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Our Story

With 60yrs of expertise, the Patak’s family recipes have surprised and delighted households all around the world. Learn more about their story.
L.G. Pathak was born in 1925 in an Indian state called Gujurat, where his family got by with farming. When his father died the family moved to Kenya to search for a better life. And they found one, opening a shop selling Indian sweets to other families who missed the taste of home
In 1956, L.G. upped sticks again and set sail with his family for Britain. They arrived in the middle of a freezing November with just £5 to their name. But it wasn’t just the weather that was harsh. Work was very hard to come by for L.G.
His wife Shanta wondered if the business they had in Kenya of making Indian sweets and snacks could work in Britain. She set to work in their tiny family kitchen in Kentish Town and soon enough, word spread, to the point where queues would form outside their door! It wasn’t long before their 10-year old son, Kirit, was making deliveries all over London
After a couple of years, they opened up a small shop behind Euston Station selling all kind of Indian groceries. It really took off, mostly because the Pathaks only sourced the best foodstuffs they could find.
The real turning point for Mr and Mrs Patak though (we decided to drop the ‘h’ as sometimes confused people) was when they once ordered too many vegetables and L.G. decided to pickle the extras. It was a bit of a eureka moment, because coupled with the freshly ground spices he preserved in oil, they were able to create spice pastes that gave authentic taste of India.
When Kirit grew up and took over from his dad, his wife Meena came up with the notion of producing sauces that would make making a curry simple for people with little time to cook from scratch. And the rest is history
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