মোজামিল ও রেচেল কাজি

Mozamil and Rachel Kazi were running Rae's Cafe on Bristol Street in the early 1950s, serving the standard British café menu — steak, eggs, and chips. When curry was added to the menu, demand became so strong that in 1957 they moved to larger premises on Moseley Road and opened the Jinnah, which became one of Birmingham's best-known curry houses. Among their regulars, before his fame, was a young John Bonham — later the drummer with Led Zeppelin.

The family divided its labour in ways that shaped the restaurant's character. Mozamil handled the finances and ran the business side; Rachel, described by their son Steve as "a bubbly character" who nonetheless "ruled with an iron rod", was the public face who ran day-to-day operations and was remembered warmly by customers and staff alike.

Their son John Kazi developed what may have been one of Birmingham's earliest home-delivery services. Customers who could not get to the restaurant would phone ahead, and John brought curries to their door. Some regulars even brought their own pots to be filled with food and rice — an informal innovation that anticipated the takeaway culture that would later transform British dining.

Neither Mozamil's nor Rachel's migration date or later life details have been confirmed in the sources reviewed. Their testimony was preserved through the "Knights of the Raj" heritage project (2016–18), funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and exhibited at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, and through the BBC's feature coverage of Birmingham's curry history.