Zuju and her food

Zuju has written Indian cookbooks. She has run a restaurant. Her cooking is special. The food is based on the exciting Hyderabadi cuisine from India; different from any you would have tasted.

Zuju was born and brought up in Hyderabad, in Central India. Here the Mogul dominion came to a halt. Muslim elegance mingled with the bright exuberance of the Hindu South. The tropical forests of the South are the home of coconuts, coffee, tamarind and bitter-sweet mangoes. From the North came kebabs, saffron and almonds. Trade brought the delicacies of the Middle East. Meat-eaters met vegetarians and found new ways to mix their culinary palettes. The resultant cuisine is reputed throughout the sub-continent.

Now settled in the West, Zuju has not been content to reproduce her native cuisine. A frequent traveller, experimenter and writer, she has added new flavours, lightness and balance to her recipes. 

The idea of teaching Indian cooking is not so much hers as almost a demand from friends who have enjoyed her food at her table, eaten at “Zujuma’s” her restaurant or tried out her recipes given in her book “The Hamlyn’s All Colour Indian Cookbook”.