{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"HUNGRY.","title":"How I Built the UK's First Indian Street Food Chain (it was easier than you think) - Nisha Katona, Mowgli","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":5556,"description":"From bricks through the window in 1960s Skelmersdale to queues around the block in Liverpool, this is a story of immigrant hunger, insecurity, obsession with standards — and building something that blesses a city. Dan sits down with Nisha Katona — founder of Mowgli Street Food — the woman who turned authentic Indian home cooking into the first national Indian street food chain in Britain. \nNisha breaks down why Mowgli was never meant to be a “curry house,” why Hindu home cooking avoids garlic and onion at lunch, and how sitting outside Greggs watching men in high-vis jackets shaped her pricing strategy.\nWe talk about scale, magic, heart, delivery, Empire, authenticity, Nando’s, Greggs, and why growth should never be something you’re ashamed of.\nThis is a masterclass in building a restaurant brand with soul — and keeping that soul intact across 27 sites.\nIf you care about food, cities, entrepreneurship, culture — or how to turn anxiety into momentum — this one’s special.\nON THE MENU:\n00:00 Intro\n00:54 Is Nisha a Workaholic?\n02:54 Does Scale Kill Magic in Restaurants?\n03:13 Treating Every Restaurant Like Your Child\n04:26 Why She Decorated Mowgli to Fail\n07:29 The First National Indian Street Food Chain\n08:44 Curry House vs Authentic Indian Home Cooking\n11:54 The Four Pillars of Building a Restaurant Brand\n25:47 Researching Demand Before Opening a Restaurant\n26:33 Pricing for Men in High-Vis Jackets\n27:14 Chicken Tikka Masala & Britain’s National Dish\n32:27 Why Mowgli Finally Launched Delivery\n35:28 Temple Daal: Authentic Indian Home Food\n41:40 Why Scale Doesn’t Kill Magic\n43:18 Why She Backed Uber Eats in the North\n44:46 Why Restaurant & Delivery Can Coexist\n45:51 Restaurants Are Like Cinema for Your Tastebuds\n59:45 Immigrant Parents, £2 in Their Pocket\n01:00:50 Growing Up With Racism in 1960s Britain\n01:27:00 Why She Refuses to Overbuild\n01:30:48 The £35k vs £285k London Rent Decision","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/gxmV4UzMdxQXxd72h-fgEanMz6IG37j1u683zTmU0ac/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS85ZGI4/Y2FkNjcwNmEwMDNm/YWUwOTcyZTM0YzYw/YWU3My5qcGVn.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}