Pandemic closures inspire small business creation
Zafreen’s Kitchen caters Sylheti food with a twist
When the pandemic started Sadya Chowdhury lost her job at Greektown where she worked as a cashier. She stayed at home to care for her child and naturally, was cooking more.
“I just started working in September of 2019 and in March 2020 they shut down our hotel,” she said.
Meanwhile, a cousin who knew how much Chowdhury liked to cook asked if she could cook food for a friend who contracted the coronavirus. That became Chowdhury’s first customer, who she served solely for three months.
“I never thought I'd do food catering. I knew I wanted to do something with food,” she said.
During that time Chowdhury began taking pictures of the foods, custom and posting them to her Instagram page @ZafreensKitchen in March. Zafreen is her dhaknam, or nickname.
The page which now has more than 1,000 followers took off with the help of family and friends sharing and tagging her page of Sylheti Bangladeshi cuisine - from sweets like “egg pudding” or flan to savory chicken roast served at special occasions and parties.
“The kitchen is my favorite part of my house,” she said.
Chowdhury was born in Bangladesh. She moved to the United States when she was 16-years-old, living in Maryland for five years, and then five years in Virginia before moving to Michigan in 2018 to live closer to her family.
She says growing up she always had a passion for food and cooking. That passion is something she carried with her throughout her life. But it never became anything more until this year.
“Since I moved from Bangladesh, for the last 13 years I worked in restaurants... everything was related to food. I am so satisfied with working with food.”
Sometimes people call her and make orders, saying they will come to pick up the order in 30 min. She has to correct them and tell them that, “that will take two days,” she laughs.
She says her chicken roast and naga wings are crowd favorites. During the winter holiday break, she made about 150 naga wings. One day she was cooking from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Chowdhury is working on using different ingredients and techniques to make healthier options while retaining or making richer flavors.
“I add things to my recipes and watch videos to improve myself. I am not perfect. I learn every single day. I like to mix things up,” she said.
For now, she takes pre-orders usually available for pickup in two days.
“One of my dreams is to have a restaurant to make authentic Sylheti food,” she said.
Learn more about Chowdhury:
Instagram: @zafreens_kitchen_
Facebook: Zafreen’s Kitchen