Madhur Jaffrey
Encyclopedia
Madhur Jaffrey is an Indian actress and food writer who introduced the Western world to the many cuisines of India
.
, British India
and was educated at Miranda House
(of the University of Delhi
). After college, she worked for All India Radio
. She then attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
, from which she graduated with honors in 1957. She then met and married Indian actor Saeed Jaffrey
and moved to New York City. She and Saeed divorced in 1965. They have three daughters, Meera, Zia and Sakina Jaffrey. In 1969, she married Sanford Allen, a violinist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. She is the aunt of the British journalists Rohit Jaggi and his sister the literary critic Maya Jaggi (their mother Lalit being one of Madhur's older sisters).
and Ismail Merchant
. She appeared in a number of their earlier films: Shakespeare Wallah
(1965) (a role for which she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress
at the 15th Berlin International Film Festival
), The Guru
(1969), Autobiography of a Princess
(1976), Heat and Dust
(1983), directed by Ivory, and The Perfect Murder (1988). She starred as the title character in their film Cotton Mary
(1999) and co-directed it with Merchant.
(1993), Vanya on 42nd Street
(1994) and Prime
(2005). She starred in and produced ABCD (1999) and guest-starred in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
episode "Name" as a psychiatrist, and the Law & Order: Criminal Intent
episode "The Healer" as a lecturer. In 1985, she was in the Hindi film Saagar
where she played the role of Rishi Kapoor
's grandmother. In 1999, she appeared with daughter Sakina Jaffrey in the film Chutney Popcorn
. In 2003, she played Roshan Seth
's wife in Cosmopolitan
, a film broadcast on PBS.
. In 1969, she appeared in The Guide, based on the novel
by R. K. Narayan
, and in 1970, she appeared in Conduct Unbecoming
, written by Barry England
. In 1993, she appeared in Two Rooms by Lee Blessing
.
In 1999, she appeared in Last Dance at Dum Dum by Ayub Khan-Din
. In 2004, Jaffrey appeared in Bombay Dreams
on Broadway where she played the main character's grandmother (Shanti). In 2005, she appeared in India Awakening by Anne Marie Cummings.
, Asian
, and world vegetarian cuisines, many of which have become bestsellers and several of which have won James Beard Foundation
awards. She has presented several cookery series on television, including Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery in 1982, Madhur Jaffrey's Far Eastern Cookery in 1989 and Madhur Jaffrey's Flavours of India in 1995. She lives in Manhattan and has a home in upstate New York. As a result of the success of her cookbooks and TV, Jaffrey also developed a line of mass-marketed cooking sauces.
Ironically, she did not cook at all as a child growing up in Delhi. She had almost never been in the kitchen and almost failed cooking at school. It was only after she went to London at the age of 19 to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art that she learned how to cook, using recipes of familiar dishes that were provided in correspondence from her mother. In the 1960s, after her award-winning performance in Shakespeare Wallah, she became known as the "actress who could cook" and was hired by the BBC to present a show on Indian cooking. After an article about her and her cooking appeared in the New York Times in 1966, she received a book contract that produced An Invitation to Indian Cooking, her first book. The recipes in that book came from her mother, although she adapted them for the American kitchen. During the 1970s, she taught classes in Indian cooking, both at the James A. Beard School of Cooking and in her Manhattan apartment. In 1986, the restaurant Dawat opened in Manhattan using recipes provided by her.
Indian cuisine
Indian cuisine consists of thousands of regional cuisines which date back thousands of years. The dishes of India are characterised by the extensive use of various Indian spices, herbs, vegetables and fruit. Indian cuisine is also known for the widespread practice of vegetarianism in Indian society...
.
Personal life
She was born Madhur Bahadur in DelhiDelhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, British India
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
and was educated at Miranda House
Miranda House
Miranda House , is a highly renowned and distinguished constituent college for women at the University of Delhi in India. It is widely regarded as a Premier Women's Institution of Delhi University offering degrees in the Sciences and Liberal Arts . Miranda House has demonstrated academic...
(of the University of Delhi
University of Delhi
The University of Delhi is a central university situated in Delhi, India and is funded by Government of India. Established in 1922, it offers courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate level. Vice-President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari is the Chancellor of the university...
). After college, she worked for All India Radio
All India Radio
All India Radio , officially known since 1956 as Akashvani , is the radio broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati. Established in 1936, it is the sister service of Prasar Bharati's Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster. All India Radio is one of the largest radio networks...
