Meet Sara Qureshi | CBS Chef & Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sara Qureshi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sara, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
So, we had dabbled around with food as a business idea in the past as well. We had offered cakes to catering to personalized weekly meal-preps for families back in NJ and then for a short while in Dallas back in 2021. However we saw a significant gap in the Dallas market when looking for healthy AND Zabiha Halal eating options for our own family. It is safe to say that Chatkhara by Sara’s journey into the healthy meal-prep sector is a reflection of our family’s journey towards healthier eating habits, not only for health and lifestyle reasons; but also to instill healthy eating habits in our children.

We want to serve premium quality Zabiha Halal Pakistani/Fusion food with a healthy spin on some of our loved classics (i.e. Karahi Chicken, Chilli Chicken with Fried Rice) with the added convenience of home delivery. Having 3 young kids ourselves, we specifically wanted to create a platform that is easy, accessible and trustworthy for the incredibly busy moms & families in our community. In addition to all of that, we want to make each meal a positive culinary experience for our customers. We pay very close attention to the taste, to its freshness, to ensuring that it includes all the condiments or sides needed to enjoy the blessing of food with our loved ones, without the guilt of low-nutrient/high calorie meals.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Our work is at its infancy stages right now. We are just 2 years old in the Dallas community. I would like to think that what sets us apart is the fact that we are incredibly rooted to our religious and cultural roots and yet completely understand the contemporary food scene since we grew up in this environment. Between Taha & I, we have grown up in Pakistan, Kuwait, Dubai, Australia & America. This unique background has allowed us to experience and appreciate the different cuisines from around the world. We don’t claim to be the best, but we are committed to constantly learning about our customers needs, their preferences, new research on healthier oils, ingredients and cooking techniques, trying out new recipes to further improve menu.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Haha, this sounds like such a plug-in but most of my friends know that if they come to my place, they are eating at my place. If my best friend was visiting, we would probably have lunch at my place (some chicken pulao with eggplant raita, garden salad & kebabs). We would also definitely go to Big Dash (Richardson) for some baklava and fresh Kinafa.
For coffee, we would grab some Dutch Bro, coffee (Iced Caramelizer for me).
For chai, we would do either Jimmy’s or Al-Markaz (Carrolton) for chai and samosas.
Other places we would definitely go to are Jimmy’s Grill, Plano; Shish Kebab (Richardson); Noodle Wave (Frisco); Wave Bowl (Plano) & Milano’s Pizza (Richarson) for their BBQ Ch. Pizza.

We would go to the local parks (Bonnie Wenk in Mckinney & Bethany Lakes in Allen are our favorite) for walks. And I would have to take them to a theatre performance at the Eisemann Center for Performing Arts (hoping something good is on then).

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Absolutely!! Before jumping to people, I have to express immense gratitude towards Allah (swt). In English, He is called God but to maintain personal authenticity, I will refer to Him as Allah (swt) in this interview. I truly believe that Allah (swt) has gifted every single person with their own sets of gifts. And I thank Him for gifting me the passion for food, recipes, cooking, our culture and the deep desire to serve. I just hope and pray that I can best use these gifts to serve the community and in return, attain a closer connection to Him, Ameen.

After Allah (swt), my parents have influenced my love for food greatly. I have grown up in a household where dinner was always a family affair around the table. And my mom is an amazing cook who always had large gathering of family and friends over for dinners. As a kid growing up, food was always associated with positive emotions. After getting married, I realized my in laws are even bigger foodies so that helped my desire to learn and experiment with new recipes.

But most of all, my anchor is my best friend, my biggest critique and my husband. I was and still am quite “safe” with my food order choices at restaurants. But Taha opened my eyes to all the wonderful foods from around the world and appreciate them in their context. He still gets a taste of every meal I cook and his critiquing skills have improved with my cooking adventures lol Our 6 year old son is now in line to becoming the next big food critique as he is advising me to add more salt or a touch of lemon to the dishes.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chatkharabysara/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChatkharabySara

Other: Whatsapp for weekly meal-prep: chat.whatsapp.com/G1LqOkvODaVHbDnT90qG5c