Menuwatch: Dipna Anand, Somerset House, London

He, in turn, had learned from his father, who opened the original Brilliant restaurant, hotel and nightclub in Nairobi, Kenya. It's a legacy that is stamped on the menus at Dipna Anand at Somerset House, from Papa Ji's masala fish (£9.75), a recipe of her grandfather's, to the longstanding recipes from the Southall restaurant. But it's not a legacy that limits Anand, who puts her own spin on traditional favourites.

She says: "A lot of the recipes date back more than 75 years. Things like the dhal makhani (£5)and the chana masala (£8.25) are my grandfather's recipes; then we have a few what I like to call ‘cool' dishes that are more modern that I've developed myself. We also have some south Indian specialities like the prawn curry. It's Punjabi and south Indian cuisine with a modern twist."

Anand takes inspiration from a myriad of sources and a recent trip to the US saw the development of Dipna's dynamite wings (£6.50), which appear on the starter menu.

She says: "The dynamite wings are almost an Indo-American fusion and they're proving really popular. The sticky sauce is sour and tangy and sweet but really fiery – we do add our red chilies to that. They really are quite spicy but they're moreish."

Another popular dish from the starter menu is the tandoori salmon (£9.50), which sits overnight in a yogurt marinade flavoured with garam masala, cumin, ginger, garlic and dill, before being cooked in the clay oven. This garam masala is a feature across the menu and Anand describes the mix of 12-15 spices as "the difference between a basic curry and a great curry". She adds: "You must have a great garam masala to produce great Indian food – we still use my grandfather's recipe".

The garam masala is also key to the south Indian prawn curry, the sauce for which is made with coconut, mustard seeds and curry leaves before being finished with the spice mix.

While heritage underlies much of the menu, Anand explains that she's never been afraid to break out. The most popular chicken dish is the Delhi wala makhani chicken, a butter chicken flavoured with garam masala, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin, turmeric and dried fenugreek leaves.

Anand says: "I put this on the restaurant menu at Southall about 10 years ago and everyone seemed to love it, even though my dad said ‘no, no, you don't put cream in a curry'. He has now changed his opinion."

If you think all these dishes sound enticing you're not alone. Anand "took a chance" in placing thalis on the menu at Somerset House, which she says are now ordered "by every second customer". The dish, available in meat (£21.50) or vegetarian (£19.95) versions, includes a selection of three curries, raita, a samosa, onion bhaji, pilau rice, a buttered naan, mini poppadoms and mango chutney.

The chef has also created a weekend brunch menu, which she says is proving very popular and attracting a lot of attention. Dishes include the Desi English breakfast (£12.50), which sees the classic morning offering given an Indian twist and a "fully loaded naan with chicken tikka, masala fries and all the sauces and toppings" (£12.50)

Desserts mark a return to the traditional, with specialist chefs creating classic dishes such as gajar ka halwa, a caramelised carrot pudding with milk powder, almonds and pistachios (£6.25); and gulab jamun (£6.25), warm dumplings made with milk powder, semolina and flour, deep fried in ghee or oil and then dipped into a sugar syrup.

As well as cementing a firm foothold in the central London restaurant scene, Anand continues to oversee the Southall restaurant with her family as co-owner as well as being an author, running cookery courses, appearing on television and working with Compass Group.

She says: "Without the support of my dad this would not be possible. He's my walking PR machine, but he fails to realise he started this."

South Wing, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA

dipnasomersethouse.co.uk