Flavor Without Borders: Sheal & Shelly Patel of Homebhais | AAPI Heritage Month

May 26, 2026

answers by Sheal & Shelly Patel, Co-Founders of Homebhais

intro & questions by Tina Alhani, HHM Chief of Staff

Who doesn't love barbecue? There's plenty to love about it.

There's something about the soul of BBQ that cuts deeper than the meats & richness of flavor- it's deeply personal.

The Founders of Homebhais, Sheal & Shelly Patel, walk us through the collision of Texas summers and Indian cooking, and how the combination makes a beautiful expression of flavor.

What role did BBQ play in your life growing up?

BBQ is how I was introduced to the idea of first eating meat, so it really expanded my horizons. During the summers as a kid, we’d go to Texas to visit my extended family, and looking forward to eating traditional Texas BBQ with them was something I looked forward to every year. When my parents first realized how much I enjoyed it, they started allowing me and encouraging me to experiment with flavors in the kitchen. That’s when I started cooking regularly, making meals for myself and learning how to BBQ through trial and error.

How did your experience with food growing up impact your culinary path?

Growing up, 90+ % of my meals were Indian food. So by an early age, I developed a deep palette for Indian flavors. So naturally, as I got older and started cooking for myself, Indian food and flavors were always what I defaulted to, because it’s what I knew best, and I knew I liked it. Eventually, those flavors started finding their way into sandwiches, tacos, wing flavors, dips, and pretty much everything I was making.

At what point did you decide to make the Homebhais Indian BBQ Sauce? Were there any challenges in capturing that unique flavor and blend of ingredients in a shelf-stable product?

During the pandemic, I started a pop-up concept that I had been thinking about for a long time. It had been in the back of my mind for years, but got solidified after I took a spontaneous roadtrip to visit some iconic BBQ spots throughout the country. The pandemic was a time to take creative and entrepreneurial risks, so I decided to go for it. From there, I developed a full menu of Indian BBQ favorites, and started getting requests specifically for the various sauces I had developed. That’s when I realized I was onto something. We decided to spin off a separate sauce and condiment business, and started with our flagship product, the world’s first commercially available Indian BBQ sauce. After witnessing the rise of Japanese and Korean BBQ sauces in the pantry aisle, we knew we could carve out our own space.

It took a lot of trial and error to get the recipe right. No one has ever done this before, so we took it incredibly seriously knowing that we were pioneering a new space. We wanted to make something that would appeal to anyone shopping in the BBQ Sauce aisle, something perfectly balanced and familiar, while respecting the flavors and traditions of our ancestry.

What do you think the Indian BBQ scene currently looks like in the US? What are you most excited about?

We are really just scratching the surface of Indian BBQ in the United States, both in the traditional sense, and those that lean toward American fusion. Outside of our core urban centers (such as Indian neighborhoods in NY, LA, Chicago) it’s almost impossible for your average American to come across traditional Indian BBQ. Fusion-style Indian BBQ - like Homebhais - is also relatively new. We’ve met a few others paving the way in other parts of the country, which

has been great to see. Generally, American BBQ is having an explosion of Asian (and other) flavors influencing it. We’ve seen Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Mexican, and even recently, Egyptian American BBQ. So it’s an exciting time to be a part of this space!

Tell me about the flavors that are in your Homebhais Indian BBQ Sauce. What meats/vegetables/etc do you think it goes best with? What's been your favorite way to use it?

The interesting thing about Homebhais Indian BBQ Sauce is that while most brands balance spice with sugar, we realized that people don’t prefer how sugary most BBQ sauces are, so we leaned towards vinegar (Carolina style). This leaves you with a lip-smacking flavor with a spicy backbone. My favorite way to use the sauce - by far - is on ribs. A close second is chicken wings. And on the vegetarian front, it makes for a great baked potato or avocado toast topping.

What do you hope that people will take away from Indian food/culture/cooking by using your BBQ Sauce?

I love Indian food but I get that it doesn’t always translate to a simple, 30-minute meal. We recognize that cooking an authentic Indian meal can be overwhelming; we see our own friends and family members struggle through it regularly. Some recipes call for up to 100 ingredients! So we never intended to replace those traditional meals. But we wanted to introduce something that serves as a bridge to those flavors, something easy for any home chef. We recognize the complexity and diversity of our homeland cooking. We love it so much while admitting that we sometimes need a little help. And Homebhais is here to help :)

More About Homebhais (formerly Dhuaan BBQ):