A cash-strapped Greenwich woman who turned to selling her dad’s old hot sauce has seen such demand for it that she’s looking to start her own business.
Baj Sandhu was born in Greenwich Hospital and lived here all her life, but before Christmas 2013 she found herself in a difficult spot.
She said: “Four Christmases ago I was short for cash so made a batch of my Dad's chilli Sauce and gave it to all of my friends bottled with a label on that I designed. The feedback was overwhelming and my friends asked for more within a week.”
Baj’s parents are both from the Punjabi region of India, but her dad Davinder Sandhu was born in Kenya and grew up there.
The first sauce Baj made, called Dad’s Original Hot Sauce, was based around her dad’s unusual fusion of African and Indian spices, which proved a hit.
Davinder died 14 years ago but in his time he passed on his cooking expertise to his daughter and, now 26, Baj is using this knowledge to make her new brand Baj’s Blazin’ Hot Sauce.
Baj said: “My family have always lived in Greenwich and my Dad was an excellent cook, always cooking for us, our extended family, neighbours and generally anyone who needed feeding.
“From around eight I spent a lot of time cooking in the kitchen with my Dad, washing rice, fetching ingredients, peeling and more importantly getting to try everything.”
Baj works as a project manager for TfL, but sells her sauce in Greenwich Market each weekend and is hoping this latest Kickstarter will mean she can work full time.
Many local stores and businesses have started stocking her special sauces, including pubs like The Coach and Horse and The Old Brewery.
She said: “I love working in Greenwich Market, it's the best job I have ever had, so would like to continue with that and perhaps be able to juggle two markets in London.”
To see her Kickstarter, visit kickstarter.com/projects/36135696/bajs-blazin-hot-sauce.
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