Celebrity TV chef Parveen Ashraf will be at the boutique restaurant 'Fanoosh the Indian' on Street Lane for an exclusive meet and greet and book signing for her famous cook book ‘The Spice Queen’.
Described as the ‘Asian Nigella from Yorkshire’, the 53-year-old Yorkshire woman landed her own TV show titled ‘ Parveen’s Indian Kitchen’ on prime time ITV.
The former Bradfordian’s TV career evolved following an exclusive front page feature in the Asian Express when she published her cookery book ‘The Spice Queen’ back in 2016. Since then, her book which carries no-nonsense easy-to-follow recipes, has sold out multiple times.
Parveen will be at Fanoosh the Indian restaurant in, Leeds for book signing and meet & greet
She’ll be taking time out of her hectic TV commitments on Monday 1st April and visiting Fanoosh restaurant for a public appearance and book signing.
Follow Parveen Ashraf on social media: Twitter: parveen_ashraf
Instagram: Parveen’s Indian Kitchen
Facebook: Parveen The Spice Queen
After her public appearance and book signing at 5.30pm, Parveen will be dining in the restaurant, and so all dine-in VIP guests will have meet and greet opportunities.
Make VIP dinner reservations at Fanoosh The Indian to personally meet & greet Parveen on Monday 1st April. Limited availability - book now by contacting Fanoosh on 07519 090 000.
Described as the ‘Asian Nigella from Yorkshire’, Parveen caught Editor Andleeb Hanif’s eye after she made little ‘spice-bags’ and wrote up easy-to-follow recipes for her son, so that he wouldn’t miss his mum’s cooking too much while away studying at university.
Her first cookery book had just been published which included her mother’s popular and favourite recipes such as chicken masala, lamb bhuna and samosas.
But just as she thought that she might be too old for a TV career, she’s landed her own show on Sunday mornings on ITV.
Over 10 episodes of ‘Parveen’s Indian Kitchen’, she shares her love of her native cuisine and hopes to demystify Indian/Pakistani/Kashmiri cookery with her simple, easy-to-follow recipes.
“Well it has certainly been a rollercoaster of a ride since I was featured in the Asian Express a couple of years ago,” laughs the ever-jovial Parveen.
“I launched my own YouTube channel, became a weekly columnist for my local newspaper in Peterborough, presented my own radio show in London and became a regular chef presenter on a local shopping channel. In between that I have still being teaching cooking as well as shooting for ITV.”
The mother-of-three looks stunningly young on camera and TV bosses have drawn comparisons with Nigella Lawson, which understandably has left Parveen exceptionally giddy.
“I’d be over the moon if viewers thought I was even a tenth of the person Nigella is! I am a huge fan and I’ve always loved what she does,’ says Parveen.
“She’s a woman in her 50s like me and a home cook who’s passionate about food. I think she’s amazing and I love the comparison. I’d be very happy to be thought of as the Asian Nigella.”
SUPPORTIVE: Parveen's husband Qamar suggested she should take up her love of cooking
She left Bradford after meeting and marrying her husband whilst working on reception at the National Museum of Photography Film and Television, now known as the National Media Museum. And even though she moved away, still loves to visit the city as she has family and friends that live there plus, she says, “the food up here is just fabulous”.
“I have such lovely memories of growing up in the North. I am the middle child of seven and certainly lived up to the title of 'middle child'. I was so full of character and always wanted to be the centre of attention, so I suppose presenting on camera was the meant to be.
MOTHER: Parveen's beloved mother Begum made her promise that she'd never give up chasing her dream
“The focal point of our family life always was meal times.
"My mother would make fabulous tasting food and we would all sit on the floor (picnic style) to have our roti and catch up about our day. I am not sure whether we all sat on the floor due to our Asian culture or that we probably didn't have a table big enough to seat nine!”
Formerly, the celebrity chef was working as an Ofsted inspector and her cookery career almost happened by chance due to an abrupt change in her health circumstances.
Parveen became serious illness in 2007, she discovered a lump in her stomach which was diagnosed as a desmoid tumour - a non-cancerous but aggressive growth which was rapidly spreading throughout her abdomen.
After four major operations in one year to remove the tumour, Parveen’s husband Qamar told her she needed to quit her job and ‘do what she loved’. So from then on Parveen focused on cooking.
She’d been working flat out for 10 years teaching cookery and catering for Indian dinner parties, but she still hadn’t achieved her dream - to host her own TV cookery show.
“Whilst my beautiful mother, Begum, was on her deathbed, she reminded me that when I was born I was in an incubator for the first three months of my life. She said I was a fighter and she believes my first few weeks in life had made me resilient.
“At the time, I’d written a manuscript for a cookery book but I couldn’t find a publisher. I also felt I was getting too old for TV and that maybe it was time to admit defeat.
