It will be a family affair when celebrity broadcaster Hardeep Singh Kohli joins forces with his cousin Sanjay Majhu to combine a feast of comedy and cooking in Glasgow this summer.

The duo will host a food-centred comedy event on June 26 and 27 and July 3 and 4 in Glasgow, 30 years after making a pact as young lads in the Bishopbriggs area of the city to combine their loves of laughter and cuisine.

The Sikh star, well known for his appearances on the BBC and currently on his The Nearly Naked Chef Tour, said: "It was whilst enjoying a family curry one Saturday as kids that we made a vow to each other. It might have taken us longer than planned, but at last we're realising that dream!

"I'm probably the least funny in the family. Sanjay's hilarious while I'm more about story telling than stand-up comedy, but there's a genuine appetite for that – excuse the pun. I'm not worried if he outshines me in the comedy part; we're cousins from a large family and have done well in our own areas so there's not much competition.

"It's been really emotional reconnecting with him and I wouldn't be becoming the Sikh Jamie Oliver if it wasn't for Sanjay."

Entrepreneur Madhu, the chief executive officer of the largest chain of Indian restaurants in Britain, said: "It's not every day you get to fulfil a childhood dream so I'm really looking forward to getting together with Hardeep to produce this unique series of events."

While the shows will entertain 200 in the evening at the Ashoka restaurant, MasterChef finalist Hardeep will also be running a cookery class in the afternoon for 50 lucky punters.

"I waited tables in Sanjay's first restaurant. I'm passionate about food and Indian food, and he said 'why don't you do a cook school?' I'll be cooking a lamb curry which is my favourite in the world, and a veggie dish – but a lot will be based on what the people want to be cooked," he said.

"It's as much about meeting the people and a love of eating as it doing the cooking."

But the BBC personality refuses to be up in arms about Auntie's plans to axe the Asian Network service, a move which has drawn criticism from the likes of Bollywood megastar Shilpa Shetty, world champion boxer Amir Khan, singer Jay Sean and Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Hardeep said: "I think a lot of good came out of the Asian Network, so many big names started there. It's a hard truth to handle but if we don't need the Asian Network anymore then that must be a good thing, and I know for a fact that BBC Radio 2 controller Bob Shennan is fully behind Asian music. It's there and it's happening.

"We need to make sure the BBC are committed to this rather than investing our energy into saving the Asian Network. I presented a two-hour show From Hollywood to Bollywood on the station's Friday Night is Music Night programme in April with support from the BBC Concert Orchestra, which could never have happened on mainstream radio a few years ago."

And while the cousins are looking forward to their upcoming venture together, Hardeep hopes it could lead to another joint project.

He said: "These are beginners' classes, and hopefully I can do a more advanced one in the autumn."

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