Bristol DJ and his ‘special’ gran to release south Asian cookbook

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Leigh Boobyer & Jules Hyam

BBC News, Bristol

Jay Singh Jay Singh is sat in his grandma's kitchen, head height with the kitchen counter. He is wearing a black cap and a black turtleneck jumper. He is looking up at his grandma as she cooks on the hob while wearing green and pink traditional south Asian clothing. In the kitchen are various common kitchen item such as a kettle, toaster, oven and kitchen knives.Jay Singh

Jay Singh recorded an album in tribute to his grandma and her cooking, and now they are bringing a cookbook to life

An 85-year-old woman is producing a cookbook with the help of her grandson to preserve “six generations” of recipes.

Krishna Singh and her grandson Jay, a producer whose DJ name is Indian Man, are using £5,000 raised through crowdfunding to showcase her recipes.

Mr Singh paid tribute to his grandmother and the south Asian meals she cooked at her home in St George, Bristol, between his tour shows last year for his album Gran’s House.

Mr Singh, who said is grandmother is his “second mother” and “so special”, also wants young people to “try and spend more time with their elders”.

Mr Singh said: “Her food has been a staple of our family.

“It’s been maybe six generations worth of recipes and I realised we need to preserve those recipes.

“And they’re not written down anywhere. They are literally her in her kitchen.”

The 32-year-old DJ was given a record deal for his album Gran’s House, which was also recorded in her spare room, by world-famous musician Peter Gabriel.

Krishna Singh, 85, said her interest in cooking began as a young girl at her local church, learning to do everything “by hand”.

“It makes me very happy. I love cooking,” she said.

Krishna Singh wearing a blue and pink floral patterned sari, styled with a long white beaded necklace, gold earrings, and thick gold bangles. She is standing in her kitchen, using a wooden rolling pin to roll out dough on the black floured countertops. Her kitchen has brown tiles over the stove, and a magnetic knife holder above the toaster.

Mr Singh said Krishna Singh has generations of recipes she cooks for her family

Mr Singh helped his grandmother grow a social media following with her recipes and their cookbook is set to be published at the end of the year.

“My grandson and I have a special relationship with food, it really bonded us when he came to live with me,” Ms Singh said.

“Him doing all this work to just keep my recipes alive, I feel like the luckiest grandma in the world.

“I guess he really did find a way to make me live forever.”

Jay Singh wearing a black knitted turtleneck jumper, a thin gold hoop earring and a bright yellow cap. He is smiling at the camera and the background is blurry.

Jay Singh called his album Gran’s House to celebrate the importance of family and food

Mr Singh said his grandmother’s popularity has given her a “new wave of life”.

“[She’s] become young again, and is excited to have this book made for the next generations to be able to use, and for the whole world to be able to cook her food.”

Mr Singh hopes his experience of being cared for by his grandmother after travelling inspires other young people to “give more time for their elders”.

‘My second mother’

“There’s amazing things, history, stories… and all these kind of things I think we can learn from them.

“My main motive behind all I do is just trying to get younger people to spend time with their elders.

“She’s my second mother, she’s always been supportive of things in my creative path even though she didn’t understand it. Which was a beautiful thing, especially growing up in a south Asian culture.

“Sometimes there’s expectations of you and ideas of what you should be and she wanted me to be who I was.

“She’s special.”

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