. She then attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
, from which she graduated with honors in 1957. She then met and married Indian actor Saeed Jaffrey
Saeed Jaffrey
Saeed Jaffrey OBE is an Indian-born British actor, who has done numerous British movies. He was born in Malerkotla, Punjab...
and moved to New York City. She and Saeed divorced in 1965. They have three daughters, Meera, Zia and Sakina Jaffrey. In 1969, she married Sanford Allen, a violinist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. She is the aunt of the British journalists Rohit Jaggi and his sister the literary critic Maya Jaggi (their mother Lalit being one of Madhur's older sisters).
Merchant Ivory films
Madhur Jaffrey is said to have been responsible for introducing James IvoryJames Ivory (director)
James Francis Ivory is an American film director, best known for the results of his long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, which included both Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala...
and Ismail Merchant
Ismail Merchant
Ismail Merchant was an Indian-born film producer, best known for the results of his famously long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions which included director James Ivory as well as screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala...
. She appeared in a number of their earlier films: Shakespeare Wallah
Shakespeare Wallah
Shakespeare Wallah is a 1965 Merchant Ivory Productions film. The story and screenplay are by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Madhur Jaffrey won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 15th Berlin International Film Festival for her performance...
(1965) (a role for which she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress
Silver Bear for Best Actress
The Silver Bear for Best Actress is the Berlin International Film Festival's award for achievement in performance by an actress.-Awards:- External links :*...
at the 15th Berlin International Film Festival
15th Berlin International Film Festival
The 15th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 25 to July 6, 1965.-Jury:* John Gillett * Alexander Kluge* Ely Azeredo* Monique Berger* Kyushiro Kusakabe* Jerry Bresler* Karena Niehoff* Hans Jürgen Pohland...
), The Guru
The Guru (1969 film)
The Guru is a film by Merchant Ivory Productions, with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and James Ivory.-Plot synopsis:A rock star, Tom Pickle , travels to India to learn to play the sitar with the great musician Ustad Zafar Khan...
(1969), Autobiography of a Princess
Autobiography of a Princess
Autobiography of a Princess is a film by Merchant Ivory Productions , starring James Mason and Madhur Jaffrey.-Plot:...
(1976), Heat and Dust
Heat and Dust (film)
Heat and Dust is a 1983 romantic drama film with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala based upon her novel, Heat and Dust. It was directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant...
(1983), directed by Ivory, and The Perfect Murder (1988). She starred as the title character in their film Cotton Mary
Cotton Mary
Cotton Mary is a 1999 film directed by Ismail Merchant, best known as the producer half of Merchant Ivory and Madhur Jaffrey, actress and author of cookery books. It was filmed in India.-Plot:...
(1999) and co-directed it with Merchant.
Other films and TV
She has appeared in Six Degrees of SeparationSix Degrees of Separation (film)
Six Degrees of Separation is a 1990 play written by John Guare that premiered at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Lincoln Center on May 16, 1990, directed by Jerry Zaks and starring Stockard Channing...
(1993), Vanya on 42nd Street
Vanya on 42nd Street
Vanya on 42nd Street is a 1994 film by Louis Malle and Andre Gregory. The film is an intimate, interpretive performance of the play Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov based on the English translation by David Mamet...
(1994) and Prime
Prime (film)
Prime is a 2005 American romantic comedy film starring Uma Thurman, Meryl Streep and Bryan Greenberg. It was written and directed by Ben Younger...
(2005). She starred in and produced ABCD (1999) and guest-starred in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
episode "Name" as a psychiatrist, and the Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
episode "The Healer" as a lecturer. In 1985, she was in the Hindi film Saagar
Saagar
Saagar is a 1985 Bollywood film directed by Ramesh Sippy. The film stars Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia along with Kamal Hassan.Saagar was a comeback film for Kapadia, and contained a fleeting topless shot of her...
where she played the role of Rishi Kapoor
Rishi Kapoor
Rishi Kapoor is an Indian Bollywood actor, film producer and director.-Early life:Born in Chembur Mumbai, Kapoor is the second son of film director and star Raj Kapoor. He did his schooling with his brothers at Campion School,Mumbai. His brothers are well-known actors: Randhir Kapoor and Rajiv...
's grandmother. In 1999, she appeared with daughter Sakina Jaffrey in the film Chutney Popcorn
Chutney Popcorn
Chutney Popcorn is a 1999 comedy-drama film starring, directed and co-written by Nisha Ganatra. Ganatra plays a young lesbian Indian American woman called Reena. Jill Hennessy plays her girlfriend Lisa and Reena's mother and sister are played by real life mother and daughter Madhur Jaffrey and...
. In 2003, she played Roshan Seth
Roshan Seth
Roshan Seth is an Indian-born British actor, who appears mainly in British and American films. He is known for his critically acclaimed performances in the films Gandhi, Mississippi Masala, Not Without My Daughter, My Beautiful Laundrette, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Such a Long...
