A first of its kind Indian hub and separate café is set to open in West Cumbria.
Husband and wife duo Sachin Mishra, 47, and Shubha Sachin, 45, of Nethertown, who run Dosa Chaska, a popular authentic Indian mobile food trailer business, are getting ready to expand in the new year.
The pair will officially open Indian Hub, by Dosa Chaska, in Haigh Enterprise Park in Whitehaven, on January 18, as a space for cultural workshops, community dining experiences and as a central production kitchen and manufacturing hub.
Alongside the hub, Sachin and Shubha are also creating a new Dosa Chaska café in Cockermouth, on 46 Main Street, which they are hoping to open by mid February next year.
Sachin said: “We started out doing events like the Egremont Christmas fair and running the food trailer in different places as a proof of concept, and people started really loving it.
“So fast forward to now, we thought because people are loving it, we need to do something more with this.
“It’s our vision to disrupt the fast food model, we can create healthy food that can also be fast, because we understand that people are busy.
“People do love to have healthy food, but they don’t always have that option, so they grab coffee or whatever is available, they know it’s not great, but it can be the only option.
“We want to break this barrier with the hub and café as a scalable model, and all the money we have made from this so far has gone towards this.”
The hub and activities that take place there will be run by the duo under their community interest company Indian Global Village – born from the pair’s passion to share culture and healthy authentic Indian food with the local community.
Each workshop, activity and dining experience that takes place at the hub will directly fund more activities and sessions there.
Events going ahead will include dining experiences that celebrate Indian culture, authentic Indian cooking workshops, Bollywood dance and yoga sessions and Ayurvedic wellness workshops.
The hub has been painted by Cumbrian mural artist Ian Alcock, of Beardy Synergy and Sachin and Shubha’s daughters, Aarshiya, 14, and Aadya, 12, have also helped create the hub.
Shubha said: “This hub represents something West Cumbria has never had before, a dedicated space where authentic Indian vegetarian cuisine, Ayurvedic wellness principles, and cultural education come together to address real community needs.
“We’re not just opening a kitchen, we’re creating a wellness destination that promotes health, diversity, and cultural understanding.”
Sachin said that the pair have planned an authentic banana leaf dining experience with live sitar and Indian classical dance as a way to celebrate the hub’s opening.
The event, which will take place at the Marchon Club in Whitehaven, has proven so popular, it has already sold out and over 101 people are set to attend.
Sachin said: “The response has been phenomenal, I never thought it would be such a massive response. But people are loving it and all the support from West Cumbrian people asking us if we need any help to let them know, it’s so great.
“It’s not a typical dining experience, it’s the way it works in India, but it will be a new experience and we’re hopeful people will really enjoy it.
“For the first time in Cumbria we will have a banana leaf dining experience and people will be able to come, eat, experience the music and have a great time.”
Sachin, who also works as a business analyst, said part of the money made from the café will also go into supporting the hub.
The café will serve dosas, which are crispy Indian savoury pancakes topped with a variety of different fillings of choice, sweet treats drinks and more.
It will also sell dosa batter for people to make their own at home as well as frozen curries.
He added: “The café will make the money for us, but part of it will go back to the community through Indian Global Village.
“It’s a small outlet, but we are investing a lot in it, the kitchen has to be created and décor done, we just signed the lease a few weeks back, but we are hopeful people will enjoy it.
“We want to employ people locally to help run it, so youngsters or people who have retired or anyone neurodiverse, we want to train them and find local employment.
“It will take some time as we’ve just got it, but around 10 people comfortably should be able to sit and enjoy a meal once it’s done.
“We’re also trying to create a model where someone in a rush can grab food and go and do small events to bring people in to talk about food in Cockermouth.”
Sachin and Shubha also currently offer frozen curry subscriptions and are hoping to grow this service with the introduction of the hub and café.
He added: “Our curries are so popular we have frozen curry subscriptions. People buy from the hub and our place and enjoy them at home. We have people who have bought 20 curries in one go to have them for Christmas dining.
“This year we’ve got locally around 25 people subscribed for almost a year now, and they’re bringing more people as well. But it’s nice because in our family we eat what we sell.
“Shubha is the visionary for this whole thing and she says, ‘I need to give my customers exactly what I feed my kids on a daily basis.”
The pair said they are passionate about making their food across all parts of their growing business accessible to those with dietary needs.
Sachin said: “We’re able to cater for various dietary needs, that’s our promise, that we make food that is accessible and diverse and catered to everyone’s needs.
“We don’t want to say people with gluten issues or vegans cannot come here, so we are trying to accommodate as much as possible.
“Where the hub is in Whitehaven, we will do all out food processing, it will basically be a food lab and all our ingredients have to be as locally sourced as much as possible.
“I know we are small, but we want to share the message that food is you, we truly believe Indian food is linked to health and wellbeing.
“Food brings people together, people can come, try the food, talk about different cultures and open their minds to new things.”
People interested in working at Dosa Chaska’s upcoming café who have a strong interest in their overall health and wellness mission can get in touch via Facebook.
The hub’s workshop timetable and opening hours will be announced in the coming weeks as it gets ready to open.
