Mumbai-based Farida Nanavaty and her daughter, Karishma, have been running Karrylicious Kitchen, delivering 150-year-old Parsi recipe-based dishes to the people of the city.

The menu includes chicken Russian cutlets, fried Indian salmon, Parsi prawn biryani and prawn patia among other delicious dishes.

What’s amazing is that Farida’s recipes are true to her great-grandmother’s secrets.

But a fun fact is that cooking was not something she had ever considered. “I had all my meals served to me at the table,” she smiles.

It was only after getting married at the age of 19, that she began to test her skills. “Every now and then, my mother-in-law and I would try a dessert together. Lemon souffle was our favourite.”

However, when her kids complimented the age-old recipes that she recreated, she knew these dishes would appeal to many people living in the city.

But it was only during the COVID-19 pandemic that the passion project blossomed into a small business.

And soon, before they knew it, Karrylicious Kitchen was receiving love from people across Mumbai.

People would place orders well in advance for the Russian cheese chicken and herbs cutlets, the patra ni macchi (steamed fish topped with chutney and wrapped in a banana leaf), mutton biryani with dhansak daal (mutton cooked in a mix of lentils and vegetables) and lagan nu custard (a Parsi dessert).

One of the biggest lessons her great-grandmother taught her, which she channels into her cooking, is the importance of patience.

She adds that there was no haste to finish the cooking process; each dish was cooked with love. "I learned never to compromise while cooking, because food binds people."

“You are almost sharing your energy with the person who is eating what you cook,” she notes. “Today, whatever we have achieved at Karrylicious Kitchen is because of our roots and authenticity without which it wouldn’t have been possible.”

You can order your feast at 8879132817 or 7506192017