Media Note: Images of Masala Mama’s products can be viewed and downloaded here: https://cornell.box.com/v/MasalaMama. Additionally, Nidhi Jalan, talks about her spices and sauces, and what led her to start the Masala Mama in this video.
Newswise — ITHACA, N.Y. – True, authentic Indian food is delicious, but very difficult for home cooks to get right. The process to make a tasty tikka masala or vindaloo is long, labor-intensive and can require up to 20 different spices.
Nidhi Jalan, who moved to Brooklyn from Kolkata, India 15 years ago, recognized a burgeoning interest in Indian food among her neighbors in the trendy food scene of Flatbush. But the process to create the food was overwhelming, especially for people with limited time.
To address that problem and help introduce the U.S. to homestyle Indian food, Jalan and her husband, Kapil Bawa, founded Masala Mama in 2013. The company now offers four all-natural Indian simmer sauces.
“Indian cooking involves more than 50 different spices. There are 10 different types of red chili alone, maybe more,” Jalan said. “Most people don’t want to buy 20 new spices to try out one or two recipes. They want something simple but that still has complex flavors.”
Jalan and Bawa started with spice blends, and found early success. They were accepted to Smorgasburg, an open-air food market in Brooklyn that attracts 20,000 to 30,000 visitors each week.
“We started making masala tacos, and the food was really popular, but people weren’t really interested in the spices; they wanted the sauce,” Bawa said. “That’s when we realized, we should be doing sauces. Because once you have the sauce right, you can add anything to it, meat or vegetables, and it’s very easy.”
“You literally can’t screw up,” Jalan added.
Switching from spices to bottled sauces added a much higher level of complexity, as well as regulatory requirements to ensure food safety. That’s when Jalan and Bawa came to the Cornell Food Venture Center (CFVC).
Established in 1988, the Geneva, New York-based CFVC helps food entrepreneurs with everything from lab analysis to regulatory compliance and nutritional analysis to packaging. Jalan said she found especially helpful Cornell’s “Better Process Control School,” during which she learned about the variety of acids that would ensure her sauces remained safe and shelf-stable without altering their flavor.
“Masala Mama’s products required a very close look into the balancing of ingredients to make sure the products consistently met safety requirements without disrupting the flavor of the product,” said Bruno Xavier, Ph.D., a food microbiologist and extension associate at the CFVC.
Masala Mama continues to grow. From a beginning distribution in 10 stores in Brooklyn, Masala Mama is now available in 400 to 500 stores nationwide. Three of their sauces – Tikka Masala, Goa Coconut Curry and Vindaloo – are being distributed through Whole Foods grocery stores.
“I would recommend to every producer, especially in New York state, to do the Control School at Cornell. It makes a big difference,” Jalan said. “Cornell has been amazing to work with.”
Cornell University has television, ISDN and dedicated Skype/Google+ Hangout studios available for media interviews. For additional information, see this Cornell Chronicle story.
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