Riverside home restaurant Cali Tardka is a labor of love

One Riverside family business really is a labor of love, taking mom's cooking to the next level.

Cali Tardka is a home-based Indian, Punjabi fusion restaurant that saved Manu Sanghu's family from near homelessness. It's now a sought-after hot spot, and Mom is the chef.

Sanghu says about five years ago, his family was about to lose their home but worked together to come up with a solution.

"After losing a couple of houses back-to-back, we got blessed with one house in Riverside. But after a couple of months, my dad's job just tanked again so we were pretty much about to lose that house," said Sanghu.

"But together as a family, it was like 9 p.m. at night, and we were just fed up. We wanted to stay in one place and mom had a talent for cooking so we're like, why don't we start a social media restaurant" – and the rest is history.

Through social media, and collaborating with influencers and celebrities, Sanghu said Cali Tardka grew with people driving in from Las Vegas, Palm Springs, and San Diego for the food.

"It's curbside pick-up, you can pull up to our house and there's a huge flag outside, pull up to it and get your order by text or ordering online," said Sanghu.

And family is what makes this business work.

"We Cook everything with love, and fresh every morning," said mom and chef Kimmi Sanghu. Some specialties are chicken tikka fries, homemade samosas, and garlic naan. 

She credits her son with keeping everything moving and growing. "It feels so good. I never even dreamed of it… I'm like that kind of person that lives a day-to-day life, I never 'dream' about anything," said Kimmi.

Riverside allows people to create and sell homemade meals through the MEHKO law, which took effect in 2019. Not all cities and counties have adopted the law.

If you want to order from Cali Tardka, look to social media accounts @Calitardka.