Doctor in a hurry cooks up line of curry sauces

As a doctor and mother, Dr. Asha Patel is keenly aware of the need to balance health with efficiency.

So about six years ago, Patel cooked up a few ideas. Literally.  

Patel, an internal medicine physician who works in Royal Oak, developed a line of curry sauces made from fresh ingredients that could be quickly combined with rice and an animal or vegetable protein for a quick, healthy dinner. She started Tasha Foods Inc. to distribute and sell the sauces.

Patel's sauces are based on traditional Indian curries, but re-tooled for the American palate.  

“They have an Indian taste, but they're not that hot,” she said.

After a few fits and starts, Patel hired a distributor in 2005 and was able to enter larger markets.

Tasha sauces are carried in local stores such as Whole Foods, Plum Market, Hiller's Market and Papa Joe's, and nationally at Super Target stores. She's in the process of signing a deal with Pennsylvania-based supermarket chain Giant Eagle that will place Tasha sauces in about 200 Philadelphia-area grocery stores.  

Patel said that profit margin on the sauces isn't great, about 50 cents a bottle. Sauces retail for $4.50 each.

But she believes in her product and its potential.  

“I used to work and use my own products,” she said. “It's very convenient for the working mom, and healthy too. When you eat Indian food in some restaurants, it is so full of oil. I thought this would be healthy, tasty and convenient, and I knew that curry is coming in.”

Click here to view original article at crainsdetroit.com

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