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PURVI

SOUTH INDIAN KITCHEN

The home cooking of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, made in London.

The two of us cooking at the Purvi South Indian Kitchen stall

We couldn’t find Donne Biryani in London, so we started making it.

Purvi Kitchens is a husband and wife team from Bangalore, both working corporate jobs in London.

Back home, Donne Biryani was part of ordinary life: fragrant short-grain rice cooked in a green masala of mint and coriander, served in a cup folded from a dried leaf. In London we couldn’t find it anywhere. So we made it ourselves at weekends, the way we remembered it.

Friends asked for it. Then friends of friends. So we put up a gazebo under our apartment in E14, and over the summer took the same biryani to markets at Wapping, Cottal Street and Aberfeldy.

We named the business Purvi, after our daughter, and set out on a mission to change the way the world eats curries and biryanis. It’s time the flavours of South India, especially Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, reached tables everywhere.

Karnataka

Bangalore’s Donne Biryani, where we began, and the herb-led green masalas of home.

Tamil Nadu

Ambur and Dindigul biryani, pepper-heavy dry fries and slow-cooked red gravies.

Four months under the gazebo

It started with a gazebo under our apartment in E14, then markets at Wapping, Cottal Street and Aberfeldy through the summer. Every dish we served was cooked on three base gravies we developed ourselves.

  1. The orange Purvi South Indian Kitchen gazebo in E14

    First weekend in E14

    The gazebo goes up under our apartment and the first biryanis go out.

  2. Three trays of biryani at the stall

    Three biryanis, three bases

    Ambur, Dindigul and green masala, served side by side.

  3. Pepper chicken wings with curry leaves and coriander

    Pepper chicken wings

    Our best-selling snack, cooked on Peppery Dindigul.

  4. Herby chicken curry with green chillies and curry leaves

    Herby chicken curry

    Chicken simmered with fresh herbs, green chilli and curry leaves.

450Covers served
£11Average spend
60%Came back
5.0On Google
5Food hygiene rating

Every dish came from one of three bases

Cooking from ready bases kept our prep short and every plate consistent, even on the busiest Saturday. Those same bases are now available to other kitchens as BaseKraft.

  • Royal Ambur Red, mild
  • Peppery Dindigul Brown, medium
  • Bangalore Botanical Green, mild
BaseKraft by Purvi Kitchens

Gravy bases for professional kitchens. Order a 1kg sample pack and try it on your own menu.

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