About
Founded in Florence in 2018 by a chef from Kerala and a journalist from Florence. Today a brigade from several regions of India, and a team that creates weddings across Italy and abroad.
The name
Nura means light.
The word is Aramaic. Behind it are two very different journeys, which become one project in Florence.
- 01
Kerala, the Emirates, Florence.
Basheer leaves Kerala very young, lives and works in the United Arab Emirates, then comes to Italy. In Florence, in 2013, the dishes he grew up with become the association India a Casa Tua.
- 02
Florence, Milan, India.
Marta, born in Florence, spends about ten years in Milan in journalism, communication and contemporary art. In 2008, on a trip to India, her path meets Basheer's.
- 03
Florence, 2018.
NURA is born: the first Indian food truck in Italy, then the catering, then the weddings. The scale has changed, the principles have not.
- 04
A brigade from many regions.
Around NURA, Punjabi, Gujarati, South Indian and Sri Lankan chefs: one kitchen that can cook Gujarati one day and Sri Lankan the next.
The founders
Two roles, kept distinct.
Basheer leads the kitchen and the culinary direction. Marta leads planning, coordination and the relationship with the client.
Founder and Head Chef
Basheerkutty Mansoor
From Kerala, in South India. He left young, lived and worked in the United Arab Emirates, and built his experience in restaurants and kitchens in Italy. In Florence, cooking the dishes he grew up with for family and friends became the association India a Casa Tua in 2013, and NURA in 2018.
Around NURA he has built an international brigade: chefs from different regions and culinary traditions, so that one kitchen can cook Gujarati one day and Sri Lankan the next, with an authentic link to each family's recipes.
Tradition, for him, does not mean standing still. Live cooking, the tandoor, street food and food stations are the ways he has found to bring Indian cuisine into the world of destination weddings and the villas of Italy and Europe.
To cook for hundreds of guests with the same care you would give someone sitting at your own table.
Co-founder and Event Director
Marta Casati
Born in Florence, she spent about ten years in Milan working in journalism, communication and contemporary art: criticism, curating, exhibitions. It was work that trained her eye for image and space, and for projects where different elements have to find a common language.
Her path crossed Basheer's on a journey to India in 2008. When NURA was founded in 2018, two very different experiences converged. As it grew, she took over the planning and organisation of the events and became the main contact for couples, planners, venues and the professionals around them.
She follows the path from the first enquiry to the final proposal, often with families organising their wedding from thousands of kilometres away. For her, catering is never an isolated element: it has to work with the venue, the creative concept, the timing and the guests' whole experience.
Listening, clarity and trust, from the first contact to the day of the event.
The team
Not two people: a brigade.
Behind every NURA event there is a brigade of professionals and Indian cooks, the service staff, and the people who set up the kitchen and design the space.
- The kitchenChefs from different regions and traditions, led by Basheer.
- Front of houseStaff who know the order of a wedding day.
- The set-upThe people who set up the kitchen, the buffets and the mise en place.
- The projectMarta, with the families and the planners, from the first enquiry.
The brigade comes from
- Punjab
- Gujarat
- South India
- Sri Lanka
All these clips come from footage the team shoots at events.
Milestones
From a food truck to Vogue.
-
2018
- NURA is founded, with the first Indian food truck in Italy.
- First article in Gambero Rosso, as a business to watch.
-
2019
- Chosen by ICSE as a case study for the workshop on foreign entrepreneurship in Tuscany.
- With FAI, the event Alla Corte del Maharaja at Villa Necchi Campiglio, Milan.
- A feature in La Cucina Italiana.
-
2020
- Listed in the Gambero Rosso guide among Italy's best street food.
- NURA Delivery starts, covering Florence and seven nearby towns.
-
2021
- An article by the critic Leonardo Romanelli.
- Cooking show by Basheer at MIDA 2021, Fortezza da Basso, Florence.
-
2022
- A six-page feature in Novella Cucina on Basheer and the kitchen.
- Food partner of Firenze Rocks, the ATP Tennis Open Tour and Corri la Vita.
-
2023
- Food partner of River to River, the Indian film festival in Florence.
-
2024
- Cooking show by Basheer at Teatro Cinema La Compagnia, Florence.
- A record year for weddings catered.
-
2025
- First appearance at Pitti Uomo.
- A NURA wedding published in Vogue India, then a second one in British Vogue.
-
2026
- A wedding at Palace de Menthon, on Lake Annecy, in France.
- Anjana and Isaiah's wedding, featured by Brideluxe Weddings and picked up by CNN-News18.
Featured in: Vogue UK 2025 · Vogue India 2025 · Style Me Pretty 2025 · Brideluxe Weddings 2026 · CNN-News18 2026 · Gambero Rosso 2019 · La Cucina Italiana 2019 · Novella Cucina 2022 · The Florentine 2021 · Tuscany People 2019 · Firenze Urban Lifestyle 2022
Write to Marta.
She replies personally, within two working days.