Lorna Nanda

The Little Indian Kitchen was founded in 2009, when Lorna decided to give up her corporate career in Mobile Telecoms and take the plunge into the world of food.

The business started out as a bistro/cookery school in Wimbledon, London and classes were held on a regular basis along with the bistro being opened over the weekends. The business thrived and Lorna's passion for food was further endorsed when Monica Galletti ate there with her family. Only later was Lorna to discover that Monica was actually a judge on Masterchef UK! This lead Lorna to believe that she was definitely on to something and she continued in that venue for a few years.

Following the birth of her first two children, Lorna decided to give up the bistro and moved further out into Surrey. She spent the next year raising her family before a chance encounter with a friend, led her to discover Ripley Farmer's Market and she decided to once again take the plunge with The Little Indian Kitchen appearing at the market on a monthly basis.

The Little Indian Kitchen has now gone on to attend a number of food festivals across the country, including Woking Food Festival, Blenheim Palace Food Festival and Leeds Castle Food Festival. In addition, Lorna continues to offer tailor made cookery classes at people's homes and event catering, and now attends both Ripley and Kew Village Farmers Market monthly.

In 2017, Lorna and her sisters appeared on BBC's inaugural "The Big Family Cooking Showdown" series which pitched 16 families against each other in a number of food challenges. Lorna and her team, now nicknamed "The Indian Spice Girls" went on to win the series in November 2017 and have subsequently appeared at the BBC Good Food Show Live at the NEC.

"Being a mum of 3 and running a business is not easy. It does entail lots, yes lots!, of juggling around with diaries, school runs, play dates, cooking, etc and I do struggle to balance time spent on business and time with family but I do hope I'm setting a positive example for them - they are very proud of their mummy. Anyhow, I wouldn't have it anything other way - it's in my blood!"

Lorna has an MBA from Birmingham University, a BA in Business Studies from Greenwich University and now lives in Surrey with her husband, three children and their tropical fish.