's wife in Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (film)
Cosmopolitan is a 2003 American independent film starring Roshan Seth and Carol Kane, and directed by Nisha Ganatra. The film, based on an acclaimed short story by Akhil Sharma and written by screenwriter Sabrina Dhawan , is a cross-cultural romance between a confused and lonely middle-aged East...
, a film broadcast on PBS.
Theatre
In 1962, she appeared in A Tenth of an Inch Makes the Difference by Rolf ForsbergRolf Forsberg
Rolf Forsberg is a Swedish-American playwright, film and theater director known for directing such films as The Late Great Planet Earth and Parable a film produced for the 1964 New York World's Fair. Parable portrayed humanity as a traveling circus and Jesus Christ as a circus clown...
. In 1969, she appeared in The Guide, based on the novel
The Guide
The Guide is a 1958 novel written in English by the Indian author R. K. Narayan. Like most of his works the novel is based in Malgudi, the fictional town in South India...
by R. K. Narayan
R. K. Narayan
R. K. Narayan , shortened from Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami Tamil: ) , Madras Presidency, British India. His father was a school headmaster, and Narayan did some of his studies at his father's school...
, and in 1970, she appeared in Conduct Unbecoming
Conduct Unbecoming (play)
Conduct Unbecoming is a play by Barry England. The plot concerns a scandal in a British regiment stationed in India in the 1880s. The widow of a heroic officer is assaulted by an unrevealed comrade in arms and an investigation takes place to determine his identity.It was first staged in May 1969 at...
, written by Barry England
Barry England
Barry England was an English novelist and playwright. He is chiefly known for his 1969 thriller Figures in a Landscape, which was nominated for the inaugural Booker Prize.-Life and work:...
. In 1993, she appeared in Two Rooms by Lee Blessing
Lee Blessing
-Biography:Blessing's best-known play is A Walk in the Woods, which depicts the developing relationship between two arms limitation negotiators, one Russian and one American, over years of negotiation...
.
In 1999, she appeared in Last Dance at Dum Dum by Ayub Khan-Din
Ayub Khan-Din
Ayub Khan-Din is a British Pakistani actor and playwright.As an actor, Khan-Din participated in some 20 British films and TV series in the late 1980s and the 1990s...
. In 2004, Jaffrey appeared in Bombay Dreams
Bombay Dreams
Bombay Dreams is a Bollywood-themed musical, with music by A. R. Rahman, lyrics by Don Black and the book by Meera Syal and Thomas Meehan,and produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The London production opened in 2002 and ran for two years...
on Broadway where she played the main character's grandmother (Shanti). In 2005, she appeared in India Awakening by Anne Marie Cummings.
Cooking
Jaffrey is the noted author of cookbooks of IndianIndian cuisine
Indian cuisine consists of thousands of regional cuisines which date back thousands of years. The dishes of India are characterised by the extensive use of various Indian spices, herbs, vegetables and fruit. Indian cuisine is also known for the widespread practice of vegetarianism in Indian society...
, Asian
Asian cuisine
Asian cuisine styles can be broken down into several tiny regional styles that have roots in the peoples and cultures of those regions. The major types can be roughly defined as East Asian with its origins in Imperial China and now encompassing modern Japan and the Korean peninsula; Southeast Asian...
, and world vegetarian cuisines, many of which have become bestsellers and several of which have won James Beard Foundation
James Beard Foundation Award
The James Beard Foundation Awards were established in 1990 and are often called "The Oscars of Food." Held on the first weekend in May, the Awards honor the finest chefs, restaurants, wine professionals, journalists, cookbook authors, restaurant designers, and other food professionals in the...
awards. She has presented several cookery series on television, including Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery in 1982, Madhur Jaffrey's Far Eastern Cookery in 1989 and Madhur Jaffrey's Flavours of India in 1995. She lives in Manhattan and has a home in upstate New York. As a result of the success of her cookbooks and TV, Jaffrey also developed a line of mass-marketed cooking sauces.
Ironically, she did not cook at all as a child growing up in Delhi. She had almost never been in the kitchen and almost failed cooking at school. It was only after she went to London at the age of 19 to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art that she learned how to cook, using recipes of familiar dishes that were provided in correspondence from her mother. In the 1960s, after her award-winning performance in Shakespeare Wallah, she became known as the "actress who could cook" and was hired by the BBC to present a show on Indian cooking. After an article about her and her cooking appeared in the New York Times in 1966, she received a book contract that produced An Invitation to Indian Cooking, her first book. The recipes in that book came from her mother, although she adapted them for the American kitchen. During the 1970s, she taught classes in Indian cooking, both at the James A. Beard School of Cooking and in her Manhattan apartment. In 1986, the restaurant Dawat opened in Manhattan using recipes provided by her.
