Guild member Mridula Baljekar has shared with us, what she has been up to recently: ‘I started developing recipes for ready meals during lockdown as I was trying to find ways of sharing my recipes since my cookery classes had to stop. I also needed to earn a living! I used my past experience as an Indian chilled ready meals consultant for Tesco; commercial cooking process has to follow stringent regulations and having already done this I came up with four ready meals. Fellow Guild member Lorna Rhodes sorted out the nutritional analyses and I found a good graphic designer who designed the labels quite economically. I was fortunate enough to be listed at Tastes Eton, an upmarket fine food store near Eton College. The college is also the main customers of the artisan products sold by this store. I am delighted with the feedback so far and am supplying freshly cooked ready meals once a week. In my range I have a classic chicken korma, Goan chicken cafreal, tarka channa daal and spinach and chickpea masala. The vegetarian meals are also suitable for vegans. No artificial colours, flavours or preservatives are used and each cooking stage is closely monitored by me.

‘I have always found cooking very therapeutic and this little project is keeping me happily busy. I am now talking to the Royal Farm Shop in Old Windsor and will be having a tasting session with them shortly.’

mridula.co.uk