Perween Warsi: True grit got my samosas into Asda

Perween Warsi started her Indian food business selling home-made samosas to the local chip shop. Now the high-profile entrepreneur's company is worth £65m.

Looking at the BBC's autumn food schedule, you'd think Britain was a gastronomic paradise. But when Perween Warsi moved here from India in the 1970s, the country wasn't exactly bursting with culinary genius. And Anglo-Indian food was among the worst. It was "bland and tasteless. Besides potato, cauliflower and peas, there was hardly anything available", says Warsi, founder of Indian food company S&A Foods. "Call it nave or ambitious, but I thought I could do better."

Born in Muzaffarpur in north-eastern India, Warsi came to Britain in 1975 with her husband, a doctor. It was in 1986, having settled in Derby and shocked by the poor quality of the local food, that she began making her own samosas and touting them to her local takeaway, a fish and chip shop. "I started with 12 samosas half a dozen veg and half a dozen meat," she says. "Total investment, £2.50."

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Jody Clarke

Jody studied at the University of Limerick and was a senior writer for MoneyWeek. Jody is experienced in interviewing, for example digging into the lives of an ex-M15 agent and quirky business owners who have made millions. Jody’s other areas of expertise include advice on funds, stocks and house prices.