A Dandy From The East

The Urban Rajah is a food writer, cook, traveller and lifestyle adventurer with roots deep in the Indian Subcontinent. A second generation immigrant and a son of 70s Britain he grew up on hot summers, street cricket and spiced Indian food which has narrated his life.

His cookbook, Urban Rajah’s Curry Memoirs commissioned by Headline Publishing is out now and tells the story of his love affair with curry through over 80 familial recipes. A practical, easy to follow and inspirational cookbook, it expresses his family’s food story through the eyes of the men in his family. Humorous, engaging, vivid, brave, delicate and abundant it’s through their stories he provides access to family recipes which have been passed down through 3 generations and crossed 3 continents. They’ve survived and thrived in an era of immigration.

The Urban Rajah runs the elusive and highly acclaimed pop up restaurant, Cash n Curry, a social enterprise dedicated to raising funds for projects helping India’s street children and helping to liberate trafficked children and those in bonded labour. Known for his high energy persona and uplifting style he frequently demonstrates his passion for Indian Bazaar cuisine at food festivals.

He grew up on fish fingers and baked beans whilst also tearing hot chapattis and scooping up vivid spiced curry. He adores home cooked spiced food influenced by the East and married with Western cuisine which represents his immigrant roots. Family gatherings were central to early life. Speakers the size of sofas would throb to the beat of ska, reggae and bhangra and that’s where he traces his passion for music and probably explains his vinyl collection, the club nights and his spell as a pirate radio DJ.

A self confessed dandy, he rarely leaves home without a tub of moustache wax or a piece of millinery. That’s the Urban Rajah.