Nidhi and Shikhar Singh left their biotechnology jobs to study why samosas become soggy. The couple solved this challenge with what is today a profitable business, Samosa Singh.
Everyone urged Nidhi Singh and Shikhar Veer Singh against quitting their positions as scientific researchers to try entrepreneurship. They often heard, “It isn’t wise to leave a well-settled, lucrative life to chase a dream.”
However, the Bengaluru pair never stuck to their comfort zone. For a decade, Nidhi worked for a healthcare organization, and Shikhar worked in biotechnology. They both loved addressing fascinating challenges and closing global gaps through their research.
After visiting the local food court and seeing the samosa’s popularity, their careers changed. The pair discussed how the food was popular but lacked organized participants. Nidhi claims local stores sell most samosas. Unlike pizzas and burgers, few prominent companies sold snacks in 2015.
They sought a solution and didn’t want to end the talk.
They tell The Better India how this dialogue led to Samosa Singh.
Nidhi and Shikhar Veer Singh founded Samosa Singh, a prominent snack and chaat brand.
We wanted to fill this need and launch a business. Shikhar abandoned his job in 2015, believing one should leap in without a backup. I left a year later. He often said that a backup option makes you too comfortable, recalls Nidhi regarding the venture’s start.
The pair planned to create a business in 2016 to “set out to reclaim the rightful place of samosa in the story of Indian snacks”. The brand is said to combine innovation, desire, and legacy. Since the snack has been the nation’s pride for ages.
Crunching numbers and recipes
When Nidhi and Shikhar started Samosa Singh, they assumed it would be easy given the snack. They were wrong. Sold at every local business and junction, they had to brainstorm a distinctive selling factor. Would they stand out at a samosa bazaar full with vendors?
They solved this difficult problem quickly.
Think of your favorite pizza or burger chain. Is it your favorite because it has the best pizza or burger? No. You adore it and order it because the taste is constant every day, season, time, and city. Instead of trying to dominate the market, Nidhi and she opted to develop a consistent brand.
After a promising start, the pair realized that “a samosa can never be perfect”. Scores of recipes exist. Everyone loves their own samosa. Hyderabad and Punjab samosas are different, and there are numerous types. Nidhi says we had to improve our samosas for the setting while maintaining consistency.
The brand is known for its six-hour-crisp samosas.
Samosa Singh was founded on these foundations, and the duo resolved to address the perennial problem of soggy samosas to become a one-stop snack solution.
How often have you ordered or picked up samosas from your neighborhood store for tea but opened a bag of soggy ones on the way home?
Having experienced the same, the couple decided to use their biotechnology skills to learn how samosas are created “at a scientific level” and remove the problem forever.
To keep the samosas fresh, one option was to cook them immediately after the order was placed. Special rollers were another method we developed. Rollers disrupt gluten connections in dough by applying pressure to specified areas. This is our secret.”
“Today, we pride ourselves on the crispiness of our samosas, even with delivery times,” Nidhi explains. They stay crispy for six hours.
No one could refuse Samosa Singh’s fresh, inexpensive samosas. The brand was immediately popular in Indian families, huge corporations, cafés, restaurants, and Air India.
At the forefront was a Bengaluru couple defying prediction.
“We heard a lot that our past experience was bad. Food preparation is a science. Scientific items are autoclaved. Pressure cook them in the kitchen. All connected. Nidhi says our brand and dedication worked.
Consumers love Samosa Singh’s samosa bucket.
Nidhi and Shikhar said they were merely a couple with a dream before becoming business partners who manage different areas of the operation.
But we never procrastinated, which set us apart. We made a plan and executed it promptly. That helped much. In the beginning, Shikhar delivered orders while I managed the ground. We started with one Bengaluru shop without workers, she says.
In a 300-square-foot kitchen with one chef, the main goal was to reduce samosa oil absorption. Nidhi says they could have baked less-greasy samosas, but the market wanted fried ones, so they tried to keep them less oily.
They managed to balance these two despite the difficulty. Nidhi and Shikhar employed additional employees and chefs throughout the years, building the brand into an empire.
All stores in eight cities, including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Mysuru, Chennai, and others, sell 50,000 samosas and other goods like chaat and kachoris daily.
They have aaloo masala, vegetable spice, Manchurian, and cheese chilli samosas. Reviews call their snacks “awesome”, “most amazing recipes”, “genuine and authentic” and “crispy for so long!”.
When asked how they feel about growing their “baby” into a successful business, Nidhi and Shikhar explain it all started with a dream. Just believe.
