Motivating yourself to achieve larger goals and enhance your quality of life with a strong sense of purpose is possible when you have the drive to succeed. A high level of dedication inspires you to realize your full potential and to believe in your skills and objectives. Those who put their heart and soul into their profession may accomplish great heights, and Niru Kumra, the Founder & Owner of MasalaMagic, is a perfect example of this. Niru was born in Punjab and migrated to Norway with her family when she was eight years old.

She earned a degree in economics and project management and thereafter began working as a project manager for the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Initially, Niru began cooking as a hobby, but as time went on, she began to gather a significant following for her Indian cuisine. As a result of this exposure, Niru chose to pursue a profession in cooking and, with her mother's assistance, founded MasalaMagic. Niru's passion blossomed into an opportunity, and now, because of her hard work and persistence, she is a well-known name in Norway. In an exclusive interview with Women Entrepreneur magazine, Niru discussed her entrepreneurial journey and the obstacles she overcome to achieve her current level of success.

What Motivated You To Take Up Entrepreneurship & Establish A Food Services Company That Intends To Popularize Indian Cuisine In Norway?

MasalaMagic is based on my experience and understanding of Indian cuisine, as we are an Indian-origin family. I have always been a major admirer of Indian food, since each state has its distinct cuisine to celebrate, and we wanted to introduce that diversity to the Norwegian cuisine. My goal was to bring Indian food to the same degree of popularity as Pizza, Pasta, and Tacos in Norway. It is also very different in Norway, where the majority of people consume non-veg daily and fish is the primary part of the diet. For breakfast, residents here eat fish or other non-vegetarian food, while dinner consists of boiled potatoes or other vegetables cooked in salt and sauce. We, a Punjabi family, are unable to partake in this diet due to our preference for spicy, flavorful cuisine.

Because of this, we decided to raise awareness about spices and how they can transform even the most basic of dishes into something delicious. We also wanted to demonstrate how adding spices to meals can transform the appearance and feel of a dining room table. When we had visitors, they would admire our cooking and ask if I could teach them how to make Indian food since they loved it so much. Hence, I began teaching cooking classes in Norway, and as the demand for our services grew, so did the schedule. In addition, for some reason, I had reoccurring dreams in which I open a cupboard and find many containers labeled 'Niru'. Eventually, I recognized that I had a deep-seated ambition to build my brand. Taking into account all of these aspects, my husband and I founded MasalaMagic in 2003, and he also designed our website, which was anovel idea at the time.

Tell Us About The Various Services That Masalamagic Specializes In? How Has The Company’s Growth Journey Been So Far Since Its Inception?

Eventually, in 2005 we established a full-fledged training facility following two years of success with the cooking classes that we offered. There, we launched our cooking workshops and constructed a facility to host corporate events. Companies organized birthday and Christmas parties for their workforce, to celebrate the organization's accomplishments and even conducted team-building activities. My father would constantly instruct me to make sure that we served pickles and chutneys to the guests at all of these events at our center. In addition, I would prepare all of the chutneys and spices required for cooking at home. A majority of my guests would ask for the recipes of pickles and chutneys after each occasion and later requested me to make them as gifts for their friends and relatives.

"As someone who has no previous culinary or food industry expertise, this has been a fantastic adventure for me"

Therefore, this is when we decided to launch our brand of chutneys and pickles. pickles, which is totally a vegan series without artificial additives and made with my recipes in India. To begin with, I made these foods in bulk and my family helped in their packaging and distribution. In this journey of mine, nothing was planned; I began this as a mere hobby, and as time went on, it grew into a massive organization. However, as the company grew, we opened an online shop where we offered a variety of Indian cuisine products such as spices, pickles, chutneys, masala pastes, and other ready-to-eat products.

What Are Some Of The Most Pressing Challenges That You Face In Your Role As The Founder? How Do You Successfully Overcome Them?

While considering the possibility of selling pickles and chutneys from jars in 2011, every Norwegian company we approached declined to work with us, as they were unwilling to include spices into their plain food products. In the end, my husband and I chose to import jars from India, although it was costly to do so for a small number of jars. To make this happen, we took out a loan here in Norway to cover all of our company expenditures, with our house held in trust by the bank. Since we were doing business with Indian dealers and no one in Norway made a profit, even getting that loan authorized was a challenging task. All of the bank processes took much too long, and due to this, I recall having many sleepless nights back then.

Getting local merchants to carry our pickles and chutney jars was the next hurdle to overcome, after raising the necessary funds and launching our brand. Every store manager in Oslo said no since nobody knows about these items, making them impossible to sell. Therefore, I decided to take things into my own hands and packed a box of rice and pickles. I asked a shop manager to taste our pickles with rice. When he did, he was pleased and agreed to stock all of our chutneys as a recognized brand. He also recommended us to a few more shops.

In Your Opinion What Have Been Some Of The Most Significant Milestones That You Have Achieved So Far In Your Professional Journey?

As someone who has no previous culinary or food industry expertise, this has been a fantastic adventure for me. With the publication of two books, I am now a published author. Those who hear my story frequently describe it as 'inspiring', and for me, it is a huge accomplishment. Furthermore, I began this journey by teaching others how to cook Indian food, and now I've built a substantial brand with the aid of my family, board members, and thousands of MasalaMagic supporters. Niru's MasalaMagic is currently a well-known brand thanks to many TV shows, interviews, and publications. Because of the help of my husband and children, we could prosper without having to worry about the high cost of living or other everyday concerns.

Niru Kumra, Founder & Owner, Masalamagic

Niru completed her degree in Economics and Project Management from Ostfold University. She then worked as a project manager with the Ministry of Affairs - Norway for a while, and in 2003 she realized her true calling is in cooking and started her entrepreneurial journey by establishing MasalaMagic. Today, MasalaMagic offers 17 different varieties of Indian food products, and Niru has published two books named Nirus MasalaMagic, & MasalaMagic - the magic of Indian cuisine, and also, successfully established the first Indian blog in Norwegian, a range of spices and deliveries to food production.