Madhur Jaffrey

Madhur Jaffrey
CBE
Jaffrey at a cookbook event in Vancouver in October 2010
Born
Madhur Bahadur

(1933-08-13) 13 August 1933 (age 91)
Civil Lines, Delhi, British India (present-day India)
Alma mater
Spouses
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1958; div. 1966)​
  • ​
    (m. 1969)​
Children
Relatives
AwardsSee below
Honours
Culinary career
Cooking styleIndian and South Asian
Current restaurant(s)
  • Dawat, New York City (1986 to present)
Television show(s)
  • Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery (1982), Far Eastern Cookery (1989), Listening To Volcanoes (1990), From Manna to Microwave (1990), Madhur Jaffrey’s Flavours of India (1995), Friends for Dinner (2001), Ready, Steady Cook (2001), Cooking Live (2001)
Award(s) won
  • James Beard Foundation Award
    * 2006: Cookbook Hall of Fame An Invitation to Indian Cooking
    * 2004: International Cookbook From Curries to Kebabs
    * 2002: International Cookbook Madhur Jaffrey's Step-by-Step Cooking
    * 2000: International Cookbook Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian
    * 1994: Cookbook of the Year Madhur Jaffrey’s A Taste of the Far East
    * 1994: International Cookbook Madhur Jaffrey’s A Taste of the Far East
    *1982: Natural Foods/Special Diet Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking
    Guild of Food Writers Award
    * 2004: Cookery Book of the Year The Curry Bible
    * 1999: Cookery Book of the Year Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian
    International Association of Culinary Professionals Bert Greene Award
    * 2003 Best Food Journalism in a Magazine Passage to Pakistan, Saveur
    New York Women in Film & Television Muse Award
    * 2000: Outstanding Vision and Achievement
    Governor's New York State Division of Women Award for Excellence 1999
    Food Arts magazine Silver Spoon Award 1998
    Taraknath Das Foundation Award 1993
Websitewww.madhur-jaffrey.com

Madhur Jaffrey CBE (née Bahadur; born 13 August 1933) is an Indian-born British-American actress, cookbook and travel writer, and television personality.[1][2] She is recognized for bringing Indian cuisine to the western hemisphere with her debut cookbook, An Invitation to Indian Cooking (1973), which was inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Cookbook Hall of Fame in 2006.[3][4][5] She has written over a dozen cookbooks and appeared on several related television programmes, the most notable of which was Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery, which premiered in the UK in 1982.[6] She was the food consultant at the now-closed Dawat, which was considered by many food critics to be among the best Indian restaurants in New York City.[7][8][9]

She was instrumental in bringing together filmmakers James Ivory and Ismail Merchant,[10][11] and acted in several of their films, such as Shakespeare Wallah (1965), for which she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress award at the 15th Berlin International Film Festival.[12] She has appeared in dramas on radio, stage and television.[13]

In 2004, she was named an honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in recognition of her services to cultural relations between the United Kingdom, India and the United States, through her achievements in film, television and cookery.[14][15] In 2022, she was awarded the Padma Bhushan from the Government of India, which is the third highest civilian award.[16][17]

Her childhood memoir of India during the final years of the British Raj, Climbing the Mango Trees, was published in 2006.[18][19]

  1. ^ Kayal, Michele (20 October 2015). "From actress to cookbook author: The lives of Madhur Jaffrey". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  2. ^ Foster, Nicola (25 October 2013). "Encyclopedia of Television – Jaffrey, Madhur". Museum of Broadcast Communications. Archived from the original on 26 July 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  3. ^ "Madhur Jaffrey". My Kitchen Table. Ebury Publishing. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  4. ^ Bettridge, Daniel (26 September 2012). "Six to watch: TV chefs". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  5. ^ Fabricant, Florence (10 May 2006). "New York Dominates at Beard Awards". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Live chat: Madhur Jaffrey". The Guardian. 7 November 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  7. ^ Miller, Bryan (12 December 1986). "Restaurants". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  8. ^ Miller, Bryan (5 July 1991). "Restaurants". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  9. ^ Miller, Bryan (14 June 1995). "Unsung Chefs In a City of Stars". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  10. ^ Phelan, Laurence (16 December 1999). "How We Met: Ismail Merchant & Madhur Jaffrey". The Independent. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  11. ^ Gussow, Mel (2 January 2003). "Telling Secrets That Worked For a Gambling Life in Films". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  12. ^ "Prizes & Honours 1965 – International Jury". Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  13. ^ Hoffman, Jan (14 March 2000). "She Also Cooks Just a Trifle, This Actress". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  14. ^ "Honorary CBE for Madhur Jaffrey". The Economic Times. 20 March 2004. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  15. ^ "Sir David Manning presents the CBE to Indian born actress and cookery writer Madhur Jaffrey". The Tribune. 7 November 2004. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  16. ^ Service, Tribune News. "10 foreigners among Padma awardees". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Padma Awards 2022: Complete list of recipients". mint. 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  18. ^ Stern, Jane; Michael Stern (29 October 2006). "Spice of Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  19. ^ Jaffrey, Madhur (29 October 2006). "First Chapter: 'Climbing the Mango Trees'". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 October 2015.