Karan grew up in Mumbai with a deep love for food and hospitality. He moved to England in 2005 to study law at the University of Cambridge, but even as a practising solicitor, his passion for food never faded, and he spent time in professional kitchens in his spare time.
In 2012, Karan decided to leave his legal career at a prestigious Magic Circle law firm to pursue his love for hospitality full-time, traveling across India and Sri Lanka to immerse himself in their food and culture.
In 2015, Karan co-founded Hoppers, a Sri Lankan and South Indian restaurant in London’s Soho, with JKS Restaurants. The restaurant quickly earned a prestigious Bib Gourmand and glowing reviews from critics like Fay Maschler and the late AA Gill. This success led to additional locations in Marylebone (2017) and King’s Cross (2020). In Autumn 2022, Karan released the highly anticipated and well-received Hoppers: The Cookbook (Quadrille).
In September 2025 Bluebird publish Indian 101: Classic Indian Dishes Made Simple. Over the years, Karan has written travel features and recipes on Sri Lanka and southern India for major publications and appeared on BBC Saturday Kitchen, MasterChef UK, Jamie’s One Pound Meals (Channel 4), and NBC’s Today Show. He has collaborated with brands like Shake Shack and Soho House, further cementing his influence in the culinary world.
Karan has built a dedicated following of over 650,000, sharing travel, dining, and home cooking inspiration with a focus on Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine. His Indian 101 Instagram series has garnered over 75 million views.
Karan is deeply committed to giving back and leads Hoppers’ Feeding the Future, a charitable initiative in Sri Lanka in partnership with the Hemas Outreach Foundation. The program supports underprivileged children by providing nutrition and infrastructure for education. Since 2022, the initiative has raised over £350,000 and built three preschools, offering early childhood education to more than 148 children.
Karan lives with his wife Sunaina and two young sons in London. He loves travelling and discovering new food and people, cooking, music and writing and cycles around London to keep fit. His dream is to cook for Bruce Springsteen one day!
@karancooks @hopperslondon www.hopperslondon.com
