Today is National Curry Day and as the nation sits down to enjoy its favourite dish, KATHERINE MacALISTER talks to one of the only women in the country to run her own Indian restaurant. She describes the problems she encountered from her own community...

The death threats started as soon as Tina threw open the doors of her own Indian restaurant two years ago.

Having been disowned by her family for pursuing a career and refusing an arranged marriage, Tina Begum was used to battling it out on her own.

But the threats scared her. Every night for six months a man would phone Chutneys restaurant, in Oxford, telling her she was going to die and she had better watch her back.. Of course I was scared. Anyone would be in that situation. Eventually I alerted the police and it stopped," she said.

Tina is not pushy or dominating.

She is calm and quietly confident, someone you warm to straight away, the ideal host.

She said: "I am my own person. A lot of negativity has stemmed from jealousy that I have succeeded, from both men and women.

"I know it was the Asian community making the threats. Bengali women are not supposed to work and although I'm Indian it's still very frowned upon. But I was determined that they wouldn't beat me." The curry industry is famously male dominated. How many women have you seen cooking or serving your chicken tikka on a Friday night? Tina is one of a handful of women nationwide who have defied convention and struck out on their own. Tina, in her early 30s, knows she is breaking the mould, not only because of her sex, but in the style of restaurant she is running so profitably. Gone are the red carpets and ornate wallpaper, the fish-tank, dim lights and Indian music you expect to find in your local curry house. At Chutneys you will find wooden floors, jazz and a light atmosphere. And the food is south Indian, which you won't find anywhere else.

The roaring trade speaks for itself.

That she has made such a success of it is purely down to Tina, but it has not been without making some sacrifices along the way.

"I'm single. My social life is basically nil because restaurant hours are so unsociable. Yes, I would like to marry an Indian man one day and have kids but I leave that for the fates to decide. First I want to make sure Chutneys is established before I concentrate on anything else," she said.

When she does get time she winds down by playing badminton and tennis or checking out the competition in London, eating out. Tina, who lives in the city centre, first got into the industry ten years ago.

Having left home very young after being and was educated at Peers Upper School in Littlemore, started off as a travel agent and worked a few evenings a week behind the bar at Bilash in Botley.

"I watched how everything was done from the food to the serving and the books. I was soon offered a full-time job there and jumped at the chance. I was good with the customers." Her boss recognised her potential when he saw it and soon asked Tina to be manager of Polash Restaurant in Park End Street.

When he expanded further and opened the smart Aziz restaurant in Cowley Road he put Tina in charge of getting the project off the ground. Five years later it was one of the most successful in Oxford.

Tina said: "I went on holiday and decided I needed a change. I was bored and needed to move on. Then someone told me about the empty restaurant in St Michael's Street. I phoned the owner and told them I wanted it whatever the price. Mine was the highest bid and after a complete refit Chutney's opened."She never doubted that it would work, even though the previous brasserie on the site had failed: "I was confident and never doubted my decision. I had made successes of restaurants before and I had a good loyal partner as well as a lot of loyal customers, and the location is fantastic."

Samad Ali, is just 22, but he worked alongside Tina for many years and jumped at the chance to be her partner.

Interestingly, the restaurant has a lot of Asian customers and many locals come in for a look, if not necessarily to eat.

"We take it as a compliment that they want to see the changes and what's new," he said.

He added that getting chefs was quite hard because few knew the right recipes. Tina eventually taught them herself and Samad employs a lot of his family because he knows he can trust them.

"I offered my sister work, but she's training to be a lawyer so wasn't interested," he laughed.

He admitted he had faced a lot of prejudice when people found out about his plans.

The unique food is down to Tina's childhood. Originally from Nairobi in Kenya her parents moved to England when she was very young.

She was brought up on South Indian food cooked by her mother. In most Asian homes the woman cooks, but in the restaurants it's always men.

And while working in other restaurants Tina was asked again and again where people could get south Indian food, so she knew there was a demand for it. As for the future Tina hopes to one day open similar restaurants throughout Oxfordshire, concentrating on the surrounding villages.

"I have no regrets," she said. That came as little surprise.

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