Saffron Fix is like Plated for Indian food. If you’re not familiar with the concept, then here is what Saffron Fix’s Kickstarter campaign describes the services as:
Saffron Fix is a meal-kit service for cooking your favorite Indian dishes! You pick a recipe, and we deliver portioned spices and chopped ingredients to cook healthy and delicious Indian meals quickly, all in the comfort of your own home.
The women behind Saffron Fix, Ankita Sharma and Madhuri Sharma, sum up the concept very nicely,
“We offer the chance to enjoy Indian food in the convenience of your own homes, with your friends and family. Because we send chopped ingredients and measured spices, anyone who can turn on the stove, and stir a pan, can cook like a chef!”
Mummy’s home cooking without the hassle, in my very own kitchen? What’s not to love!
Read on to find out what the founders of Saffron Fix have to say about their mission to help us all feel like Food Network superstars!
Saffron Fix founders Ankita Sharma and Madhuri Sharma.
Please tell us about yourselves.
Ankita: I grew up in India, eating a lot of fresh delicious food every day. I pursued Computer Engineering and came to the US to continue my education at Carnegie Mellon University. I worked at Bloomberg LP for three years before deciding to go to NYU’s Stern School of Business, focusing on Strategy and Finance. I never really paid much attention to how food was cooked until I came to the US, where I had to fix my own meals with very limited time on my hands!
Madhuri: Being from a South Indian family in the US, food played a very important part in maintaining our culture and heritage. I graduated from Boston University where I studied Film & Technology, to pursue my dream of making documentaries in New York. But after moving to New York, and working on some food campaigns, I got really interested in the culinary world, and decided to attend culinary school. Since then I have worked as a food stylist, chef and taste tester for major networks including the Food Network!
What prompted you to start Saffron Fix? How long has this idea been brewing and what was the final “push” that got you started?
Ankita: After moving to New York, I found it very challenging to find time to cook Indian food at home. While studying at NYU Stern, my friends would often ask me to make them a traditional Indian meal because they wanted to try Indian food. I realized there were so many problems when I tried to cook for them and decided to find a solution myself. That’s how the idea of Saffron Fix was born. I got a lot of push from my family as well as amazing friends and faculty at Stern. A mutual friend introduced me to Madhuri and the rest is history!
Madhuri: While studying at culinary school, I realized that Indian food was shrouded in complexity because of the large number of spices and ingredients. This was not true for a lot of other seemingly complex cuisines. I realized that people were intimidated by cooking Indian food and overwhelmed by the number of flavors and variety that it offers! I developed a passion to de-mystify Indian cuisine, and when I met Ankita and discussed Saffron Fix, it was a perfect match!
Give us some details about your Kickstarter campaign.
We launched our Kickstarter campaign to get the pre-orders we need to get this off the ground. We received more than 200 backers in under five days.
We have offered a choice of five recipes, that include some popular Indian dishes, as well dishes that incorportate Indian flavors in western-style cooking.
1. Chicken Tikka Masala
2. Saag Paneer
3. Punjabi Chole
4. Veggie Masala Burger
5. Paneer Bhurji Rolls
As part of this campaign, we can ship Saffron Fix to NY, CA, NJ, VA, MD and Washington D.C.
What are the long term plans for Saffron Fix – expanding to other types of cuisine, expanding to other regions, etc.?
In the long term, we will focus on two major points:
1. Offer a greater variety of recipes and options
2. Make this service available to a larger segment of the population
We have several other ideas to make Indian cooking even more convenient in the future; and eventually, with our own website and app in place, we will make this experience as seamless and effortless as possible.
For more information, check out follow Saffron Fix on Facebook and Twitter.
Pia Chakrabarti is a self-proclaimed food-aholic. Some of the things that may compare to her love for food include: cuteness (babies, puppies, etc.), traveling to exotic destinations, and John Stamos. Pia has lived in various corners of the world but will always be a Texas girl at heart. Currently she is in San Francisco attempting to live out her tech city dreams while eating as unhealthily as SF will allow in order to satisfy her Texas sized appetite.
January 3, 2023January 10, 2023 3min readBy Subrina Singh
Curried Chicken with Roti Parata or Roti, popular Middle Eastern/Indian cuisine
It is officially that time of year—the holiday season. There’s nothing like Christmas and New Year’s in the West Indies. Between the pepperpot in Guyana and the palm trees decorated in lights in Trinidad, the home food, warm weather and laid-back ambiance makes us wish we could escape the cold and head back to the Caribbean. Most of us, however, cannot “take holiday” and find ourselves hungry for fresh dhal puri and doubles. But, thanks to these Indo-Caribbean food bloggers, we can bring the motherland to our kitchens.
