Moji Masala Brings Authentic Indian Spice to Your Kitchen

The path to launching the Indian culinary company Moji Masala was in no way linear.

Shareen Qadri, born of Kashmiri parents in Northern Ireland, and raised in Maryland, didn’t even learn to cook until she was well into her career in finance in New York City. And even her mother didn’t learn to cook as a child raised with servants cooking her food in India.

No, cooking food wasn’t a given. Instead, the desire to cook grew out of a need for a sense of connection — a need for a sense of home.

When Qadri’s family moved to Maryland, her mother started seeking out the Kashmiri population as her husband built his medical career.

“The food is what connects you,” said Qadri. “The food is what makes you feel like it’s going to be okay. That’s grounding.”

So, educated by other immigrants, her mother became an expert in the kitchen, and young Shareen benefited from the aromas, the nutrition and the wildly diverse spices of Indian cuisine. But she wasn’t trying to be a chef. She was busy studying for her career in finance, which blossomed in New York City.

She worked long hours and ate pizza and takeout and British-inspired Indian food. But there was something missing.

“The Indian restaurants didn’t fulfill the cravings,” she said. “Eighty percent of Indian food in New York is British Indian food. But India is this massive aggregate of cultures — whatever little region you’re from has its own type of cuisine. And my mom is from Kashmir. The only way I could satisfy that craving was to go home.”

After many emergency food trips from New York to Washington, D.C., and FedEx deliveries of frozen Kashmiri food to her apartment, Qadri decided it was time to learn to cook for herself.

By then, she had met J.D. Walsh, a basketball player, coach and United States cultural ambassador who had lived all over the world promoting the sport of basketball in new markets.

“I spent more than five years in India, getting to know the culture and helping to grow the game of basketball there,” said Walsh. “I got accustomed to the flavors of Indian cuisine.”

By the time Walsh and Qadri were living together in Manhattan, food was a source of celebration. “We would have these grand dinner parties for friends,” Qadri recalls. “I would cook for four days for a dinner party.”

The process of cooking Indian food was all about layering, using a wide variety of freshly ground spices, bringing together whole seeds and powdered spices. They cooked for the experience of it.

“There’s a theater in cooking,” said Walsh, “And we enjoyed it, and we thought others would enjoy that.”

But not everyone wants to spend four days cooking. That’s where the idea for Moji Masala came in. How could they create a way for people to access the authentic, layered experience of Indian cooking without having 20 jars of spices on the counter at all times, without using six different pots to make one dish?

It starts with responsibly sourced, high-quality ingredients, freshly ground and premixed and prepackaged, so they are ready to add to your dish. Packs like Tandoori Style Chicken Masala, Dahl Masala and Kitchari Masala all come with a shopping list on the back and a QR code to scan and watch a cooking video.

“We are trying to shortcut the experience but not the flavor,” said Qadri. “It took years to come up with these recipes, and now we are satisfying the convenience without sacrificing the dish.”

With the array of spices included in any one packet, there are also great health benefits to these recipes. Take, for example, the sweet masala blend.

“It’s a refined white sugar substitute,” said Walsh. “With 14 to 15 spices, including rose petal, blue lavender, Jamaican allspice and date powder, it can be used for cookies and cakes.”

“The way I ate growing up was naturally balanced,” said Qadri. “Every meal had 10 to 13 different spices that all have different health properties. I wasn’t taught that way — it was just a part of life. And when it’s a part of your life, you don’t have to try so hard.

“Our body is an ecosystem. When you’re more balanced, you start to crave things you’re lacking. The breadth of Indian dishes can cater to balancing nutrition.”

With health, flavor, heritage and ease at the center, Moji Masala is finding its way into some of the most refined East End shops, including Provisions and all three Citarella markets on the South Fork, and is also available to order through the grocery delivery service Fresh Direct, or by visiting mojimasala.com.