Smethwick’s own Spice Girl, Nina Uppal, tells Richard McComb how garam masala changed her life.

There is no doubt about it as far as Nina Uppal is concerned – home is where the garam masala is.

As a child she watched in fascination as her mother, Surjit, dried out her authentic Punjabi mix in the back garden of their home in Smethwick. Neighbours would be out pruning the roses while Surjit lavished time and love on her pungent crop.

“The spices would be blended whole in a tray and baked out in the garden under a mesh,” recalls Nina, who is the founder of spice and snack company New York Delhi, whose customers include the Queen’s grocer, Fortnum & Mason.

“They could be outside for three months to dry out, which aids the grinding. Mum would know the month, the day, the second that the spices had to be ground.”

Fast-forward a few decades and the same blend has been used to make the delicious chicken curry I am sharing with Nina. Cooked by Surjit, it is accompanied by a chick pea curry, which is a meal in itself, a delicate spicy rice and a fantastic spicy yoghurt with bundi (little balls of fried gram flour).

With food like this I am surprised 41-year-old Nina ever left home. She is based in Barnes, London, these days but concedes she comes back to her West Midlands roots. Like at the drop of a hat.

“Even if means a 60-mile detour I will make it for my mum’s curry,” says Nina as she finishes off some chapatis on the naked flame of the gas cooker.

The former pupil at Churchfields High School, West Bromwich, owes a huge debt of gratitude to her Indian-born mother. After a busy career in retail buying – working for top stores such as Liberty and Selfridges in London – Nina decided she wanted to go it alone and be her own boss. She’s got a fierce entrepreneurial spirit but admits she just couldn’t pin down the way she wanted to take her career.

“I knew I wanted to set up my own business. I just didn’t know what it was going to be. I ended up sitting on the sofa for months, thinking about what I could do,” recalls Nina.

“Then my mum said, ‘You are passionate about food. You always have been. What about garam masala? Your friends are always asking for it.’”

Ever since she could remember, Nina’s friends had asked her for small bags of her mum’s unique garam masala. When they tried ready-mixed bottles from supermarkets her friends were disappointed, but they found that Surjit’s aromatic mix transformed their homemade curries.

Nina was getting almost daily orders for her mother’s garam masala – and thus was the idea of Magic Masala born.

Magic Masala duly became the showcase product in Nina’s range of spices and snacks, launched by her company, New York Delhi, in September 2006, just weeks after Surjit’s suggestion. Once Nina has got a hot idea, she doesn’t hang about.

The name New York Delhi is a wordplay on two of the great loves of Nina’s foodie life – the delicatessens of New York and Delhi, the city evocative of her Indian heritage. And with fusion cooking becoming ever more popular, the merging of cultural influences chimes with the times.

Nina says: “The name was a real eureka moment. I love New York and I love Delhi – and New York Delhi was born. I thought, ‘This can be a global brand.’”

“You’re very modest,” I tell her jokingly. “You have to believe in yourself,” she says with a smile.

New York Delhi’s product range includes some wickedly spicy Bombay mix, which is

nothing like the ubiquitous yellow peril found in most shops. It has a mellow orange colour, which comes from the superior chick pea flour used in India. Bog-standard Western-style Bombay mix uses cheaper rice flour and lacks the subtlety and punch of Nina’s version. “It is the disco in the mouth effect. It is buzzing,” she says as we munch through a packet.

The mix, which is far less oily than mass produced varieties, uses Nina’s Spice Salt, which comprises 50 per cent spices including Magic Masala.

Spice Salt works as a lively alternative to table salt and is a knock-out when sprinkled on savoury treats like cheese on toast and cauliflower cheese. Nina’s father, Joginder, who came to Smethwick in the 1950s, used to work in a foundry and sprinkled the salt on the eggs he boiled at work.

Nina’s decision to commercially produce Bombay mix also has a family connection. The Uppals had an off-licence in Erdington, Birmingham, when Nina was a teenager and she remembers her mother making batches of the mix to sell in the shop for 50p alongside the pork scratchings.

The New York Delhi Bombay Mix comes in original, hot and sweet and spicy varieties and goes brilliantly with a pint of ale. So, too, do New York Delhi’s VIPs – Very Important Peanuts. If the fiery chilli nuts are a little too robust for your tastes, chill out with the gentle masala nuts.

Although the snacks may prove to be the biggest growth area, the Magic Masala remains the queen of the range. It contains a blend of 15 spices, unlike watered down supermarket products. The garam masala is ground to a coarse consistency in order to retain its strength and flavour. Nina likens it to fine red wine because it develops with age and some customers specifically order aged garam masala.

And then it has the ultimate seal of approval – Nina’s mum. Surjit doesn’t bother making her own garam masala these days – she gets special deliveries from her daughter. “After all, it is her recipe,” says Nina.

Nina’s mum’s Chicken & Potato Curry
Ingredients (listed in order of use):
Oil or butter
Onion – 1 large onion
Salt (Magic spices salt for more of a kick) – according to taste
Fresh ginger – 1cm
Fresh green or Red Chillies – 2 chillies
Fresh garlic – 4 cloves
Magic turmeric – teaspoon
Magic Masala – level tablespoon
Tinned tomatoes – 400g can
Potato – medium sized potato
Chicken pieces – 4 pieces
Chopped corianderMethod: Fry the chopped onion in oil or butter and add salt, ginger, chillies (all according to taste).

Add garlic before onion mixture goes golden brown. Add Magic turmeric and Magic Masala. If mixture starts sticking add a little water and then add 200grams of tinned tomatoes.

Chop the potato into small pieces (to ensure they cook through), mix, and then add chicken.

Heat through thoroughly until chicken is cooked and add hot water if you want to have more of a sauce. Sprinkle coriander and serve – and enjoy a simple but authentic Punjabi dish.

Spicy Rice
Ingredients (listed in order of use):
Oil
Onion – 1 large onion
Salt (or Magic spices salt) – according to taste
Fresh ginger – 1cm
Fresh green or red chillies – 2 chillies
Fresh garlic – 4 cloves
Magic Masala – level tablespoon
Frozen peas – 150-200g
Basmati rice – 1 mug/cup fullMethod: Wash and soak basmati rice – try not to touch the rice – swill around in cold water and drain until water starts to run clear.

Fry the chopped onion in oil or butter, add salt, ginger, chillies (all according to taste). Add garlic before onion mixture goes golden brown. Add Magic Masala. If the mixture starts sticking, add a little water and then add peas.

Drain the washed rice and add to the pan. Quickly stir into the onion mixture. The general rule for cooking rice is you add two parts water to one part rice. For perfect rice, try a 1.5 ratio.

Allow to cook through on a medium heat. Keep checking and stirring. It generally takes 10 minutes to cook.

Sprinkle with coriander (optional) and serve.

The rice dish can be served as an accompaniment or on its own. It’s amazing with plain or spicy yogurt.