O’Desi Meals, a cloud kitchen delivering authentic Indian meals in Dublin was started by Anubhav Dutta from Kolkata in 2015.
It stemmed out of an idea he calls ‘My Christmas Project’ where he would share pizzas with the homeless every Christmas Eve.
So, in 2019, O’Desi Meals was set up as a way of supplying people with authentic Indian food, as well as funding the Christmas Project that Anubhav wished to continue for years to come.
He was soon joined by his co-founder Siddharth Patel, who was in Ireland to do his MBA. Anubhav met Siddharth in his club cricket group, where the latter once cooked biryani for all the players!
The duo wanted to cater meals that were not available in Ireland and give people a taste of homemade food that wasn’t doused in oil.
“We want to serve true authentic desi food, not Westernised versions,” adds Anubhav.
While there is a new set of dishes announced every week, Anubhav says a few of the hit ones are their Rajasthani kadi pakoda, pav bhaji and biryani.
The food is delivered to five counties, Dublin being the most populous one. The meals are delivered twice a week, on Sundays and Wednesdays, on a subscription-based model.
A monthly subscription includes 26 meals, each meal priced at €10.50, while the weekly subscription includes six meals, each priced at €10.99.
“I don’t just want to run a venture, but also do so in a way that lets me reach out,” he says. “I do not take any of the profits of the venture, and my share goes to charities and NGOs in India.”