Celebrating her life
Her Life
Mala Tandon: 9th July 1942 - 31st Oct 2016 Mala born in Sialkot, India (pre-independence under British Raj) to a Punjabi Chabbra family Amarnath & Prem Lata Chabbra, was one of the three siblings, with brothers Pramod and Rajiv. The family moved to Barielly where she spent her early childhood but after losing her father very early the family moved to Moradabad where she completed her schooling and graduation. She got married to Narsingh Das Tandon, Moradabad based Tandon family before moving with her husband to England in 1968. She was blessed with two children Sunny and Charu. Decided to relocate to Lucknow, India where she wanted her children to be brought up in India with traditional values before she moved back to UK in the 90's for further studies of her children. All her decisions in life where based on the needs of her children and family. She was a brilliant daughter, sister, wife, mother and above all a friend to ALL.
We celebrate her Life with her passion and love for cooking. Cook Book titled -" The Queen of Indian Cooking". Mala had penned down recipes using her 50 years experience of cooking some of the finest traditional Indian that have been compiled as a Cook Book to share with family and friends so we can enjoy and celebrate her.
Family & Friends
Reliving the special moments with her and her journey. Enjoy as we share family photos from her archives.
Photo Album to share with the Family
Mala's Cook Book titled - "The Queen of Indian Cooking"
Mala picked up her skills of cooking at an early age from her mother. Coming from a large joint family each meal was an elaborate event where all the ladies would share responsibilities of cooking the meals for all round the day with each meal being a traditional Punjabi north Indian meal with 3 to 4 courses for lunch to be followed with a elaborate four course evening meal at dinner mostly used as a social event with guest & other extended family members joining in. Most of the socialising happened through food including presenting pickles jars as gifts and cooked food being sent to extended families.
Mala food journey took her from Sialkot to Bareilly and then to Lucknow the city of the Nawabs (Capital of Uttar Pradesh North of India). Lucknow is known for its Mughlai influence in cooking lending her to stay for 15 years in the city. After marriage Mala came to UK and began a new journey of showcasing her North Indian cooking skills with her friends and colleagues through dinner parties & request of cooking classes resulting in her passing on her finger licking traditional recipes.
Mala shares some of the unforgettable finger licking family recipes handed down to her over the years. She started cooking at an early age of 12 under the guidance of her Mother Prem Lata Chabbra, was soon dishing out elaborate traditional fare with aplomb. Her recipes bring 60 years of experience of cooking traditional authentic north Indian cooking.