Madhur Jaffrey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Madhur Jaffrey
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Jaffrey at a cookbook event in Vancouver in October 2010
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Madhur Bahadur
13 August 1933 Civil Lines, Delhi, British India (present-day India)
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| Awards | See below |
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| Culinary career | |
| Cooking style | Indian and South Asian |
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Current restaurant(s)
Dawat, New York City (1986 to present)
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Television show(s)
Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery (1982), Far Eastern Cookery (1989), Listening To Volcanoes (1990), From Manna to Microwave (1990), Madhur Jaffrey’s Flavours of India (1995), Friends for Dinner (2001), Ready, Steady Cook (2001), Cooking Live (2001)
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Award(s) won
James Beard Foundation Award
Guild of Food Writers Award |
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Madhur Jaffrey, born on August 13, 1933, is a famous actress, writer, and TV personality. She is known for introducing Indian cuisine to many people in the Western world. Her first cookbook, An Invitation to Indian Cooking (1973), was so popular that it was added to the James Beard Foundation's Cookbook Hall of Fame in 2006.
She has written many cookbooks and appeared on several cooking shows. Her most famous show was Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery, which first aired in the UK in 1982. She also helped create the menu for Dawat, a highly-rated Indian restaurant in New York City.
Besides cooking, Madhur Jaffrey is also a talented actress. She helped connect filmmakers James Ivory and Ismail Merchant. She acted in many of their movies, including Shakespeare Wallah (1965). For this role, she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress award at the 15th Berlin International Film Festival. She has also performed in plays and on radio and TV.
In 2004, she received an honorary CBE award. This was for her work in connecting the cultures of the UK, India, and the US through her acting and cooking. In 2022, the Government of India gave her the Padma Bhushan, which is a very high civilian award. Her childhood story, Climbing the Mango Trees, was published in 2006.
Contents
Growing Up in India
Madhur Jaffrey was born in Civil Lines, Delhi, India. She was the fifth of six children in a large Hindu family. Her grandfather built a big family home near the Yamuna river, surrounded by fruit trees.
When Madhur was about two years old, her family moved to Kanpur. Her father worked at a factory there. Madhur went to St. Mary's Convent School. At age five, she acted as the brown mouse in a play called Pied Piper of Hamelin. Her family lived in Kanpur for eight years.
School Days in Delhi
In 1944, her family moved back to Delhi. Madhur attended Queen Mary's Higher Secondary School. Her history teacher encouraged her to act in school plays. She played Titania in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. She also played the main role in Robin Hood and His Merry Men.
Madhur supported Mahatma Gandhi's fight for India's freedom from British rule. She spent time each day spinning khadi (a type of cloth).
India's Independence
In 1947, Madhur saw the partition of India happen. Her classmates were divided on whether India should be split. On August 15, she watched the transfer of power at India Gate. She saw Jawaharlal Nehru and Lord Mountbatten in a horse carriage.
After this, there were riots and killings in Delhi. Her family guarded their home with guns. All her Muslim classmates left school. In 1948, she attended one of Mahatma Gandhi's prayer meetings. She heard about his assassination on the radio. She also saw his funeral procession.
Food and Early Work
At home, servants usually cooked for Madhur's family. They sometimes bought special foods from Old Delhi, like seekh kebab and rumali roti. After India's partition, new Punjabi foods became popular in Delhi. Moti Mahal restaurant introduced tandoori chicken and later invented butter chicken. Madhur liked these new, simple dishes.
In school, cooking classes taught her to make bland British foods. She thought she failed cooking class. Madhur and her cousins often worked at the All India Radio station. They acted in radio plays and children's shows. This was her first paid job.
College and Early Acting Career
From 1950 to 1953, Madhur attended Miranda House, a college for women in Delhi. She earned a degree in English. She acted in college plays like Hamlet.
In 1951, she joined the Unity Theatre, an English acting group. She acted with Saeed Jaffrey, who later became her husband. They performed in plays like The Eagle Has Two Heads. After college, Madhur worked as a disc jockey at All India Radio. She and Saeed fell in love.
During this time, Madhur also met Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, a British writer. Madhur acted in her radio plays. Ruth's first novel, To Whom She Will, was based on Madhur and Saeed's love story.
In 1955, Madhur decided to become a professional actress. She won a grant from the British government to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London.
Life in London and New York
Madhur arrived in London in December 1955. She studied at RADA with famous actresses like Diana Rigg. She also got small acting jobs on BBC radio and TV.
She found British food unappetizing. She wrote to her mother in India, asking for recipes from her childhood. Her mother sent recipes written in Hindi. Madhur learned to cook dishes like jeera aloo (potatoes with cumin).
In 1957, Madhur graduated from RADA. She then moved to America to join Saeed Jaffrey. They married in Washington, D.C., in 1958. They then moved to New York City. Madhur worked as a tour guide at the United Nations. Between 1959 and 1963, they had three daughters: Meera, Zia, and Sakina.
