Dolly Mumma Indian

Perzen's Story

We inherited a life-long love for food from my grandmother Dolly.  The food she cooked always felt like a tight hug from home – it was hearty and bursting with flavour. When I was young, she asked me what I wanted to inherit from her.  I innocently told her that all I really wanted was a big, never-ending bowl of her curry that I could always have and remember her by.

Despite this early introduction to great Indian flavours, when it came to cooking Indian at home, I was always intimidated. Which spices was I meant to dry-roast? Which worked best when added last? It felt easier to just get a takeaway. The breakthrough came when I moved back to India, started a food blog and experimented (many, many times) with spices. Finally, I understood how to balance Indian flavours and cook a great meal. My most important lesson? A handful of Indian spices can make anything taste better, whether that's a curry or a spiced mayonnaise! 

It was great to see that Aotearoa now has a diverse food scene when we moved back to New Zealand as a family in 2019.

As I started making new friends, everyone wanted advice on how to cook Indian food.

"Oh you're from Mumbai? I love having curry", they'd say. Or, "I love Dahl but sadly I can never get it right".  Or, "I bought curry powder at the Indian shop but my curry didn't taste anything like the one I usually order. I’m not quite sure what to do with it now."

It clicked that if I wanted my friends to experience the true taste of India, I had to do more than talk about it. I had to bring those flavours into their kitchen and show them how truly versatile they could be! It had to be easy. 

That’s how we came up with Dolly Mumma. A range of ready-to-cook products full of flavours and cooked with love, just like our Dolly Mumma taught us. We put the time and care in at our end to make cooking from "scratch" easy at your end. 

It's time to go beyond butter chicken. It's time for Dolly Mumma.