By Jacob Moseley
A fresh take on Indian cuisine is set to take Leicester by storm this summer as the Mowgli Street Food chain expands into the city and into Sheffield and Cardiff.
Founder of the company and former child protection barrister, Nisha Katona, opened the first Mowgli restaurant in Bold Street in Liverpool back in 2014 – before going on to open seven more restaurants nationwide.
Nisha said: “I’m evangelical about ancestral offerings and wanted to lift the veil on what Indians would conjure up in the depths of their family kitchen.”
Mowgli Street Food aims to offer fast food but using quality traditional recipes and has a selection of 20 dishes, each with bright and intense flavours; and with only eight of these being meat dishes, it’s the perfect option for a vegan or vegetarian.
Nisha said: “As an Indian, Leicester was the bright lights, big city in terms of Indian food. It was the place to which we travelled on family days out to buy spices and Indian vegetables, we go where people want us, and Leicester has so many fond memories for me.”
Among the best sellers on the Mowgli menu are Yoghurt Chat Bombs which Nisha said “are a must”, chip butties and the traditional Indian cuisine of Bunny Chow.
“We’re excited to open in Leicester,” she said. “It’s great to have diversity and what we offer is a far cry from what is peddled in traditional curry houses.”
On its website, Mowgli said its business “is about the smash and grab zing of healthy, light, virtuosic herbs and spices.”