“Mum urged me, made me promise that I would continue pushing through to achieve my dream. The day after I made that promise to mum she died. I wouldn’t have achieved any of this without her.”
KITCHEN TOOL: Beautifully illustrated and full of anecdotes from Parveen’s childhood, this book belongs in every kitchen
Soon after her mother’s death, Parveen did successfully have her first book ‘Parveen The Spice Queen’ published. She was cooking for people, hosting cookery lessons and doing cookery demonstrations at festivals and fetes.
“Anywhere I could be seen - I was there. And eventually, after a LOT of hard work, my dream has come true and I’ve finally got my own TV show,” says Parveen.
But then came the big opportunity from ITV to to showcase her mother's recipes to millions. To prepare for TV celebdom, Parveen’s had voice-coaching, styling and lots of lots of advice from producers.
“Experiencing filming for mainstream TV has been quite surreal,” confesses Parveen.
“There I was little old me, being produced and directed by the best in the business.
“I was a tad nervous and was waiting for some real pearls of wisdom. The camera starting rolling and my producer said, 'O.K. Parveen, just be yourself.' So, I was.
"The really interesting thing is, that when I first began filming, it felt like my mother was right there - watching me. It was truly a surreal atmosphere!
“I had the freedom to talk about the recipes, what they meant to me and how I like to cook them. I am so blessed and grateful that I got to do the two things I love the most, talking and cooking. Hopefully, people will enjoy watching the show as much as I enjoyed filming it!”
Admitting that her husband and children - Cyrus, 21, Sherine, 27 and Imran 28, are her biggest critics, but at the same time are her biggest fans, she says they keep her grounded and are great sounding boards, especially when she cooks a new recipe.
SPICE QUEEN: Parveen Ashraf hails from Bradford, which has held its title as Britain’s ‘Curry Capital’ for four years
This lady is on a mission to teach the nation to cook Indian and believes that her book 'Parveen The Spice Queen' is her secret weapon - well not that secret really as it’s available to buy!
Proud of her culture and cooking, a tumour-defying local mum brings together the flavours of Asia with a huge dollop of Yorkshire common sense.
After successfully defeating a serious illness, Bradford-born Parveen Ashraf arrived at a pivotal juncture in her life, and decided to leave the corporate working day behind and turn her passion for food into her career.
The 51-year-old married mother-of-three has been fuelled by the desire to cook for the man in her life and her children, for whom she believes is essential to provide good, wholesome and healthy food.
For almost a decade, Parveen has taught Indian cooking, run cookery demonstrations and catered at glamorous Bollywood-themed dinner parties. Now, she brings all of this experience to life in her step-by-step cookbook.
Her first book ‘Parveen The Spice Queen’, includes every favourite traditional delight including Chicken Masala, Lamb Bhuna and Samosas.
KITCHEN TOOL: Beautifully illustrated and full of anecdotes from Parveen’s childhood, this book belongs in every kitchen
But what makes Parveen’s culinary masterpiece stand out is her innovative “spice bags,” which are little parcels of pre-mixed spices designed to work hand-in-hand with her recipes, taking the fear and uncertainty out of Indian cooking.
Parveen recognised that there had been a shift away from traditional cooking and that more and more people were relying on ready meals and jars to fit in with a busy lifestyle.
“Even in Asian families, the art of cooking was being lost and this struck a chord,” says Parveen.
“Having been asked to teach the daughter of a family friend how to cook simple Indian meals in preparation for getting married, I realised that so many young people today did not know their way around a kitchen and appeared scared to even give it a try.
“Hopefully the combination of my book and the spice bags will give even the beginner the confidence to try.”
She recalls that the focal point of family life was family meal times when all seven siblings, mum and dad would sit down to the evening meal, eat chat and spend time with one another, she says of her childhood that was a wonderful time "were like the Asian Waltons!"
Parveen’s real love affair with food began in the 70’s watching her mother and big sister cook “amazing food” and all her recipes are based on the ones her mother used to use.
The only difference, says Parveen, is that her mother “cooked by eye” and didn’t actually measure anything. Parveen's recipes are thought through very carefully with each gram of spice being weighed precisely.
Parveen designed a pre-made “spice bags” out of sheer necessity when her son, Imran, left home for university. She wrote a few recipes and emailed them over to him.
Unfortunately, much to Imran’s dismay, the dishes did not turn out the way he wanted, so she blended a few sachets of spices and posted them off to him.
Despite her journey has being full of ups and downs and at times sheer hard work, now her determination, patience and perseverance has paid off with the launch of her book.
She says “It was bitter sweet time as I had lost my mother a few months before and naturally the book is dedicated to her.”
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Celebrity TV chef Parveen Ashraf will be at the boutique restaurant 'Fanoosh the Indian' on Street Lane for an exclusive meet and greet and book signing for her famous cook book ‘The Spice Queen’.
