Nadiya Hussain’s Bengali recipes

• Amit Roy
• 28 September, 2023

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By: Amit Roy

IT IS a good thing that Nadiya Hussain has become such an icon since she won The Great British Bake Off in 2015.

However, I am not convinced by her recent four-page pull-out in the Times, where she suggested “meals from her new cookbook inspired by her Bangladeshi roots”.

She says: “I give my mum copies of all my books. She says, ‘Oh, lovely,’ but doesn’t turn a page. It’s humbling.”

I am sure her mum is proud of her daughter. But Nadiya’s Bengali dishes – and I have been to Sylhet and my paternal grandfather’s family originated from what was East Bengal before partition – look nothing like the real thing.

Has Nadiya lost her touch? Can she really do authentic Bengali cuisine? It could be that she has been let down by the photography. Her dishes might taste fine, but they look a bit, well, muddy.

At any rate, I hesitate to recommend her latest book, Nadiya’s Simple Spices. Bengali cooking – and there are differences between East and West Bengali dishes – is subtle and delicate.

Perhaps Nadiya ought to drop by Chourangi near Marble Arch for a few lessons. The restaurant specialises in Calcutta cuisine. I can suggest its prawn cutlets and kosha mangsho (lamb curry) for first-timers.