Up Close and Personal: The Owners of Curry Corner

The Curry Corner grocery and Indian food takeaway shop, well-known and well-loved by Melburnians and people from all around Australia, was not always the famous and iconic Indian one-stop shop that it is today. It had very humble beginnings in a little shop on Russell St., amidst the many Chinese business establishments in Chinatown. The shop was born out of one couple’s desire to introduce Indian food and culture to a place where there was no availability of this at the time.

The year was 1974. Michael and Jaya Sharma had just moved to Melbourne. Before the shop came into existence, Michael had been working as an engineer for many years. He graduated with an engineering degree in Walsall and Staffordshire Technical College in England, where he had stayed for 16 years after his childhood in Fiji, the place he had been born in. His engineering profession took him around many countries, eventually landing in Australia with wife, Jaya, where he was last posted by the aircraft industry he was working for.

But although it was clear that Michael loved his profession, it was his wife, Jaya who prodded him to start a business where he could finally take a rest from years of working as an engineer… and where Jaya would also be able to showcase her passion for cooking Indian traditional food. Having grown to love Melbourne in the few years that they had been there so far, Michael decided that putting up shop would be a great idea, and Melbourne an ideal place to finally settle down.

Opportunity knocked when Michael came by a small, vacant space for rent within Chinatown, and the couple eagerly got started on their new venture. Yet their first two to three years of business were not without struggle. As the first and only Indian shop in Melbourne in 1978, locals had little to no knowledge of Indian ingredients and their uses, and were equally hesitant to try the new cuisine that the shop had to offer.

The couple immediately started a simple marketing campaign that consisted of food tasting and Indian cooking lessons to educate the Melburnians about Indian cuisine, in hopes that locals would acquire a taste for its flavours. And through steadfast dedication and perseverance, the couple’s business did slowly start to grow. More and more people streamed into the shop, purchasing spices, pastes, and Jaya’s passionately made home-cooked food.

Soon enough, even celebrities and politicians from other countries were visiting their shop for a taste of Jaya’s delicious samosas, which were being heralded all around Melbourne.

Michael and Jaya Sharma had created a new food culture for Australians to enjoy. Thus, in 2010, Michael was awarded Silver Medal by Melbourne’s Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle for his untiring and unyielding spirit to provide services to Melbourne’s community and for contributing to Melbourne’s multicultural fabric.

Now, after 44 years of steadfast service to Australians in providing quality spices for Indian cooking and delectable home-cooked food, Curry Corner enjoys its rank as the original and top Indian food store in Melbourne.

Enthusiastically run by son, Aneal, who took over management after Michael passed away in early 2020, and Jaya, who continues her love for cooking and serving their menu of hot meals through takeaway, delivery and catering, Curry Corner remains the best-loved Indian food shop in Melbourne and around Australia, and will surely continue to be so for years to come.

Visit the food shop or browse the Curry Corner website to avail of the various Indian grocery products and delicious takeaway or catering menu items online.

Curry Corner

Shop 3/292 Victoria St., North Melbourne VIC 3051 Australia

Email: enquiries@currycornermelbourne.com.au

Phone: 0406 238 094

Landline: 03 9663 4040