The Travelling Tikki’s spice of life

Round & About

Parul Gupta is the founder of boutique catering business The Travelling Tikki in West Horsley creating food experiences inspired by India

I grew up in India, where the heart of the home is the kitchen. Socialising always centres around food!  

I had the fortune of growing up all over the country, I’ve lived in Mumbai, Kanpur, Chennai, Gwalior, Kolkata, Delhi and Bangalore. Food at home has always been a wonderful medley of recipes picked up from across the country. My grandmum and mum are fabulous cooks and queens of their kitchens. And it isn’t just the food, which is always finger licking good, all the decoration has to be just right too. So when you sit down at their table, it feels extra special.  

I came to England as a postgraduate student in 2005, and it was no surprise that food was my calling and creative outlet. A dream to one day build a business that would bring people together around food, was born.  

The Travelling Tikki was born in 2016. My band of helpers and I had the ride of our lives, trading at food and farmers’ markets in and around London, catering for events, and hosting supper clubs. My proudest moments were being invited to cook in Angela Hartnett’s kitchen at the London Evening Standard Night Market, and catering for two of Tesla’s launch events – still starry eyed about these!  

Fast forward to The Travelling Tikki today which is about me sharing my love for regional Indian cuisine and cooking, and for food rooted in tradition but not bound by it. My recipes are a medley of heirloom family recipes, regional favourites picked up from my travels and then those my own experiences thereafter have influenced.  

Our food is all handmade from scratch using homemade spice blends – all the roasting and grinding creating intoxicating aromas in the kitchen when that happens. Our fresh produce is locally sourced and we believe in sustainability as far as is possible. 

We believe food brings people together and all our food experiences from our catering offers to our High Chai (Indian-inspired afternoon tea) and supper club experiences are designed to be shared. We only take on small to medium sized catering requests, so we can focus on giving our clients a fantastic experience, with attention to detail in food preparation, ambience and presentation. 

We can create a private dining experience, 3-5 course meal at your home or venue of choice; a dabba club experience with mini à la carte menu with food delivered in lovely traditional tiered tiffin tins; a self-serve hot buffet experience and delicious seasonal grazing hampers to share. We also organise supper clubs. 

Everything that The Travelling Tikki is about is very much a piece of my heart!