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INUVIK
For those looking for a way to heat up in the coming winter months there's a new take-out service in Inuvik.

Aru Vashisht serves from warming trays she has set up in her kitchen on Nov. 11. Vashisht has been selling Indian food from her home for the past few weekends. - Danielle Sachs/NNSL photo

Aru Vashisht has been preparing and selling Indian food from her home for a few weekends now and so far the response has been overwhelming.

This past weekend, she was making non-stop batches of tandoori chicken, rice, chicken biryani, chicken tikka and fresh naan bread.

The chicken was hot and overflowed with the smell of Indian spices as Vashisht explained why she decided to start offering Indian food.

"Indian food is so great and living up here sometimes you feel like you have to go all the way to Edmonton for something different," she said.

Vashisht started by testing out different recipes to see what she liked and what she thought other people would be interested in.

"I started telling people about it, saying I was going to start and as soon as I posted on Facebook and the rolling channel, orders started coming in."

Friday evening, Vashisht sold out of tandoori chicken within two hours.

"Somebody called to see if there was any left and I had to tell them I just had rice."

Vashisht relies on a personal touch. For each batch of food she's careful to try a sample, making sure it's not too spicy and it tastes the way it should.

"It can get kind of crazy in here," she said.

"I'll be cooking and answering the phone for orders, checking Facebook and e-mail for orders, and of course running to the door for people picking up their food."

The naan bread doesn't need a lot of time in the oven and Vashisht is all about timing to make sure it's out the door as hot and fresh as possible.

"My mom said buying it would have been cheaper than making it but I wanted it to be right," she said.

"It's a lot of work but it's so tasty."

So far, even with advertising on Facebook and the rolling channel, Vashisht said most of her orders are coming in through word of mouth.

"Everybody from different cultures should consider this," she said.

"We have a lot of cultures in this community and being so north it's nice to have something different."

For now, Vashisht, is limiting the order to weekends and the very occasional weekday request.

"I love my food and I want everyone to try it," she said.

"If people are supporting me they deserve good food."

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