Awards
- Best Actress AwardSilver Bear for Best ActressThe Silver Bear for Best Actress is the Berlin International Film Festival's award for achievement in performance by an actress.-Awards:- External links :*...
from the Berlin Film Festival in 1965 for her performance in Shakespeare Wallah - Taraknath Das Foundation Award presented by the Taraknath Das Foundation of the Southern Asian Institute of Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1993 - Named to Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America by the James Beard Foundation in 1995.
- Muse Award presented by New York Women in Film & Television in 2000.
- Honorary CBECBECBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
awarded on 11 October 2004 "in recognition of her services to cultural relations between the United Kingdom, India and the United States, through her achievements in film, television and cookery".
Cookery Books
- An Invitation to Indian Cooking (1973) (James Beard Foundation Awards Cookbook Hall of Fame winner) — ISBN 978-0224011525
- Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking (1981) (James Beard Foundation Awards winner) — ISBN 978-0394402710
- Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking (1973) — ISBN 978-0812065480
- Eastern Vegetarian Cooking (1983) — ISBN 978-0099777205
- A Taste of India (1988) — ISBN 978-1862050983
- Madhur Jaffrey's Cookbook: Easy East/West Menus for Family and Friends (1989) — ISBN 978-0330306355
- Indian Cooking (1989) — ISBN 978-0600563631
- A Taste of the Far East (1993) (James Beard Foundation Awards Cookbook of the Year winner) — ISBN 978-0517595480
- Madhur Jaffrey's Spice Kitchen (1993) — ISBN 978-0517596982
- Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Recipes (1994) — ISBN 978-1857933970
- Entertaining With Madhur Jaffrey (1994) — ISBN 978-1857933697
- Madhur Jaffrey's Flavors Of India: Classics and New Discoveries (1995) — ISBN 978-0517700129
- Cookbook Food for Family and Friends (1995) — ISBN 978-1858131542
- Madhur Jaffrey's Quick & Easy Indian Cooking (1996) — ISBN 978-0811859011
- The Madhur Jaffrey Cookbook: Over 650 Indian, Vegetarian and Eastern Recipes (1996) — ISBN 978-1855012684
- Madhur Jaffrey's Illustrated Indian Cookery (1996) — ISBN 978-0563383031
- Madhur Jaffrey Cooks Curries (1996) — ISBN 978-0563387947
- Madhur Jaffrey's Complete Vegetarian Cookbook (1998) — ISBN 978-0091863647
- Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian (1999) (James Beard Foundation Awards winner) — ISBN 978-0517596326
- The Essential Madhur Jaffrey (1999) — ISBN 978-0091871741
- Madhur Jaffrey's Step-by-Step Cooking (2001) (James Beard Foundation Awards winner) — ISBN 978-0066214023
- Foolproof Indian Cooking: Step by Step to Everyone's Favorite Indian Recipes (2002) — ISBN 978-1553662587
- Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking (2003) — ISBN 978-0091884086
- From Curries to Kebabs: Recipes from the Indian Spice Trail (2003) (James Beard Foundation Awards winner) — ISBN 978-0609607046
- Madhur Jaffrey's Ultimate Curry Bible (2003) — ISBN 978-0091874155
- Simple Indian Cookery (2005) — ISBN 978-0563521839
- At Home with Madhur Jaffrey: Simple Delectable Dishes from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka (2010) — ISBN 978-0307268242
- Curry Easy (2010) — ISBN 978-0091923143
- My Kitchen Table: 100 Essential Curries (2011) — ISBN 978-0091940522
Other Books
- Seasons of Splendour: Tales, Myths, and Legends of India (1995) — ISBN 978-0689311413
- Market Days: From Market to Market Around the World (1995) — ISBN 978-0816735044
- Robi Dobi: The Marvelous Adventures of an Indian Elephant (1997) — ISBN 978-0803721937
- Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India (2006) — ISBN 978-1400042951
External links
- Madhur Jaffrey's website
- Madhur Jaffrey on the My Kitchen Table website
- Madhur Jaffrey at the Museum of Broadcast CommunicationsMuseum of Broadcast CommunicationsThe Museum of Broadcast Communications is an American museum that currently exists exclusively on the Internet and not in any physical capacity. Its stated mission is "to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform and entertain...
- Meet Chef Madhur Jaffrey at AhitoZiti.com
- James Beard Foundation Awards
- gremolata.com, 'Madhur Jaffrey Interview', February 2007.