Prior to lockdown, Ajay Sabharwal, 47, took his converted horsebox all across the UK to serve Indian food at events and festivals. When the pandemic hit, however, he lost most of his catering business, Banjaraa, and needed to find a way to keep his business going.

Luckily, he's found a new - and exciting - mission: helping busy households make Indian-inspired dishes.

Speaking about setting up the new branch of his business, Ajay said: "When my outdoor catering business became unviable due to Covid restrictions, I was in survival mode and launched a crowdfunding campaign – offering prepaid gift vouchers in addition to other rewards to people who backed me. One of these rewards was a two-hour online cookery lesson. The response was amazing, with many people wanting to learn how to make authentic Indian curry base masala and more."

This spurred Ajay into pivoting his business in a new - and exciting - direction, helping Banjaraa stay afloat and opening up a whole new online teaching world. His two-hour Zoom cookery lessons are for both beginner and experimental home cooks who want to know how to make a base curry masala, but he also covers how to repurpose the food they make and how to make bold food 'free from' common allergens.

Expansion is already on Ajay's mind, and he's looking into other formats to better run one-to-one and group Zoom lessons, as well as launching a website with pre-recorded cooking lessons.

"I never knew I had this talent, which I would enjoy so much!" he said.

For more information on cooking lessons, please contact Ajay on info@banjaraa.co.uk or visit the Banjaraa website.