchen as Amrik Dhaliwal asks me what I know about Indian food, before our tasting and cooking session begins.
I say that my knowledge on Indian cuisine is limited, but I know a few things about Greek food instead! “Aaaah” Amrik says in a happy voice, “but Greeks love their food so you must love this food too!” He also refers to the Italians and their passion for food, “the Indians don’t have it. The curry houses are mostly a disgrace and rarely do you get a dish, which is cooked in a healthy manner without being drenched in fat and salt,” Amrik complains.
This is why he teamed up with Ron Kastner, his business partner to provide third generation Indians and the UK crowd with authentic Indian food. Meeting Amrik Dhaliwal, I realise how he values pure, healthy food and cooking with good ingredients. Perhaps, he notices too that we share the same enthusiasm about food and dares to invite me back to cook with him, in a private cookery class to learn more about Indian food.
We meet at the Holyfood kitchen in West London, on a day when the rain kept pouring down heavily. But as I was approaching the kitchen, between the many raindrops in the air, I could distinguish the aroma from the kitchen, the spices and its welcoming warmth in the unfriendly weather. Under his supervision and help we made 3 dishes in an hour. Within this time not only did I learn how to make a dahl and a dosa and a coconut salad but also I found out what the drive is for Amrik and how passionate he really is about Indian food.
The rituals of cooking and eating, the sharing of the food and sitting down around the table are what old cultures like the Greek and of course the Indian used to do, but more and more it becomes a trend to eat on the go, on the desk on your way somewhere so you grab a take-away. The ethos of the way we think of and look at food has changed. For most of us, food simply is fuel instead of a pleasurable daily event where we get together with loved ones to share a meal and talk about our day.
”That’s broken down, because people have got much more professional … who’s got time to cook at 7pm or 7:30pm for 3 hours before you eat?” Amrik says. ”I wish people cooked more and cooked from raw ingredients but I always find it progressively hard to cook every day.”
Something I agree with, but Amrik’s Holyfood is cooking homemade Indian food and putting it in tubs ready for sale. Being anti ready-made meals myself and a strong advocate for cooking the food ourselves I was very impressed when I tried the Holyfood range of both vegetarian, vegan and meat dishes. The spices are there as are the fantastic flavours and the food tastes as if it’s freshly made, because it is, surprisingly. What is even better is that the ingredients are pure and no preservatives are added to the food, hence you won’t find any extremely long shelf life on the foods they produce.
Leaving his fashion design and photography career on the back burner, Amrik started researching and collecting recipes from home-cooks who had kept the tradition in cooking Indian food. After worrying about “We’re going to lose our entire cuisine and no one is going to bother” starting the Indian food venture was a natural choice for Amrik.
One of the recipes are the saag by his mother, who has acknowledged that her son’s Saag is better than her own, having said that, the day when his mother buys his food has not arrived yet, he says laughing. If you ever move away from home, you must learn to cook Amrik’s mum told him.
Giving the food status and spirit is more than just cool funky branding, there are people behind making the Holyfood dishes and if you carefully examine the tubs the food is sold in, you will notice the name of the chef who made the food you’re holding in your hand.
Apart from the Saag, I personally liked the pickled lemons, the aubergine dishes, the Lamb Karahi, the dalh and dosa!
While we’re cooking along side the rest of the Holyfood chefs, there is a harmonious vibe in the kitchen, yes the pop music is loud in the background, but the cooking is not rushed, there is a lot of patience involved in cooking among Amrik and his team. “We’re not in a hurry to get it done, we want everyone to cook well, we buy the best ingredient and do as little as possible to it” Amrik says.
