A slice of Tibet at your doorstep

Start-up by two students offers Tibetan delicacies as early as 5 a.m. in South Delhi

Cooking up a storm:At present, BreakfastWala caters to localities of New Friends Colony, Sarai Jullena, Okhla and Lajpat Nagar.Photo: R.V. Moorthy

For most of us, the mention of Tibetan food brings to mind the image of steaming momos or thupka.

Two Tibetan students — Tenzin Rigdol (23) and Jampa Tendar (27) — are now trying to change this idea by introducing Delhiites to BreakfastWala, their start-up that serves Tibetan food and starts delivery from 5 a.m. — an initiative that may sound new to many. What they have on offer is Tibetan bread, sponge puri (a thick, less-oily version of the conventional puri) chapatti, which is served with masala chholey. To cater to the sweet tooth, they have pancakes served with honey.

Talking about his start-up, Tenzin said: “After college, I wanted to be an entrepreneur. This is why I pitched the idea of starting my own food joint to the Tibetan Entrepreneurship Development (TED), a programme that helps Tibetan youth become entrepreneurs. They liked the idea and sent me to O P Jindal University for the pre-incubation period where I learnt the technicalities of starting a venture. I learnt the legalities of registering a firm, marketing the business and several other things.”

Tenzin’s friend Jampa joined him later. BreakfastWala was born in November last year. The founders are currently getting the start-up registered, which is expected to be completed in a month.

At present, BreakfastWala caters only to localities of New Friends Colony, Sarai Jullena, Okhla, Lajpat Nagar and nearby places. The founders, who cook and deliver the food themselves from their rented accommodation in South Delhi’s Sarai Jullena, plan to expand once they have capital.

Most of BreakfastWala’s customers are Tibetans who know about the start-up or those living close to Sarai Jullena. However, according to Jampa, many others are showing interest.

“We are getting a lot of requests from people living far away from Sarai Jullena to deliver the food. But, we can’t do it because we do not have people to deliver food. Currently, Tenzin and I take turns in cooking and delivering,” said Jampa.

Jeremy Wade, Associate Director, Jindal Centre for Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship at O P Jindal University said: “Tibetan entrepreneurs can create significant economic and social impact in their communities.

Therefore, supporting them helps create an economically self-reliant Tibetan community in India, and in turn, helps preserve the unique and compassion-based Tibetan cultural heritage.”

The founders, meanwhile, plan to tie up with rickshaw pullers to get their food delivered. Also, they are promoting their venture through WhatsApp, Facebook and WeChat. Soon, they also plan to launch a mobile application. “What differentiates us from other food delivery options is that we deliver breakfast as early as 5 a.m. But we need funds to expand our business. The response so far has been good and we hope to build on it,” says Tenzin.