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Tarla Dalal Biography

Mrs. Tarla Dalal, known as the best-selling cookbook author and host of cooking shows like ‘Cook it up with Tarla Dalal’ was born in the year 1936. She was born and brought up in Pune, India. In 1960 she got married to Naveen Dalal, and shifted to Mumbai. In 1966, she began cookery classes from her home.

Her classes became a huge success, and the number of students who wanted to join her classes saw a tremendous increase. Her classes became so popular that at a point of time, people started saying, ‘If you want to get your daughter married, send her to Mrs. Dalal’s classes’. This is because her students gained guaranteed excellence in cookery. An article published in ‘The Khaleej times’, Dubai, mentions that Mrs. Dalal has ‘streamlined the eating habits in India’.

Tarla Dalal’s first cookbook ‘ The Pleasures of Vegetarian Cooking’ was published in 1974. Since then she has written around 200 books and has become one of the top 5 best-selling cookery authors in the world. Her 170 cookbooks have been translated into several regional languages such as Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, and Hindi, and even into foreign languages such as Dutch and Russian. Tarla Dalal can be called the original creator of the Indian cookbook industry. The sale of her cookery books exceeds 5 million copies.

Later on, Tarla Dalal conducted cookery shows around the world. Dalal’s inventive mind led to the creation of ready-to-cook mixes which she sold under the brand name Tarla Dalal Foods (TDF). This was later taken over by Corn Products Co. (India) Ltd., a subsidiary of US-based Bestfoods Ltd. in 1998.

The Indian Merchants’ Chamber honored her with ‘Woman of the Year’ Award for her proprietorship skills and revolutionizing the cooking industry in 2005. In 2007, on receiving the Padma Shri Award for her contribution in the field of cooking, Tarla Dalal became the first cookbook author to have received the honour.

In last few years, Dalal centered her cooking on healthy recipes and published books such as Zero Oil Soups, Cooking with 1 Teaspoon of Oil, Low Calorie Sweets, Salads and Snacks. She also launched booksfor kids. Her recent addition to the kids section is yet to arrive. It comprises of Golgappu makes a Cake, Golgappu makes Vitamin Bhel, and Golgappu makes Fruit Salad. This series has a step-by-step guide for kids to help them make their favorite dishes in a funky way.

To reach her millions of fans, she came up with a bi-monthly magazine called ‘Cooking & More’. She also created the best Indian food website. Her website currently is listed amongst top 10 cookery sites of the world.

Her husband died in 2005 and she left for her heavenly abode on 6th November, 2013, at the age of 77, following a cardiac arrest. She died at her apartment on Napean Sea Road in South Mumbai. She is survived by three children. Numerous fans of her cookbooks are sure to remember her every time they prepare one of her signature recipes.

 


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