About Me
My passion for food (and eating!) has been with me for as long as I can remember! I love to eat, sleep, breathe, and think about food all the time and I am eager to share my knowledge and experiences with others.
Food has always been and still is the centre of everything in my family upbringing – we Indians believe that by sharing food and drink with people – we show how much we love and adore them. It’s very cultural as food and drink relates to being happy and enjoying quality time with family, friends and loved ones. The kitchen is the heart of most Indian families and in my home, it is where you will find me or my mother... hence, The Little Indian Kitchen was born.....
Lorna xx
The Little Indian Kitchen was founded in 2009, when Lorna decided to give up her corporate career in Mobile Telecoms and take the plunge into the world of food.
The business started out as a bistro/cookery school in Wimbledon, London and classes were held on a regular basis along with the bistro being opened over the weekends. The business thrived and Lorna's passion for food was further endorsed when Monica Galletti ate there with her family. Only later was Lorna to discover that Monica was actually a judge on Master Chef UK! This lead Lorna to believe that she was definitely on to something and she continued in that venue for a few years.
Following the birth of her first two children, Lorna decided to give up the bistro and moved further out into Surrey. She spent the next year raising her family before a chance encounter with a friend, led her to discover Ripley Farmer's Market and she decided to once again take the plunge with The Little Indian Kitchen appearing at the market on a monthly basis.
The Little Indian Kitchen has now gone on to attend a number of food festivals across the country, including Woking Food Festival, Blenheim Palace Food Festival and Leeds Castle Food Festival. In addition, Lorna continues to offer tailor made cookery classes at people's homes and event catering, and now attends both Ripley and Kew Village Farmers Market monthly. Supper Clubs and Pop–ups are also on the horizon.
In 2017, Lorna and her sisters appeared on BBC's inaugural "The Big Family Cooking Showdown" series which pitched 16 families against each other in a number of food challenges. Lorna and her team, now nicknamed "The Indian Spice Girls" went on to win the series in November 2017 and have subsequently appeared at the BBC Good Food Show Live at the NEC.
"Being a mum of 3 and running a business is not easy. It does entail lots, yes lots!, of juggling around with diaries, school runs, play dates, meetings, cooking, etc. and I do struggle to balance time spent on business and time with family but I do hope I'm setting a positive example for them – they are very proud of their mummy. That said, I wouldn't have it any other way – it's in my blood!"
Lorna has an MBA from Birmingham University, a BA (Hons) in Business Studies from Greenwich University and now lives in Surrey with her husband, three children and their tropical fish.
