MY FAVOURITE DISH
Bradford restaurateur Mayur Patel shares a fermented batter recipe, dhokra – his ideal comfort food
Tony Naylor talks to Bradford restaurateur Mayur Patel about his favourite dish, Gujarati dhokra
Mum and dad’s plan for me was definitely get a good education and get out of the food business,’ laughs restaurateur Mayur Patel. ‘But we had to take their legacy to the next level.’
In the early 90s, Kaushy and Mohan Patel opened Bradford’s Prashad ( prashad.co.uk), a deli, later deli-café, which, after appearing on Channel 4’s Ramsay’s Best Restaurant in 2010, was recognised as one of the UK’S best Gujarati vegetarian venues. Demand was such that, in 2012, Mayur’s brother, Bobby, with his wife and chef, Minal, relaunched Prashad as a dedicated restaurant in Drighlington.
Meanwhile, Mayur has been busy as co-owner of Bundobust (bundobust.com), a hip craft beer and Gujarati street-food canteen with sites in Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool. ‘I don’t think dad fully understands it,’ concedes Mayur. ‘For them, developing Prashad towards fine dining was their goal, so it’s, “Why have you got chipboard on the walls?”.’ But, for Mayur, Bundobust’s DIY décor and snacky menu of bhaji butties, okra fries and classics like tarka dhal, channels the spirit of his parents’ side-street deli. ‘It’s going back to bring it forwards.’
‘Mum and dad came to Bradford in 1968. Dad’s a mechanic and had a garage, but he always felt we needed to tap into mum’s skills. She was a local food matriarch, always cooking amazing food for celebrations or Diwali feasts.
‘Eventually the land my dad’s garage was on was sold, so he was like, “This is a great opportunity, let’s go all in Mrs P.” They bought a deli and we moved in above the shop. That’s how Prashad started (the name means ‘blessed food’, usually the food Hindus share at temple). I was about six then, the youngest of three.
‘As a family, we never gathered for dinner because that’s when we were busy. Even now, our family meals are at Prashad. The shop was full-on. I remember dad wired a doorbell through every room upstairs so if customers were waiting he could ring it fiercely, to make sure one of us ran down and served.
‘We did a lot of dried goods like biscuits and Bombay mix, and Indian sweets. As well as that, we had a paan – betel leaf, chewed to aid digestion – counter and a counter for samosas, dhokra, kachori and things to reheat at home. We also did very popular chaat. Essentially, Bundo’s is the same recipe.
Nobody makes samosas regularly – and my mum’s are banging!
‘A lot of the food was labour intensive, things that are special treats in Indian households. For instance, nobody makes samosas regularly – and my mum’s are banging! I don’t know how they made any money. The pricing – 10p a samosa – was hilarious. It was never financially orientated. Mum’s ethos is: the feeling you put into creating food makes people happy.
‘Mum did a lot of recipe building and dad, the bulk cooking, which mum would finesse. Because of his background, dad was good at multiplying on a big scale and building equipment to cook in volume.
‘Personally, I’m not into curry, chapattis and rice. I like Gujarati farsan (savoury snacks) and bits you have around a curry, like my recipe, dhokra (see overleaf). Dhokra is a brunch dish but also eaten as part of a thali, like a starter. It’s served with crunchy sev (chickpea flour noodles) and fried green chillies.’ I also love khandvi, a chickpea flour batter, spread, cooled and rolled like pasta, and gari rotli, chapattis filled with condensed lentil paste, sweetened with jaggery. Because it’s our main crop, Gujaratis lob sugar into everything. Or we’ll serve mango with a spicy main. We love playing with sweet and savoury.’