The brand new Spice Yard Kitchen is now open to the public! Based in the centre of Manchester, just a few minutes walk from Victoria station, The Spice Yard Kitchen is part of the brand new New Century Kitchen based inisde the iconic New Century Hall.
This is a fantasic opportunity to see for yourself how the Spice Yard Blends are used to perfection in authentic Gujarati dishes. Here’s the story of how we got here.
Where it started
The Spice Yard founder Nina Saparia had always known she had a talent for putting spices together – her friends would tell her that she was able to elevate everyday dishes like salad or a Sunday roast, into something spectacular. But it was the combination of leaving her job in corporate retail and a trip to India in 2018 that inspired her to start a business doing what she loves. She started selling her own unique blends – for familiar dishes like dahl and tandoori marinades, but also less recognisable ones like the fennel-based Chettinad, named after the cuisine from the Tamil Nadu region of Southern India – winning two Great Taste awards in the process.
When the pandemic hit, many of the cafés Nina previously sold to closed. Surrounded by spices that would go to waste if she didn’t do something with them, Nina decided to start making sauces which she sold in her local area of The Heatons in South Manchester (Stockport). “It just took off,” she says, recounting how the operation soon took over her whole house. Thankfully, a shared kitchen space came up and Nina moved The Spice Yard out of her home kitchen.
Still, even as the business grew, the cost-of-living crisis made making it work financially difficult and by 2022, Nina thought about giving up her dream of opening her own restaurant. But when New Century opened in August 2022, an opportunity presented itself. “It just seemed perfect,” she says. “Your own food under your own label but you had, a kitchen already there.” Crucially, it was also guaranteed footfall, given New Century’s positioning in the heart of Manchester and its unique mix of music and a wide range of food vendors.
Indian Gujarati Fusion Food
Nina wants to bring Indian Gujarati fusion food into the mainstream. It’s what she’s grown up with and she want to ensure that family recipes continue to live on for future generations. Gujarati food hails from the Gujarat state along the western coast of India and typically consists of a thali (a multi-dish steel plate) with a selection of vegan and vegetarian dishes. As such, The Spice Yard offers dishes that take British staples and put a Gujarati twist on them.
When she was selling meals on her website during the pandemic, chicken tikka masala was the most popular dish. There was a need to educate her customers on what Gujarati cuisine was. Likewise at the Spice Yard Kitchen, she had to take into account that most visitors wont be familiar with Gujarati cuisine. So the new menu needed to be intruiging and attractive. And we have to say, she’s nailed it!
One of the most popular dishes at the moment is the ‘Full Indian’ breakfast. “People ask, how did you come up with that? It’s what I grew up with,” Nina says, referencing her mixed heritage of being born in Britain to Indian parents. “We didn’t have the traditional egg and bacon. We had masala omelette, we had spicy baked beans, we had Bombay potatoes, and we had spicy ketchup!” There’s also more traditional Gujarati dishes on the brunch menu, like poha, which consists of flaked rice, potatoes and onions, tossed in mustard and sesame seeds with turmeric and a sprinkle of nuts, that Nina likes to top with a fried egg.
Perhaps the most mouth-watering result of Nina’s experimentations are the chocolate samosas she stuffs with almonds, pistachios and cardamon alongside their rich chocolate filling, that she’s adapted from a traditional Gujarati recipe that’s made on Diwali (the Hindu festival of lights) called ghughra, “crescent shaped sweets that almost look like tiny Cornish pastries,” Nina explains. “One year I had some ghughra filling left over and I had some chocolate and I thought, I wonder what those two would be like together?” As usual, Nina’s instinct was right, the combination is delicious.
While she has a strong vision for her menus, Nina is open to input, and her staff – who hail both from the UK and India – advise her on how to keep developing her offering. She’s also keen on seasonal cooking and is already thinking about Autumnal dishes. Spicy n tangy sweetcorn curry, biriyani’s, turkey samosa’s and more!
What does the future hold?
In the future Nina hopes to write a recipe book. “What I want to have, are people’s favourite foods that their mums and grandmas have cooked for them,” she says, recounting examples of her own family members’ recipes that she’s keen to preserve. For now though, The Spice Yard is keeping her busy, especially as Nina still sees the business as one that’s adapting to its new home and customers. “We welcome feedback. Please come and tell us what things you like and what you want on the menu, and we’ll try and evolve to make that happen,” she says.