Meeting Merchant and Ivory
In 1958, Ismail Merchant, a filmmaker from India, met Saeed Jaffrey. Merchant wanted to make movies. Saeed introduced him to Madhur. Later, James Ivory, another filmmaker, met Saeed. The Jaffreys encouraged Merchant and Ivory to meet. This led to their famous partnership, Merchant Ivory Productions.
Madhur and Saeed often hosted dinners for their friends. Madhur learned to cook many Indian dishes, like biryani. In 1962, Madhur and Saeed acted in an Off-Broadway play. Their acting was praised by The New York Times.
By 1965, Madhur and Saeed's marriage ended. Madhur's children went to live with her family in Delhi. Madhur went to Mexico for her divorce. The divorce was final in 1966.
After filming Shakespeare Wallah, Madhur won an award at the Berlin Film Festival. She then returned to New York City. She reconnected with Sanford Allen, a violinist she had met earlier. They began a serious relationship.
In 1966, Ismail Merchant helped Madhur get an article in The New York Times. It featured her as an actress who could also cook. She cooked dishes like stuffed green peppers and koftas for the food critic.
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Koftas in sour cream
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Cucumber raita with mint
In 1969, Madhur married Sanford Allen. He was a violinist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. To support her children, she became a freelance writer for food and travel magazines.
Acting Career Highlights
Madhur Jaffrey played a key role in bringing James Ivory and Ismail Merchant together. Their films often featured Indian themes.
Merchant Ivory Films
Merchant and Ivory made Shakespeare Wallah (1965). This film was inspired by a real-life traveling theater company in India. Madhur played a movie star in the film. Her performance was highly praised.
She acted in many other Merchant Ivory films. These include The Guru (1969), Autobiography of a Princess (1976), and Heat and Dust (1983). She also starred in and co-directed Cotton Mary (1999) with Merchant.
Other Films and TV Shows
Madhur Jaffrey has appeared in many other movies. These include Six Degrees of Separation (1993) and Prime (2005). She also appeared in TV shows like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Psych. In 1985, she was in the Hindi film Saagar. She played a grandmother in the 2009 film Today's Special. In 2019, she appeared in the TV series Doom Patrol.
Stage Performances
Madhur has also performed in many plays. In 1962, she was in A Tenth of an Inch Makes the Difference. She also appeared in The Guide (1969) and Conduct Unbecoming (1970). In 2004, she was in the Broadway musical Bombay Dreams. In 2019, she starred in a rap music video called Nani.
Cooking and Writing
Madhur Jaffrey is a well-known author of cookbooks. Her books focus on Indian, Asian, and vegetarian dishes. Many of her books have become best-sellers. She has also hosted cooking shows like Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery (1982) and Madhur Jaffrey's Flavours of India (1995).
It's interesting that Madhur didn't cook much as a child. She almost failed cooking class in school. She only learned to cook when she moved to London at age 19. She used recipes her mother sent her. Her editor said Madhur was a great cookbook writer because she learned to cook familiar foods as an adult, following written instructions.
After the article about her cooking appeared in The New York Times in 1966, she got a book deal. She gathered all the recipes she learned from her mother. In 1973, her first cookbook, An Invitation to Indian Cooking, was published. She also taught Indian cooking classes. In 1986, the Dawat restaurant opened in Manhattan, using her recipes.
Awards and Recognition
Madhur Jaffrey has received many awards for her work:
- Best Actress from the Berlin International Film Festival in 1965 for Shakespeare Wallah.
- Taraknath Das Foundation Award in 1993.
- James Beard Foundation Awards: Her cookbooks have won 6 awards. She was named "Who's Who" in 1995 and received the "Lifetime Achievement Award" in 2023.
- Muse Award from New York Women in Film & Television in 2000.
- Honorary CBE in 2004 for her cultural contributions.
- Nominated for a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for Saagar in 1985.
- Padma Bhushan from the Government of India in 2022.
Her Family
Madhur Jaffrey has three daughters with her first husband, Saeed Jaffrey: Zia, Meera, and Sakina.
- Zia Jaffrey is a professor and writer. She has written for newspapers like The New York Times. She wrote a book called The Invisibles: A Tale of Eunuchs of India (1996).
- Meera Jaffrey studied Chinese culture. She teaches music in New Jersey. She made a documentary film about China called Fine Rain: Politics and Folk Songs in China.
- Sakina Jaffrey is an actress. She is known for her role as Linda Vasquez in the TV series House of Cards. She also studied Chinese culture.
Madhur Jaffrey is also the aunt of British journalist Rohit Jaggi and literary critic Maya Jaggi. She is a cousin to the late statistician Raghu Raj Bahadur and writer Sheila Dhar.
