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Article reproduced with permission from Venue Magazine
The sensational flavours of western India are now available to hungry Bristolians, thanks to Nick and Jay Jethwa, a couple with a passion for delicious homecooked food. Tiffins, which opened in November 2003, has already built up an army of admirers, flocking to sample authentic Gujarati food at prices that belie its quality. Gujarati cuisine uses much less oil (all dishes are cooked in sunflower oil only) and more nutritional and healthpromoting spices than other Indian food. Ghee (Indian butter), artificial flavourings and colourings are strictly banned! An ever-changing vegetarian menu features at least seven vegetarian/vegan dishes, including milder options, and carnivores are spoilt for choice too.
Khichadi and Kadhi dishes are famous throughout India for their ‘ayurvedic’ (health-promoting) qualities. From ondhawa to spicy kheema (minced lamb) and chicken, this isn’t your average Indian takeaway fare. All dishes are freshly prepared daily, and displayed in front of you to choose from. ‘Tiffin’ means a traditional food-carrying container, though the British in India adopted the word as slang for ‘teatime’. You can take home all Jay and Nick’s creations - heat them up later or tuck in immediately. They’ve cooked for the Indian cricket team and guests at Buckingham Palace (not to mention a cookery session with Bristol’s Red Watch firefighters). Regular customers will bear witness to the excellence of the food and unbelievably low prices.
Article reproduced with permission from Folio Magazine
The best bringing-togethers are often the most unlikely ones. Nick and Jayshree Jethwa are the husband and- wife team behind Tiffins, a terrific Indian takeaway specialising in Gujarati cuisine on Bristol’s St Michaels Hill. In July, a fire at the premises next door was attended to by three engines from Red Watch at the city’s Temple Back Fire Station. Neil Stradling was one of those in attendance, and after his work was over, he popped in to find out where the delicious aroma was coming from.
Neil prides himself on the food that he cooks, and noticing that Jayshree offers cookery lessons, he wondered whether she could teach him to cook the Tiffins way. "Why don’t we do a meal for the shift?" he asked. So a wonderful friendship was born. And as the idea grew, some of the couple’s suppliers came on board. Bristol Sweet Mart donated (among other ingredients) numerous spices, poppadoms and naan breads, while Best Halal Butchers provided chicken fillets.
Nick, Jayshree, photographer Julian Monaghan and I make our way to Brigade HQ one September Sunday. Matters are made slightly difficult by Neil’s absence. His wife Rebecca is due to give birth, and the non-arrival of junior means that Neil will himself be missing. But thankfully, the lack of a go-between proves no major obstacle, as within minutes of Red Watch ‘clocking-on’ (they’re here from 5pm on Sunday to 8am the following day) a firefighter assures Jayshree that she’ll have ample help. As chaps drift in, each volunteers a hand, and Jayshree is expert at allocating a tool and a job, and putting a willing chef to work.
Unfortunately there’s no second potato peeler, so I can’t join her in spud-bashing. Tonight’s menu features chicken curry, potato curry, dhal, poppadoms and mint yoghurt, naans and rice. Cooking the food is easy; the overriding concern is about the possibility of a call depriving Jayshree and Nick’s food of devotees. A prayer was offered up in the morning - the couple are Hindus - and fate is left in the lap of the gods.
The following hours give everyone a chance to get to know each other. Greg Fish has 25 years’ service - he’s one of the most experienced firefighters on the watch. Conversely, James Gradyis one of the shift’s most recent additions, andmakes an excellent job of adding mint sauce to yoghurt. I also meet Sue Batten, who was the first full-time female firefighter in Britain, and is the watch’s only female member. Sue is self-effacing when I ask her about the royal circumstances in which her service was recognised. "It was at a Women Achievers Day in March. They wanted to represent diversity in achievement, and had women from areas like the forces. I met the queen, and she asked me what I did."
By 7.30pm the food is ready, but as has been the case for most of proceedings, only a fraction of the watch is present. We’re reluctant therefore, to start dishing out. This isn’t mere politeness - here, more than anywhere, it seems only right to do things as a team. We reckon that holding on will prove best.The couple’s prayer is answered, and the vehicles roar back into base.
At 8.22pm, the best part of four hours after our arrival, someone exclaims: "Dinner is served!" The big plates have been selected, an orderly (if hungry) queue has formed, and the serving goes as smoothly as the cooking. Soon everybody has food. Including Jayshree and Nick, the security lady who’s disappeared and two decidedly peckish members of the press, there are 24 of us sitting round the table. Consensus is that the food’s delicious and the portions are comfortably up to the job. All that’s missing is news from an absent friend, but, right on cue, Neil phones to announce to great applause that Rebecca has had a girl.
Jay shoots a smile at me down a long dining table. She’s waited for what seems like ages to allow herself this recognition that everything’s alright, and I share her relief. It’s all come good. The sense of achievement is huge, and it’s wonderful to see the chefs sitting down and enjoying the fruits of their labour. Nick, by now, is deep in conservation with some very appreciative firefighters.
Shortly, a rookie gets up to perform a special task. The team’s newest member has the responsibility of making a speech of thanks. It’s touching to observe his slight nervousness. While his job requires him to enter fearlessly into burning buildings, having to speak before us makes him a little awkward, but he passes with flying colours. He tries to hand some money over to Jayshree and Nick for them to donate to a charity of their choice.
Nick then addresses the room, and he, along with his wife, insists that the donation should go directly to a brigade charity. He’s learnt a great deal about what happens when you dial 999, and while he hopes that he never sees the watch in their professional capacity, welcomes them all to drop by in future. (Jay calls me some days later to say that two vehicles from the watch had driven past Tiffins en route back to the station. They’d given a blast on the horn, in recognition of this newly-formed link.)
One firefighter takes it upon himself to decide the money’s fate. With the joy of a baby’s arrival still in the air, he adopts a serious tone and says he feels that the funds must go to help those in need, following the siege in Beslan. All are in favour, and another, anticipating the watch’s spirit, says that they’ll double the original sum. It’s an instinctive, beautiful gesture, concluding an enlightening, rewarding and rather humbling experience.
Article reproduced with permission from Student Bristol website
Tiffins, a small family ran curry take away, have won various accolades for their delicious home cooked curry and superb service.
Located convinient at the top of St. Michael's Hill, two minutes walk away from the refectory, across from Highbury Vaults, Tiffins is a great place to grab a nice hot meal either for dinner or a post pub snack. This is also a great alternative to the normal chips and kebabs.
The prices are very good for the quality of food and the portions. It's a must go for any curry fans.
Jaya Chakrabarti from Nameless Media Group (left) presenting the Enteprising Bristol diversity award to Jay Jethwa.