Cooking brings us closer together

Our Gujarati cuisine brings us so much joy

BBC GOOD FOOD

Dr Chintal Patel is a GP in London and lives with her husband and two sons. The foursome are exceptionally close with both sets of the children’s grandparents. Before the lockdown, they each helped with childcare after school and spent lots of time With Chintal and her little family.

But like so many families, they kept their distance during the lockdowns to keep their precious grandparents safe.

One unexpected bonus of these difficult times was how the family’s love of their Gujarati cuisine, old recipes and food bound them together.

From grandma’s freshly cooked rotis topped with butter and sugar, and wolfed down by the boys in the garden, to weekly food shops and delicious Gujarati food swaps between the the family, read on to see how this special and close-knit family cooked together - even miles apart - and kept their bond growing during the pandemic.

I spoke with Chintal, who also runs the beautiful healthy cooking blog Dr Chintal’s Kitchen, for this special four part series in BBC Good Food. Chintal’s family Jalebi recipe is so simple and SO good. Give it a go here.