Profile of Chef Babu Lal Yadav
Babu Lal Yadav was born in Varnasi , India by the shores of the historic Ganges on3rd November 1969. Having completed the intermediate and higher education he graduated from the University of Varanas. At this point of his life he took the important decision to seek a position as a trainee Chef in order to gain employment in his lifelong passion of cooking.
He underwent three years of rigorous training under the famous Chef Nambi Raja at the four star deluxe property Hotel Premiere Madras. During this period he gained knowledge and experience in three different aspects of Indian cuisine namely, Curry , Tandoor and Indian sweets.
- Under ‘curry dishes’ he was trained in the traditional Indian curries and then further trained in the regional variations which makes the preparation of Indian dishes such a varied and diverse art of cooking. The dishes of different areas of India which Babu Lal Yadav had to master were from Rajastan, Punjab, Kashmir, Kerala, Bengal and the sea food delights of Goa. Included in the extensive variety of cuisine were the different types of Biriyanis loved by the Moghul Kings.
- He was trained in the art of Tandoor cooking which had its origins in the Punjab region of India. This included the starters, main courses and different breads.
- Producing an extensive variety of Indian Sweets is an integral part of Indian Cuisine. Under the watchful eye of Chef Nambi Raja, Babu Lal Yadav mastered the Indian sweets such as Gulab Gamun, Gajor Halva, Kulfi, Jalebi and Pheeni.
- Having completed the three years intense training Babu Lal Yadav was confident to venture into new pastures on his own. In November 1989 he joined Hotel Ambassador in Madras as Assistant chef. In two years he was promoted to Head Chef and worked there until December 1996. During this period he gained the valuable experience of training others to high standards and producing his own menus which were instilled in him by Chef Nambi Raja.
At this stage in his career Babu Lal Yadav decided to look for opportunities abroad. In 1997 the famous Indian restaurant in Mumtaj Mahal in Muscat, Oman were looking for a high calibre Head Chef trained in India. Babu Lal applied for this position and was successful after going through a very rigorous selection process. At Mumtaj Mahal he got the opportunity to take responsibility to produce his own menu, train staff and take complete control of the kitchen. Under his guidance The Mumtaj Mahal won the coveted Best Indian Restaurant in Oman for four years out of five. He remained in Oman until early 2005.
In order to gain even more recognition for his talents Babu Lal Yadav turned his eyes towards the United Kingdom. In early 2005 he was ‘Head Hunted’ by Britannia Spice who was fast gaining ground as one of the premiere Indian Restaurants in Scotland.
Having won the Les Routier’s New Comer of the Year award in its first Year, Britannia Spice continued to win many awards. Babu Lal Yadav was recruited in order to cement Britannia Spice’s position in the forefront of the Scotland’s curry industry and to make inroads into the entire United Kingdom awards schemes and recognition.
His influence and input quickly began to show results when Britannia Spice won the Best in Scotland award by British Curry Awards for three consecutive years in 2005, 2006 and 2007. This was the first time any restaurant performed the ‘hatrick’. In 2008 Britannia Spice won the Best Scottish Curry Restaurant awarded by Irn Brew. The success is due the team work spearheaded by Babu Lal.
He has recruited new staff and retrained some of the existing staff to make up the team consisting of 2nd Chef, Tandoor Chef, Thai Chef and two cooks. Recently on his advice Britannia Spice recruited a South Indian Chef in order to introduce some south Indian dishes such as Dhosai, Iddly and the accompaniments that go with them to Britannia Spice’s already extensive menu. Some of his signature dishes such as North Indian Garlic Chicken, Badami Murug Tikka, Pista Gohst Pasanda and Vegi Panch Ratni Seekh get glowing tributes in the customer comment slips.
Being one of the most popular restaurants in Edinburgh, Britannia Spice is home to many special events, theme nights, weddings, private parties and corporate events. On such occasions Baby Lal Yadav takes great pride in creating menus off the normal menu to enable him to use the vast knowledge of diverse Indian Cuisine to produce mouth watering dishes.
Babu Lal Yadav can be classed under the category ‘Perfectionist’. Apart from his culinary skills he pays great attention to safety and hygiene. Having successfully completed the Food Hygiene Course he follows the conditions laid down by Britannia Spice’s Hazard Analysis in line with HACCP guidelines.