William shows off cooking skills during visit to Mumbai business centre

Updated

The Duke of Cambridge showed off his culinary skills making a tasty Indian treat - all thanks to an innovative labour-saving device.

William not only cooked a dosa - a savoury Asian snack similar to a crepe - using the automatic machine but was pleased with the results, describing his effort as delicious.

But he could not persuade wife Kate, who wore an outfit by Emilia Wickstead, to have a nibble of the treat made by the DosaMatic machine.

The Duke and Duchess were given a demonstration of the device by its inventor Eshwar Vikas, 24, during a visit to The Social in Mumbai, a cafe and business centre used as a meeting place by young innovators.

William also sat behind the wheel of a racing car simulator and was left grinning by the experience, and both he and Kate put on blindfolds to use a Braille typing machine and spelled out the name of their son George.

Mr Vikas, chief executive of Mukunda Foods, which he founded three years ago, said: "The Duke told me he and the Duchess love dosas and he said it was a wonderful machine.

"He said they would love to have one in their palace and the Duchess said that because you can also use it to make pancakes the whole of London will want one."

During the demonstration the entrepreneur showed off the features of the DosaMatic machine which makes pancakes, crepes, dosas and omelettes automatically once it has been pre-loaded with batter.

It even has a smartphone app so users can start it off when they wake up and have freshly-made food waiting when they get out of bed.

The Duke poured batter onto the hotplate of the machine and waited while it cooked, then rolled up the crisp dosa and pushed it onto a plate.

He took a small bite from one end, and told Mr Vikas it was good, before offering the Duchess a bite. She waved the food away with her hand.

The couple were also introduced to the team behind Mahindra Racing, an Indian-backed motor racing team that competes in the Formula E championship for F1- style electric cars.

The Duke sat in a racing car simulator and drove around the Buddh International circuit in Delhi, managing a lap time of 2mins 6secs.

Isaias Sousa Valero, one of the team's technicians, said: "It's a good lap time. He is a really nice driver and he could come and drive for us anytime with a bit more training."

The couple, who are at the start of their seven-day tour of India and Bhutan, were also shown a Braille typing machine made by another local company, and each wore a blindfold as they tried their hand at typing letters by following instructions on which combinations of keys to press.

Before they left, the Duke made a short speech to launch an awards programme called the Tech Rocketship Awards.

As he made his way to a lectern, he quietly asked his wife: "Do you want to do it?" She laughed and said no.

The Duke began by putting his hands together in the traditional Indian greeting, and said "Namaste Mumbai" meaning "hello Mumbai".

He told invited guests: "Catherine and I are very impressed by the energy and ideas we have just seen. Being here today, it is clear that India is leading the way in so many areas of innovation and technology.

"Your ability to innovate is not just good news for India but it's great news for the world. With one sixth of the world's population, young innovators like you must play a major role."

He then pressed a button which set off a series of exploding pinatas filled with metallic foil confetti.

He joked: "All this innovation and we get this."

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