Nadine Brown enjoys a flavourful stroll through India – via North London!

Soaring Hindu temples, intricate fabrics, vibrant food and the smell of incense perfuming the air. This might sound like a far-flung trip to the Indian subcontinent, but all of this and more is available on a short trip to Ealing Road in London’s Wembley. As part of an initiative to celebrate diversity in the UK and support female entrepreneurship, social enterprise Women in Travel CIC have created a series of women-led tours, inviting you into the everyday experiences of a multicultural London. Our ‘trip’ is with Vaishali Patel, a resident of Harrow who studied at The Tour Guiding Academy, a training programme run by Women in Travel. As creator of the 'Immersive India Tour', we learn very quickly that she’s the perfect guide to introduce us to the sights, taste and sounds of London’s, ‘Little India’.

Our first stop is at the dazzling Shri Sanatan Hindu Mandir temple, intricately carved in limestone. Having stood since 2010, it has the feel of a building that’s connected a community for much longer. My 13-year-old daughter, who I brought along for the experience, queries whether we’ll be allowed in, but Vaishali is quick to assure us that all faiths are welcome; the only customs that need to be adhered to are modest attire and the removal of shoes – I’m happy the teen chose to wear matching socks that day. Inside, the sense of calm is soothing as people silently shuffle around paying respect to the various deities, and our group quietly marvels at the elaborately designed central dome.

Next up is a visit to Panachand Pan House, rumoured to sell the best paan in the area – an after-dinner treat or Indian mouth sweetener made from stuffed betel leaves. Confusingly, the shop sign also describes itself as a shakti tailor, though it’d be hard to confuse a vibrantly coloured paan parcel with a newly altered pair of trousers. Vaishali asks us to guess what’s inside and many of us miss the rose petal jam and chopped areca nut along with the fennel, coconut and spices.

Easier to recognise and one for the sweet tooths, our visit to traditional sweet shop Ambala is a celebration of sugar – known as India’s love language. I’m fully wooed by the piles of syrupy jamun, rich kaju katri and piles of baklawa. There’s plenty to feast your eyes on but I’m a particular fan of the pista barfi, fudgy green squares of pistachio, milk and sugar.

It's onto family-run fabric shop Joshi next, where we learn to pleat saris like a pro and the teen gets delightfully swathed in floaty, sequined chiffon, before heading to a gift shop where you can buy anything from colourful flower garlands to Ganesh fountain statues. Our tour ends at Sakonis, a vegetarian restaurant that specialises in Gujarati cuisine. We feast on fluffy squares of dhokla, stuffed pani puri and crispy bhajiya – a battered and fried potato fritter, typically consumed as a roadside snack. The atmosphere is lively, the restaurant filled with couples, friends and families – and our walking group: full, educated and feeling privileged to have experienced a part of London and taste of India we otherwise might never have known, all without paying the price of a plane ticket.