Curry Up Now began with a leap of faith: faith in the idea of taking Indian food—with all its spicy, savory, tongue-tingling flavors—and making it portable. Three years ago, Amir Hosseini and Akash Kapoor were writing home loans in the mortgage industry when they had an epiphany, “We wanted to put our own twist on [Indian food],” explains Hosseini. “We wanted to have something different, something fast, where you don’t have to sit down and spend an hour-and-a-half to eat. We wanted tikka masala in a burrito.” Two weeks later, they were buying a food truck and going all in. “I think it was really just some heart and love of good food that pulled it all together” says Hosseini.

And pull together it did. The Tikka Masala Burrito, by far their most popular item, was joined by such adventurous (and awesomely named) items as the Deconstructed Samosa, the Naughty Naan, and the Aloo Parantha Quesadillix. This combination of Indian street food served in inventive forms garnered a loyal fanbase. Curry Up Now has since expanded to four food trucks and three restaurants in the Bay Area.

Not bad for a couple guys who originally started out with zero culinary experience. But then again, when asked for his idea of good Indian food, Hosseini replied, “You want to have a lot of different flavors penetrating in every bite. For me, I’m always about flavor. Whenever I go out and eat something, I’m always waiting for something to shock me.” Put it that way, and we’re not surprised.