Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Khyati Patel. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Khyati thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Hello
My name is Khyati Patel. And I was stay at home mom for 15 years. I am vegetarian and my husband is non vegetarian. So two different meals had to be made. Then I have decided that I will prep the curry sauce and then whenever my husband wants to eat chicken or lamb curry all I have to get the curry sauce and add protein into it and that’s it. Also I was desperate to look in every “ETHNIC ISLES” in health food stores for the best curry sauce and there was none. Because all of the brands made their sauces but put them in the isles. Which is against our Indian heritage. We never canned or vaccume seal our food for longer shelf life. That’s why I came up with my own recipe which I learned from my mom and grandma. And created the best authentic curry sauce. When I have to make Italian food I seek for the best quality marinara sauce and I thought one day if Italian wants to make Indian curry then she will go with my curry sauce.
That’s why I came up with this idea.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hello
My name is Khyati. And I created currybowl97 brand because there is in need for this type of Indian food, which is made from scratch, truly authentic and Cooked with healthy fats. As I mentioned before how I came up with this business with one idea but there is a deeper meaning and purpose behind it. I am creating this brand for future generation. I want to keep passing on my Indian roots and heritage to next generation and how else I can do it by following the truest traditions and methods of cooking and preparing the food. Making my all curry sauces from scratch and small batches and packing them and putting them into the refrigerator.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

As I mentioned earlier my name is Khyati Patel. And back in India I am from Gujarat. Yes Gujarati. Very few Gujaratis do jobs. They own a business and they are really good at running a successful business. I came here in USA and I saw that here mostly Gujaratis are super successful at running their business. Running a business is good but when you come up with something and put that idea into action and create something your own and then selling it it’s Huge. THAT IS WHAT I WANTED TO DO!! I had an idea that I want to create my own products and put them into “WHOLE FOODS” refrigerator. From making my own products to put them into for retail it’s a quite a challenge journey. I had no idea what to do? How to do? Where to start? All I know one day my products will be sold at “WHOLE FOODS” that’s it!
And Journey started in 2019 August. I rented a commercial kitchen and started selling only my famous chicken curry. And in between we moved from one city to another. So I had to drive back and forth for 2 hours every day in order to open my kitchen. I did that for 3 months and then we had to go to India. This was planned trip before I initiated my business. So I took 1 month break and I had to bring spices for my business from India anyways. But after that trip we came in January and I started looking kitchen near by so that I don’t have to drive 2 hours every day. I found one and I signed up for lease and everything and PANDAMIC hit and got shut down everything. I didn’t stop. When it opened back again I started going to my near by Kitchen and selling my products there at the farmers market. I did that for 6 months then in 2021 I took a little break to see my parents in Texas. When I came back in July 2021 that kitchen was for hourly rent so the other vendors who couldn’t do anything in 2020 they were all came back and booked the kitchen for next two months. I got pushed out of the kitchen schedule because there was no hours left for me to book my own kitchen time.
After this I shut down my cooking and didn’t rent that kitchen and started looking for commercial kitchen of my own. Could not find it. And making your own commercial kitchen from scratch is minimum $100000 investments. So I gave up on that idea. And found a near by job in commercial kitchen where they were preparing 500 meals per day for 7 locations. I worked there for 6 months and gained lots of knowledge and experience on how to cook in big batches neatly and keeping it fresh and delivering fresh for customers to eat. Learned a lot. Then luckily I found a half finished commercial kitchen & in 2024 January I opened my own ORGANIC & HOLISTIC KITCHEN IN EXTON PA. And here I am again supplying my products into 4 locations of one health food store and setting my goals to enter into WHOLE FOODS BY END OF 2025.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Keep at it and being persistent & not or give up.

These three things I had keep reminding myself every single time with any setback. And

Need to unlearn big time in order to make money you have to first spend money!!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Currybowl97
• Facebook: Currybowl97 page