In 1989, the Houston and District Chamber of Commerce had the brain wave of holding an Ethnic Food Court at their annual Trade Show.

Chinese, Western and Portugese foods were already part of the show, so they approached the Sikh community and asked if they were interested in purchasing a booth as well. They were!

It was decided that this was the perfect way to introduce East Indian cuisine to their neighbors and friends, and so the women banded together, making countless samosas, appetizers and desserts.

There was a lineup to buy their goods, and a healthy donation of all profits went to the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple, which celebrated its official opening in 1990.
With the completion of the temple and its large downstairs kitchen came a new opportunity for the temple women to really get involved in helping out whenever Houston needed it most. When the floods came in 1997, the women made food for the volunteers and flood victims, while the men and children helped to fill sandbags.

Annual fundraisers for Safe Grad usually include a Samosa Drive with sales by the hundreds of the potato and pea filled triangles. The Vinning family recently bankrolled a dinner of fine East Indian curries and rotis to raise $2000 for the Senior's Retirement Housing project. A double dessert treat of rice pudding and doughnuts soaked in sugary sweetness had at least one of us up and on the treadmill early the next morning!