AN AWARD-winning chef has launched her own catering business to feed guests at prestigious events.

Sarah Ali Choudhury, who won an appearance on national television after recording videos on YouTube, has launched a British Raj-inspired catering business.

She provides Indian canapes, sit-down meals and buffets at events and functions.

She said: “It was my dream to have a restaurant but the kind of restaurant I want isn’t going to happen right now. My dream to have a restaurant on a Sunseeker but that is a whole different thing.

“For now, I thought I would go around doing functions, more elite style things that are going on in the area and also catering nationally, then I hope to take it international.”

She launched the business at this summer’s British Beach Polo Championships in Sandbanks, having convinced the organisers that Indian food would be ideal because polo started in India.

“I thought if I was going to have my business launch, I should do it somewhere it hasn’t been done before,” she said.

She fed more than 700 VIPs in the two sessions she catered for.

She acknowledged the business was part of a growing trend for chefs to set up pop-up restaurants and events hospitality, rather than sinking money into the bricks and mortar of a restaurant.

“You don’t need £200,000-£300,000 behind you. I started with the absolute minimum,” she said.

“It doesn’t mean just because you haven’t got money you can’t set up a business and get out there. It’s about the way you market.”

Sarah was recognised as the youngest Asian woman to manage an Indian restaurant when she was 20.

She set up her own YouTube channel, which led to exposure on the Channel 4 cookery show My Kitchen Rules last year. She was seen preparing meals for Michelin Star awarded restaurateur Michael Caines and chef and food writer Prue Leith.

Earlier this year, she won the New Kid on the Block trophy at the Small Awards in London, and was a finalist in the Rising Star category of the Bournemouth Tourism Awards. She is also a finalist in two categories of the Dorset Venus Awards for women in business.

Sarah said: “I use my own blend of self-prepared spices in all my dishes, which has been developed by my family through generations. All the food I prepare is created using ground, toasted spices and fresh ingredients.”

She also has a range of Acchar, pickles and chutneys called Vilaasita, which means luxury in Hindi.