Before Swetha and Venkat Raju launched their pop-up restaurant Brooklyn Curry Project, they helped their daughter set up a lemonade stand.

In May 2021, their daughter Mahati — 6 years old, at the time — wanted to set up a cash register and chalkboard signs to sell drinks and dosas outside the Fort Greene Park Green Market in Brooklyn, New York.

Swetha made masala dosas, a traditional South Indian crepe-like pancake made from fermented rice and lentils, for her daughter to sell. She watched as customers bit into them and widened their eyes in delight, and decided to sell dosas there every Saturday, she says.

A month in, she and Venkat arrived with butane stoves to cook more dosas in real time. By September 2021, hundreds of people lined up each Saturday, sometimes waiting for hours to buy $10 dosas, the couple says. The Rajus, both 40, now make and sell their dosas — now for $12 each — at a nearby commercial kitchen to keep up with demand, and host a seated lunch there once per month.

Brooklyn Curry Project's income fluctuates month-to-month, depending on the time of year and how many events the Rajus host. In June 2024, for example, the business brought in more than $15,600, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

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Over the full year, Brooklyn Curry Project brought in more than $8,100 in median monthly revenue, collected over Venmo. The business brings in some additional revenue in cash payments, and has a roughly 12% profit margin, Venkat estimates.

"In America, all Indian restaurants taste the same. The menus are all very stereotyped," he says. "In India, the varieties and flavors are different and specific to their region. We missed that regional food scene."

Swetha emigrated to New York from Bengaluru, India, for a job in 2016. Venkat and their two children followed a year later. It was an isolating, jarring experience, they say, so they started cooking as a family and inviting neighbors to their home for chai and biscuits.

"When I moved here, the biggest thing that hit me was I had to eat alone," says Swetha. "It felt like some parts of our souls were missing."

The Rajus, who both obtained green cards in 2019, now spend $700 per week on ingredients and supplies, a couple extra hundred per week to pay their four part-time staffers and $3,800 per month on rent. They source many of their spices from farmers in India, including cloves, cinnamon and bay leaves shipped from Swetha's parents' farm in Bengaluru, she says.

Brooklyn Curry Project is a physically demanding side hustle, especially for parents with full-time jobs. Swetha, a software engineer, and Venkat, a real estate lawyer, spend their weeknights grocery shopping. They prepare for six hours each Friday to run their pop-up on Saturdays from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

In total, they each work more 20 hours per week on the side hustle, Venkat estimates. The time investment is worthwhile, they say: Food helps them connect with the people around them, and community-building can be challenging for immigrants. People from all over the world have met new friends — and future spouses, even — while waiting in line for the Rajus' dosas, they say.

Swetha and Venkat say they hope to eventually make Brooklyn Curry Project their full-time jobs: They're running a crowdsourced fundraising campaign and looking at locations to eventually open a sit-down restaurant.

"When you cook and share a meal, that's how you tell someone you care about them," says Swetha. "It's also how you share a part of your culture, because every region is different. Food connects and brings people together, and that's how communities are built."

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