1. We're starting a hot sauce company -- and it's primed to be the next biggest brand in the world. Seriously. The Oprah-iPad-Lebron of the condiment world. It's going to innovate how people eat food forever and we'll soon be on the cover of Forbes next to Richard Branson and he's going to be... like... cowering to our creative genius and I'm going to have a badass grin while... you know... sitting on top of a rhino with my pecs rippling - oh yeah, I'm not wearing a shirt... yeah... and we'll look like huge hitters and then we'll get our own Food Network show and then our own movie. Does anyone else hear the Star Wars theme song thundering in the background? I do.
2. Being a food entrepreneur is going to be sweet -- and it's a simple, sure-fire 3-step process.
Step 1: Develop a tasty recipe
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Badass picture on the cover of Forbes
3. As a brand new company, we're a long, long way from Forbes. Sure there's the upcoming rhino and the pecs, but we're in it for the long haul. We're optimistic, driven by a passion for food, and just naïve enough that we hope to influence American eating habits. Our products taste awesome, and our friends seem to like them, so why not try this out - right? Although in philosophy we're no different than full-bellied children who think their mothers should open a restaurant because she makes the bestest pancakes in the whole world, we are also just starting to see the enormity of the challenge of starting a food business. We're terrified. We're pumped. Let's do this.
4. Who are we? We're two normal dudes who became friends in grad school and loved to bounce crazy ideas off one another. We've both previously worked on the periphery of the food world, but lined up more conventional jobs in the business universe after graduation (consulting and internet startup). We are slowly figuring out hot sauce as we go.
5. How did this start? The idea for Bandar Foods, our burgeoning company, started when I asked an Indian restaurant in Philadelphia for hot sauce to spice up my takeout tikka masala and was met with confusion. Wait -was there no Indian hot sauce? But Indians adore spicy food! Lalit, my co-founder who hails from Mumbai, informed me that instead of "traditional" hot sauces, Indians use spicy chutneys called achar (pickles) to spice up their food. These extremely tasty achars are ubiquitous throughout South Asia but are limited in the US to specialty grocery stores. Sounds good - but as a white kid from the suburbs, I was intimidated by these chunky, oily, jarred chutneys. Boom - an idea was born!
6. We are the Indian version of Sriracha Rooster Sauce. Let's turn these flavors into condiments that Americans would actually know how to use and grow into one of the first mainstream Indian-American food brands. Spicy sauce, big dreams. So we pureed the chutneys down and put them in squeeze bottles. We put a monkey on the bottle because, well, monkeys are awesome and we wanted people to remember the product. Instead of rooster sauce, we're monkey sauce.
7. We've been at this for two years to get to Square One. We knew it'd be hard getting into it, but we still didn't expect that it would take us two long years of recipe iterations, FDA research, label redesigns, chemistry tests, business plan redrafts, and borrowed money just to get to the point where we're ready to sell. We are currently raising money by fulfilling preorders on Kickstarter so we can fund our first batch and get started (something we highly recommend to all other aspiring food entrepreneurs). Once we produce our first batch, we hope to push the sauce out through all possible channels.
8. We want this blog to be a live guidebook for the successes and failures of a startup food product company. We'll share interesting stories from farmer's markets to kitchen messes from experimenting with new products. To arrive at our current seedling stage, we've been fortunate to hear tips, tricks, and cautionary tales from other food entrepreneurs which have proven invaluable. We know a number of friends who make awesome popcorn, chickpea snacks, chocolate energy bars, or any of the dozens of jerkies, pickles, salsas, and other artisanal foods. We're learning as we go and want to help any other aspiring founders get off the ground, into the kitchen, and onto the shelves.
9. Please feel free to reach out to us with any comments or questions. We're not always sure what we should be writing about - so please tell us what you really want to hear!
10. Did we mention that we're raising money on Kickstarter?! Check it out and feel free to preorder from our first batch so we can have something worth talking about in this blog! Shameless plug... we know.
NEXT POST: The best ways to get honest feedback from friends about your recipes.
Thanks everyone!
Dan and Lalit
Follow Dan Garblik and Lalit Kalani on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@bandarfoods
All I can say is "thank you guys"! Both indian flavors are my favorites to begin with, and the fact that you have tweaked the recipe, and more importantly have it in a SQUEEZE bottle for easy use has made my day. I am ordering 2 bottles of each and looking forward to trying it on so many of my dishes.
Your video is crazy, yes........ but very informative. keep up the good work.
After I receive my order, I will post a review on your site . Can't wait.
I love the both of the flavors (mint cilantro and spicy mango) and yes found them almost impossible to find at my stores. The fact that the delivery (squeeze bottle) of these amazing indian flavors can be ordered, and hopefully found at local markets in the future thrills me. I am ordering 2 of each and can't wait to enhance my foods.
Thanks guys for making this product easy to use. Those of you who have never tried indian spice...especially these two are in for a treat. I am on a budget so i select my groceries carefully. I know that by using these Bandar products I will be able to make my plain everyday ho-hum food into something delicious.
Also, to the comment by sspete.Yes ,these guys are a bit over the top in their video, but if you listen to the content, it is most informative, and that info is why I can't wait to get my order.
Here's an easy hot sauce recipe you can do at home:
10 grams dried Chile De Arbol (or you can substitute New Mexico dried chilis, and vary the amount)
a small fresh clove of garlic
*secret herb* 1/4 teaspoon (or a pinch if you prefer) dried mexican oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons good vinegar (not the cheap white stuff). I like Trader Joe's white balsamic or a rice vinegar.
Boil dried chilies in water to cover for 15 minutes. Drain the water, and throw the chilies with all of the other ingredients into your blender. Blend at top speed for a good amount of time to liquify everything. Strain through a strainer, and put into a clean hot sauce bottle (hint: Recycle one you've used before). Your hot sauce will taste much better after 24 hours. I have no idea how long your hot sauce will last in the fridge, but mine doesn't stay around long enough to go bad!
I can of El Pato tomatoe sauce ( the yellow can) it's pretty hot
Good old ketchup ( I usually buy Del Monte ) about half of bottle depending on how warm you want your sauce.
Seasonings: salt, pepper, garlic powder } mix these ingredients in glass bowl & chill
Dice 3 avocados into nice chunks
Chopped celery ( optional)
Chopped cilantro ( optional)
Boil shrimp in shells for no more than ten minutes, cool and peel
I guarantee that you will love it his very simlple recipe
If you are having company then you just adjust the recipe for the number of guests. And if you want a hotter cocktail , use less catsup.
I combine and chill everything together for about an hour before serving & I serve them in thick stemmed blown glass goblets that I brought back from one of my trips to Mexico years ago-----let me know if you try out the recipe and what you opine
You are boiling the shrimp way too long. Boiling in the shells is good,or add shells to the stock. Most important, try a shorter cook time for the shrimp and see that they are a LOT juicier. 3 minutes for small shrimp/5 for medium, and GENTLY POACH, do not boil the shrimp. Do it in a homemade stock, i.e., carrots, onion, celery, mashed clove of garlic, wine, citrus juice and peel, fennel, oregano and perhaps some other herbs to give the shrimp full flavor! Cilantro is NOT optional, it is mandatory.
Avocado, shrimp, tomato, scallions and cilantro are a very happy family.