Fatima’s Fusion Flavors, which opened Dec. 11 in Manchester, is a fusion-style halal restaurant, combining Indian and Bengali food and American food. The idea for the fusion came from owner Ahmed Jilu, a native of Bangladesh, who has always dreamed of opening a halal restaurant, and his wife Luthfa, and their American-born kids Tashfia, Tahsin, Tahira and Mahdi.
“There’s not much halal food around here. We wanted to make it easier for people to follow those guidelines,” said Tashfia. “But all of us [kids], we were born here. We don’t want to eat Indian food all the time.”
Both approaches have succeeded. The restaurant is just a couple of blocks away from the Bayt-Ul-Mamur mosque. “People come before prayers, place their order and pick it up after prayers,” Tashfia said.
The most popular dish on the menu, though, is fusion comfort food, chicken tikka mac and cheese.
Another popular dish is Ahmed’s platters, which combine protein — chicken, beef, lamb, chicken tikka or kebab — with white rice, bell peppers and onions, with a drizzle of mild or hot sauce.
Other Indian and Bengali foods are beef, shrimp, vegetable, chicken and goat biryani; beef, fish, chicken and goat curry; chicken and mutton palak; chicken and fish 65; chicken Manchurian; ginger chicken; samosa chat; chili chicken; Mughal paratha; chicken tikka; tandoori chicken; vegetable curries and a variety of nans.
The American side of the menu offers Philly cheesesteaks; fish filet, tuna, chicken and turkey sandwiches; a cheeseburger; and an Impossible burger. Appetizers include salads, mozzarella sticks, jalapeno poppers, French fries, tater tots and onion rings.
Fusion dishes, combining flavors of both cuisines, are a chicken tikka grinder, chicken tikka mac and cheese, shish kebab grinder, chicken tikka quesadilla and a kebab roll.
The restaurant has 18 seats but is geared primarily for takeout.
Named after Ahmed’s late mother, Fatima’s is a family business; all of the Jilus work there. In a TikTok video, one of the kids writes that when the opportunity arrived to open the restaurant, the family encouraged Ahmed to follow his dream and through the hard work, their parents’ smiles have made it worth it.
The Jilus keep contact with Ahmed’s hometown, Moulvibazar, where two relatives still live. Fatima’s collects tips in a jar, and send half of the money back home to be distributed to whoever needs it. The family does this to fulfill zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam, to give to the poor.
“We have always sent food packets during Ramadan. Now we do this, too,” said Tahsin Jilu.
Fatima’s, at 180 Spruce St., Manchester, is open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. The 3:30 to 5 p.m. breaks on weekends allow the workers to prep for dinner. On Fridays from 12:45 to 1:30 p.m., the restaurant is closed so Ahmed Jilu and Khokhar can go to the mosque for Friday prayers.
See facebook.com/fatimasfusionflavors and instagram.com/fatimasfusionflavors for information.
Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.
