our story

Our Story – Pure Punjabi Cookery School

A Culinary Heritage Passed Down Through Generations

We are Surinder and Safia — a mother-and-daughter team recently relocated from Wilthsire to Somerset, and the founders of Pure Punjabi. What began as a home-based project to preserve our family’s North Indian culinary heritage has grown into an award-winning Indian cookery school rooted in culture, connection, and authenticity.

At the heart of our story is the food of Punjab — the stories behind it, the techniques passed down through generations, and the tradition of teaching by doing, just as we were taught in our family kitchen.

The Real Beginning: From Kitchen Table to Cookery School

It started, quite simply, with our pop-up restaurant and spice jar customers asking us if we could teach them how to cook. Sharing & eating our food with friends at our pop up restaurant evenings sparked a deep interest in the real Punjabi cuisine — not restaurant-style dishes, but the kind cooked in Indian homes every day.

As word spread, what started as gift hampers and spice jars & marinades soon evolved into a cookery school that would focus on authentic, traditional mother-to-daughter  instruction — where students don’t just learn recipes, but understand the ingredients, the rituals, and the cultural meaning behind the food.

 

A Mother & Daughter Mission

Surinder, who was started to learn to cook from just seven years old by being kept at her mother's side, brings a lifetime of experience and intuitive skill.
Safia, who trained and learned working in her mother's businesses and also grew up immersed in Punjabi food culture, brings vision, energy, and a gift for teaching. Similarly, from an early age, she and her older brother were taught the basics, progressivley learning to make a 'full Punjabi dinner by thier early teens.

Together, we’ve taught thousands of people how to cook real Indian food — from complete beginners to the experienced cooks, and across all lifetsyles and ages. 

 

Preserving Food Culture in a Modern World

Our mission is simple but urgent:
To preserve the knowledge and soul of Punjabi food — the kind that doesn’t get written down in books.

We believe that cooking is a cultural act, and our workshops give people the skills and confidence to bring traditional Indian food to life at home, just as it’s meant to be made — without shortcuts, additives, or imitations.

 

Trusted by Thousands

  • 🏆 Listed in Olive Magazine’s Top 8 Indian Cookery Courses in the UK

  • 🎓 Regularly booked out in Somerset, with students returning year after year

  • 🧾 Featured in the regional and national publications & food magazines

  • 💬 Hundreds of five-star reviews from happy home cooks

Join the Story

We invite you to be part of our journey — to step into our kitchen, learn with your hands and by using your senses, laugh with new friends, and cook food that carries stories with every spice.

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Explore Our Workshops

Meet the Founders