Hindi is Serving the Indian Food Cairo Has Been Craving

You've had Indian takeout in Cairo before, but how often have you had a home-cooked Indian meal? The Fifth Settlement has just been introduced to the next best thing: Hindi, a cloud kitchen dedicated to offering authentic Indian dishes delivered as freshly as it was made.

“I want to change the mentality of Indian cuisine in Egypt,” Nadine Farrag, the founder and CEO of Hindi, tells SceneEats. Farrag was first exposed to Indian cuisine when she studied abroad in Montreal, home to over 100,000 Indians living in the diaspora. Yet when she returned home, it was difficult to find her favourite dishes unless she committed to sitting at a hotel restaurant. Yes, sure, the pan-Asian restaurant around the corner does butter chicken, but do they serve biryani in a handmade claypot?

It's this attention to detail that Farrag aspired to bring with her when she founded Hindi, looking to pay tribute to the diversity and specificity of Indian cuisine while adapting each dish to match the customer's preferences, whether it's a low spice tolerance or a vegan regimen. The biryani in a claypot, which is how it's traditionally served, was just one of the many touches and techniques she learned from Indian chefs and university friends.When this SceneEats writer ordered Hindi for lunch for a 2 PM delivery, it arrived at 1:59 PM. Everything was still warm and stacked neatly inside the sturdy Hindi paper bag as if each of the four dishes had just come off the stove. With severe food allergies, ordering food in Cairo can be a stressful experience. But the Hindi team reassured me that the Baingan Bharta (mashed eggplant), Dal Tadke Wali (seasoned lentils), Dhaniya Murgh (coriander chicken) and Shrimp Curry were made specifically for me - without a trace of dairy products or peanuts. The yellow Dal over seasoned white rice was my favourite, followed closely by the coriander chicken - one of Hindi’s most popular dishes.

Each plastic container was clearly labelled with the dish’s name - in both English and Arabic - to help match the plates with the descriptions on the menu. Beneath the label, a row of chili peppers specified the spice-level. Each of my dishes boasted all five.

But as Farrag taught us, spice in Hindi does not just mean it's hot. When they say it's spicy, they are referring to the traditional Indian tastes often stored in a ‘masala dabba’ (spice box) - like cumin, coriander, and blends of chili powder. These are the spices that make your mouth water and colours your food with cool yellows, sunset oranges and turmeric golds. It's the very essence of Indian cuisine - you can even tell how authentic the butter chicken is from the colour alone.“The colour of ‘Butter Chicken’ shouldn’t be red and it shouldn’t be yellowish. It should be a rich burnt orange, a deep amber,” Farrag said, a shade that took time to perfect. Hindi imports spices from abroad like mace or javithri - the covering that surrounds the nutmeg seed—to guarantee culinary integrity. They also make staples like paneer cheese in-house.

While there are many qualities that make Indian cuisine entirely unique, Farrag believes in the compatibility between Indian and Egyptian tastes - from the rice to the bread to the way everyone eats like a family, with food traditionally served to be shared between hands. It's that faint taste of home in Montreal, familiar but so different, that Farrag hopes to bring to homes across Cairo.
Currently, Hindi delivers to the Fifth Settlement, Maadi, and Heliopolis. It also dedicates one day a week to 6th of October, Sheikh Zayed and Zamalek.