She’s been satisfying our appetite for sweet melodies and angelic delights for many years, but it still comes as something of a surprise to find the legendary songstress Asha Bhosle vying for the accolade as Britain’s top Indian chef! And the grand opening of her first British restaurant, Asha’s Indian Bar and Restaurant, just went to prove what we all knew all along – when Asha puts her mind to something, expect nothing short of a brimful!  

Paying no heed to the idea that at the sprightly age of 75, with over 20,000 hit songs under her chunni, it’s probably time to take things easy – Asha is here to prove she can stand the heat, with no need to get out of the kitchen!

She coos: ‘My son Anand travelled a lot on business and missed my food so much, he suggested I bring out a cookbook. I happen to think such books are useless, so I liked his next idea to open a restaurant where I could train people to cook my food.’

It’s hard to imagine such a world, but had Asha not taken up singing, she’s pretty sure she’d have taken up cooking as a living, She tells us: ‘As a child, I’d watch my mum and my aunty cook all sorts of delicious curries and felt so grateful that they were creating such wonderful creations for me to enjoy! When I had children of my own, I wanted them to feel the same way I did. I loved putting food on the table and would get jealous when the kids went elsewhere to eat!’

It has to be asked. Does the loving rivalry between Asha and sister Lata Mangeshkar that’s been battled out for over half a century extend to the kitchen? A mischievous smile spreads across her face as she admits: ‘Lata isn’t much of a cook! But she loves to eat. As with all my ventures in life, she’s very happy for me.’

Asha’s first branch opened in Dubai five years ago. With the help of the team behind fish and chips chain Harry Ramsden’s, the Indian restaurant went global. Asha’s son Anand Bhosle now looks after the chain, while his mum beavers away in the kitchen refining her recipes.

To ensure her delicacies are followed to a tee, she flew chefs out to India to teach them the ins and outs of fine Indian cooking.  Which must be frustrating for those who cook by the book, seeing as her approach to cooking is purely instinctive. She smiles: ‘I feel a bit sorry for them sometimes. I can’t tell you the exact quantity of spices I use.

I just take a pinch here, a pinch there, and sometimes do it so fast they lose track. I think it drives some of them quite mad! But at the end of the day, they learn because it’s only through trial and error that you can get something just right.’

Asha’s recipes hail from all walks of her illustrious career.

From her days as a child in Maharashtra to the days she travelled the world as an international star. They are now stored on a database that can be accessed by the chefs at Asha’s branches all over the world. 

But does this mean that we’ll no longer be able to enjoy the dulcet tones of Ms Bhosle? With an assured laugh, she replies: ‘Singing is my passion but so is cooking. I make the most out of every opportunity, and I go wherever the wind takes me!’

While the wind in Birmingham is filled with Asha’s cooking, her ear for music is leading her to… Robbie Williams! She’s currently in the process of recording a duet with the troubled Brit pop star, but confesses she has no idea why he’s in rehab. In fact, to be fair, she doesn’t really know much about our Robbie at all.

She muses: ‘I don’t generally go out there to collaborate with western artists. It’s funny because Robbie and I are recording separately, so I don’t really know who he is. I’ve heard some of his music and it’s very nice.’

How can you not love this woman?