Kurma Dasa was born in England, moving to Australia with his parents in 1964. He started his cooking career in the Sydney kitchens of the Hare Krishna movement, where he began by cutting vegetables, grinding fresh herbs and spices, and assisting in the preparation of their famous Sunday Feasts (see Early Days).

Since those humble beginnings, Kurma has gone on to teach his special brand of elegant and eclectic gourmet vegetarian cuisine throughout Australia and around the world.

Kurma was head chef at Melbourne's most popular Vegetarian Restaurant, Gopal's, for many years and is the author of Great Vegetarian Dishes which is in its seventh print run, Cooking With Kurma, Quick Vegetarian Dishes and most recently Vegetarian World Food. All books have received wide acclaim for their professional, clearly written and richly illustrated presentation of vegetarian cuisine.

Kurma has hosted three internationally broadcast television cooking series seen in over 46 countries. His third and latest 26-part TV series "Cooking with Kurma - More Great Vegetarian Dishes" recently screened throughout Australia on SBS and Foxtel.

Kurma's light-hearted presentation of healthy, delicious, attractive and innovative cuisine continues to shake off the outdated notion that vegetarian food is dull and lack-lustre.

Currently, Kurma is presenting gourmet vegetarian cooking masterclasses overseas and Australia-wide, writing columns for various magazines and working on more cookbooks. After 8 years in Perth, Kurma is relocating to Sydney.

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