Northampton woman ‘overwhelmed’ by positive response to lockdown curries, which she now sells full-time

A Northampton woman has shared her journey of making curries for friends and family during the pandemic, which she has now taken on as a full-time job.

Lynne Seal freshly makes “delicious homemade Indian cuisine to be chilled and reheated at your convenience”, under the brand name ‘I Love Curry’.

Lynne did not intend for this venture to become a business, as she previously owned a tanning salon.

However, as salons were among the first to be locked down during the pandemic, making curry became her outlet during an uncertain time.

The 61-year-old has always loved cooking and wanted to replicate what she enjoyed eating in Indian restaurants.

“I’ve loved curry for as long as I can remember,” said Lynne. “I love going out to Indian restaurants and would get a takeaway every Saturday night.”

She shared that for 40 years of her life, she wanted to learn how to make her favourite curry for herself – a dhansak.

This all began when she and her partner went out for dinner and she enjoyed her curry so much that she craved it again the next day.

Having ordered a takeaway from the same place they visited the night before, it was as if it was from a different restaurant as the quality was just not the same.

From that point on, Lynne decided she would no longer order Indian cuisine and would try to make curries for herself.

Lynne has two grown up children and when she made her first successful batch of curries during the pandemic, her son took some for his friends.

The next week, they all wanted to buy them – but Lynne was reluctant as there was a lot of hard work that went into it.

During a weekend of bad weather, Lynne wondered what to do with her time and told her son to ring around his friends to see if anyone wanted to place an order.

12 orders that week then exceeded to 40 the next, and that was solely from friends, family and people she knew.

Lynne was taken aback by the positive response and set up a Facebook page to publicise what she was doing.

Living in Moulton, which she described as a “community spirited” area, everyone was supportive and there was nowhere else to purchase curries from at that time.

Lynne was making up to 90 curries a week before she returned to the salon, as things started to drop off with the cooking when she was unable to get her kitchen inspected during the pandemic.

She carried on making her delicious curries for friends and family until she sold her salon last year, after which she got her long-awaited inspection and five star hygiene rating.

What went from making curries during lockdown to occupy her time and as a benefit for her mental health is now a full-time job for the 61-year-old.

Lynne sells the curries chilled, so customers can reheat them straight away or freeze them until they want to eat them.

She responds to orders quickly, at any time of the day, but the cut off point for weekend orders is midday on Thursdays.

The curries are only available for pick up on Fridays and Saturdays between 4pm and 7pm, but the business owner tends to make extra and puts them on Facebook to see if anyone wants to purchase them.

Lynne even keeps spares in her freezer as she has built such a good relationship with customers that they will often message to see if she has any more going if they have not placed an order in time.

When asked how it felt to get such a good response when she first made curries for her son’s friends, Lynne said: “It was overwhelming to be honest. Surreal.

“I never set out for it to be a business. I didn’t think people would love them like they did, and still do today.”

She admits she “never” imagined she would get to where she is today, despite the positive reviews and feedback in the early days.

This venture is “completely different” from what Lynne used to do running her salon, and she says cooking is “quite demanding” and requires a lot of organisation.

Lynne believes what sets her apart is that she would never serve anything that she would not eat herself and uses top quality, fresh ingredients.

The business owner was not afraid to share just how much chicken she throws away, as she is not prepared to put it in her food if it is not good enough.

Both Lynne’s favourite, dhansak, and least favourite curry, chicken tikka masala, are the most popular choices among her customers.

Lynne appreciates every single customer who purchases from her – and is prepared to travel and reheat what she has lovingly prepared.

Though she would like to see the business expand, Lynne does not aspire to own a restaurant. She simply wants to receive enough orders to make a living and continue enjoying it.

“I’m confident that what I do sell, people really love,” she said. “I offer good portions, reasonable prices, and try to be competitive while making money.”

Along the way, Lynne has made some “lovely friends” who are always supportive and love to chat when picking up their orders – which Lynne hopes will continue.

For more information, visit Lynne’s Facebook page ‘I Love Curry’ here.