Kitchen Theatre, Western Lifestyles

Noorbanu Nimji

Noorbanu Nimji was born in Nairobi, Kenya.  Her parents had immigrated there from the Gujarati area in Northwestern India and the family thrived in this beautiful part of Africa.  Noorbanu was encouraged to take an active role in cooking and food preparation from a very young age. In 1971 when foreign nationals were being ousted from several East African countries, Noorbanu and her husband, together with their young family, made the decision to depart to the United Kingdom and, shortly thereafter, the Nimji family settled in Calgary in the early 1970s.

Noorbanu became a leader in her community at teaching many young people to cook and to adapt recipes to the ingredients available in Calgary’s markets.  Her cooking classes were so popular and so well-attended that after many requests she compiled her recipes and began the “A Spicy Touch” Cookbook series.  There are now three volumes of A Spicy Touch and they have sold over 250,000 copies worldwide.  Noorbanu continues to make Calgary her home and, more often than not, can be found in her kitchen cooking for her children and grandchildren.

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