From Diwali mithai specialties to curry chicken, Matthew is creating a name for himself as a young Guyanese food blogger. He makes a great effort to incorporate Hindu holidays and traditions on his Instagram account, in conjunction with the customary foods and sweets associated with these religious events. However, his expertise does not end there, with new and alternative recipes for classic dishes such as curry chicken and bhara, Matthew takes center stage sharing both traditional Guyanese dishes as well as specific religious dishes made for festivals. His most popular YouTube video, with 1.4 million views, features his grandmother and focuses on the best tips to make the softest Guyanese paratha roti. In addition, his YouTube account is home to many videos offering guidance to Indo Caribbean cooking. Find recipes at @mattews.guyanese.cooking
Natasha Laggan of Trini Cooking with Natasha is wildly popular throughout the Caribbean and the U.S. With humble beginnings, Natasha credits her love of food to her family’s business. She speaks of the nostalgia home food provides her as she reminisces memories of her grandmother’s cooking and helping her mother make sandwiches early in the morning. Featured by Forbes, Natasha grew her Facebook following quickly throughout the pandemic by posting old YouTube videos. Today, she has more than 1 million followers on Facebook and over 200K followers on YouTube. She uses her passion for cooking and Trinidadian culture to bring easy-to-follow recipes to viewers. Her following has now reached the West Indian diaspora globally as she has also become a brand ambassador to two well-known food companies. Follow the food expert @trinicookingwithnatasha.
With over 100K followers on YouTube, Ria is quite the expert when it comes to making roti. Her dhal puri, sada roti and paratha roti tutorials have over 1M views! However, her expertise does not stop there. Of the 180 YouTube tutorials, her recipes vary from curry to other Trinidadian favorites like macaroni pie and pigtail soup. Just scrolling through her YouTube page makes your mouth water. From doubles to classic Trinidad bakes like pound cake and sweet bread, she provides precision and anecdotal commentary while guiding you through the familiarity of home food. Check out Ria’s page at @cookingwithria.
Known as Chef Devan, Devan Rajkumar embraces his Guyanese Canadian heritage by creating recipes combining flavors of both the East and West Indies. His love of food has allowed him to expand his role to judge in a popular Canadian cooking show: Food Network Canada’s Fire Masters. His cooking often blends the flavors of multiple cultures but also creates the classic recipes of his motherland. With a multitude of interests, Chef Dev uses his social media platform to connect with followers by sharing various aspects of his life that go beyond cooking. His most recent YouTube video provides a trailer for an upcoming video “Tastes Guyana” which shows him exploring Guyana from the inside, specifically deep parts of the inner country. To learn more about Chef Devan follow @chefdevan.
Reshmi is the chef behind the growing blog, Taste of Trinbago. A Trinidadian native who now resides in Texas, she uses her love of food and Trinidadian culture to share hacks, tips and easy recipes with West Indians throughout the globe. She finds a way to simplify traditional West Indian meals, that we once watched our elders make with curiosity. From holiday specialties like black cake to Diwali delicacies, Reshmi has brought vegetarian and non-veg recipes to followers in an extremely accessible way. She even posts recipe cards on her IG highlights for followers who may need written instructions. Her IG profile is a mix of various West Indian foods while also sharing bits of her life and even her secrets to baby food. Follow her @tasteoftrinbago.
These are just five Indo Caribbean food bloggers sharing their secrets to easy cooking. The once very daunting recipes and food instructions our parents gave have been simplified by most of these bloggers through video, voice over and modernized recipes. We no longer have to estimate a “dash, pinch or tuk” of any masala. We are just days away from Christmas and this is the perfect time to find the best-suited recipe to make that paratha for Santa.
Pia Chakrabarti is a self-proclaimed food-aholic. Some of the things that may compare to her love for food include: cuteness (babies, puppies, etc.), traveling to exotic destinations, and John Stamos. Pia has lived in various corners of the world but will always be a Texas girl at heart. Currently she is in San Francisco attempting to live out her tech city dreams while eating as unhealthily as SF will allow in order to satisfy her Texas sized appetite.
