Ritula Shah

“Bottom of the fridge soup” is indefinable, something conjured up from a bendy carrot and a courgette that’s seen better days. Perhaps there’s a suspiciously soft red pepper you can chuck in too. The list of ingredients is simply what’s left over and unloved at the end of the week. Given the shifting nature of the recipe, the result is always a surprise and usually a pleasant one. Add enough oregano , a decent glug of olive oil and black pepper and how can you go wrong?

Meet my favourite bit of kitchen kit, a tavdi. Not much to look at but treasured. Made from unglazed clay, concave and pierced with holes for greater contact with the heat source - which in my case is an oversized gas range. It’s primary purpose is to make chappatis but these days, I use a more ordinary looking flat pan for this as it works just as well and isn’t nearly as fragile. The tavdi only comes out occasionally - when I make rotlo, which I can just about do but not terribly well.

When Ritula Shah left the BBC after 35 years it felt like a bereavement. And whilst she did her best to follow the suggestions she was given for managing such a major change, things didn’t quite work out as planned. I was in a daze by the time I arrived in A&E. The pain in my stomach was so severe that I could barely walk and I was sweating profusely but shivering at the same time. Despite all the NHS horror stories, I was quickly swept away for treatment by a gaggle of doctors.