70 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • JUNE 17, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
buzz
Rego Park ‘food-preneurs’ share their
BY TAMMY SCILEPPI
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th at old-school adage – “Th e way to a
man’s heart is through his stomach” – can,
of course, apply to anyone who appreciates
delicious, wholesome chow whipped
up with a heft y dollop of love.
Th at sentiment was shared by so many
New Yorkers during the pandemic who’ve
been craving satisfying comfort eats.
Remember all those videos featuring
banana bread recipes?
During those long, trying months, two
hard-working, Rego Park-based food-preneurs
— Nupur Arora, a New Delhi native
who launched Queens Curry Kitchen,
and Lisa Costa, who re-discovered her
patisserie skills with her Peace, Love &
Dough bakery — knew that the best
way to their beloved community’s “heart”
was through their quarantined neighbors’
stomachs.
So, they decided to give back by sharing
a variety of hearty, home-cooked off erings.
For these creative foodies, it was
truly a labor of love — and doing what
they enjoyed helped them get through
without going crazy.
“I think that we were all looking for
comfort and love, to make that time easier
to deal with,” Arora told QNS.
Now, as COVID-19 begins to fade and
the “World’s Borough” comes back to life,
these small, homespun businesses have
continued to thrive, becoming successful
food services. Orders keep pouring in
from locals, and people from other parts
of New York, who can’t get enough of
Arora’s authentic and soulful Indian vegan
dishes and Costa’s addictive artisanal
breads and other freshly baked goods
cooked in her cozy, fragrant kitchen.
Everything is prepared, packed and
delivered with cleanliness and safety
as a priority.
Both business owners
were eager to share
their gastro stories
with QNS
readers.
A r o r a’s
m e a l
d e l i v -
ery activity
started
around May
in the middle
Arora’s business has been growing since launching last year,
and she continues to make delicious Indian vegan dishes from
her husband’s restaurant kitchen.
of the lockdown
last year,
when a concerned
son from
Long Island contacted
her to make
food for his elderly
parents who live in her
neighborhood.
“I asked him where he got my number
and he referred back to one of his friends
from Columbia University, who used to
buy Indian food from me when I was
doing it as a hobby about fi ve years ago,”
Arora said. “When I told him of my husband’s
Manhattan restaurant (Mughlai
Indian Cuisine) being closed due to the
lockdown, he insisted that he would much
rather have me make it in my home than
in our restaurant. His 82-year-old father,
a rabbi from India, had just had surgery
and his mother was taking care of him.
Th ey were getting some food from the
synagogue, but it was not to their liking.”
So, Arora started taking food to them
weekly, and because the rabbi and his wife
loved it, it became a ritual.
During that time, she started making
and posting daily videos from her home
kitchen just to share what she was cooking
with limited pantry supplies. Some
friends put in requests for her meals,
which she happily delivered. Th en, more
friends shared photos on social media
and raved about her dishes, while others
also asked to sample some, as they were
too busy to cook and working from home.
Th ey craved healthy, plant-based Indian
dishes but didn’t necessarily know how to
make them.
“Our short, physically distanced food
drop-off s became our only human interaction.
I was a new empty-nester who
was alone at home all day long, and sharing
a smile and conversations gave us
all something to look forward to,” Arora
remembered. “My community and steadily
growing tribe of clients fi lled the void
Photos via QCK/viewfi nderphotography
for me and continue to do so, as I don’t
know when I will see my family in India
again.”
Queens Curry Kitchen recently donated
all sales proceeds to help her COVIDravaged
homeland.
Arora talked about some family favorites
that she’s been making for clients
from her husband’s restaurant kitchen, as
she needed a commercial space when her
business expanded.
“My daughter loves a good Rajma
Masala kidney bean curry, as well as
my Tex Mex and Indian-style Th ai dishes
that I make regularly. My husband loves
homemade delicacies, like Kadhi Pakora
onion and potato fritters dumplings
made in a tangy yogurt curry,” she noted.
Queens Curry Kitchen’s menu changes
weekly and it’s set up “exactly like a
mother would cook for her family, so that
they do not get bored of eating the same
old things.”
Arora noted some of her popular dishes
include her veggie wraps (Veg Seekh
kabab/paneer tikka), tomato soup, tofu
in Tom Yum Sauce, Pani Puri and Aloo
Tikki are very popular. She also gets compliments
in the weeks she includes free
Halwa, Poori, Chana — an off ering made
for their observance of Navratri, mother
goddess holy days, Arora explained.
“Little personal touches as this remind
them of festivities and celebrations back
home, which we all miss in our life here,”
she said.
Customers can order a full week of
meals (six dishes, two rice and 12 rotis)
for $80, or a half week (three dishes, one
rice and six rotis) for $45. Th e menu goes
out on Fridays and orders must be placed
through the Shopify store by Sunday, for a
guaranteed Tuesday delivery.
With a bit of help, Arora makes the food
on Tuesday morning then it’s packed and
labeled, and then she delivers it herself.
“I’m the chef, the planner, the delivery
guy! Imagine if Seamless, Uber Eats and
Corn ceviche in
wonton cups.
Indian homestyle meals, made and delivered by Queens Curry Kitchen.
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