2018. I’d known Pamela Timms, a journalist from Scotland, for several years when she lived in India. Often referred to as the tall white memsahib seen walking the narrow winded gallis or streets of Old Delhi, you could find Pamela eating local food around Jama Masjid with gay abandon. I visited Old Delhi a couple of times for a food walk while she was here, and it was no surprise that she knew every little nook and corner like the back of her hand. That nostalgic taste of the matar kulcha,aloo ki chaat, cheekoo lassi and fresh fruit sandwiches, quintessential Old Delhi must have foods, still make my mouth water. In Delhi, she began the ‘Upar Wali Chai’, which went on to become the name of Delhi’s first pop-up event, essentially a series of high teas. Pamela returned to Scotland in 2015 and a couple of years later, went on to write a book by the same name, Upar Wali Chai. When she asked if I could shoot a few images for the cookbook, I was more than happy to agree.

It was in the summer of 2018, with the Indian sun mercilessly beating down on us, that we got together to shoot a selection of recipes for Upar Wali Chai over a 3 day shoot. I remember the great time we had despite the challenges Pamela faced especially as she created desserts in 45C+ temperatures with an odd record breaking dust storm thrown in one evening. The cream and butter not obliging at all, we still managed to pull the shoot off against all odds. Particularly pleasing was how the Rooh Afza Layer Cake cover image finally turned out. Pamela had a picture of an ‘Old Delhi green’ in her head that she wanted for the background, a bit of a conundrum, so we kept that shot for last. I still can’t believe I got it together, using that one background I never thought I’d use, marvelling at how well it fitted the image in the end! It’s the first image below …

Styling & shoot : Deeba Rajpal