‘Sabrini’s Butter Chicken Nuggets take Indian Cuisine to next level’: Raja of Sabrini Foods

Mr. Uvaraja Hariramkrishnan or Raja of Sabrini foods talks about world’s first butter chicken nuggets by Sabrini, the other products on offer, the quality, taste  and more.

Sabrini– an offering designed by India’s popular Celeb Chef, Harpal Singh Sokhi, launched world’s first butter chicken in a nugget in Sydney. Tell us about this new appetizing addition.

All started with the thought of getting Indian Cuisine to next level, by working on the most popular dish in our cuisine at any Indian restaurant, which is the Butter Chicken and make the same more convenient to the consumers. I gave the challenge to our Chef (Harpal Singh Sokhi) to make this Butter Chicken that can be made easy to eat but still have the same flavour, thus came up with this idea of having “Butter Chicken in a Nugget”. Once the idea came up, it was no brainer that the concept would be acceptable to anyone who loves Indian Food. However, there was the challenge of getting it right but with the expertise of Chef Harpal, we came up with the right recipe. Once we finalised the recipe, we started working with the Nugget manufacturers in Australia, where there were hurdles to get the shape right as this is completely a natural product without adding any gums or preservatives. It took almost 2 years from concept to shape, and now we are ready with the product. Sydney was our first launch, that too at Martin Place during November. We are also proud to say that this concept is first time in the World, originated in Australia and looking forward for exports soon.

Enlighten us more about the wide range of products on offer.

Our Sabrini range is entirely designed with a twist having Celebrity Chef Signature on them and with a unique taste. The most popular in our range is our Railway Cutlet which is a vegetable pattie and it is a versatile product, that can be converted into many other dish like a Pav Bhaji in minutes, a veggie slider, roll them into a wrap etc. Another unique dish of ours is the Amristari Tikki which has dhall inside as the filling. I was told that only Grandma’s could make this right. New edition is our Channa Chat Samosa where Channa is put inside the samosa with a chat taste. Just bake and break this to make it into a Samosa Chat, as we have included Free Chutney’s with our pack, to dress them.

Sabrini has been satisfying the Indian taste buds for a very long time now. In your words what has been the success mantra?

It is simple – Focus to get the right product for the market. Hence engaged a Chef who is very energetic, creative, popular and hands on, to create recipe as per our market. Once engaging this energy Chef (Chef Harpal), we travelled all over Australia to study and understand the taste requirement of this market and then brought in recipes that suits this market but without losing the authenticity of dishes.

What are some of the secrets behind your food being fresh and healthy?

It is the secret in recipe created for us and we are lucky to have manufacturers who could help us create them in commercial cooking and maintain the recipe without compromising quality standards.

What controls have been put in place to ensure the quality of the food items are upto the mark?

We are ISO22000 Certified, which includes the basic HACCP certification. All our manufacturers are having high standards such as ISO22000, BRC, SQF or equivalent, which is very vital in today’s world. We are very serious in our quality standards and would never compromise.

Tell us about some of the current and emerging local and global food trends and how your enterprise has adapted to these trends?

With the popularity of reality TV shows such as Master Chef and MKR, cooking has become very significant in many homes, with lots of creativeness. This has led to high expectation in food and it is a challenge for every food business to keep up with these. As I have mentioned before, we travel all around, do lots of research, understand food and the changing culture in food. If we don’t emerge with the trend then we will be lost, hence we keep thinking and keep researching to be ahead in the trend.

What has been your strategy to ensure your brand remains the favourite for consumers?

Consumers make their own choice. We really can’t force anyone to try our products but keeping the quality consistent will help us in the long term.

According to you, which is that one food item, that is a must try?

From our Sabrini range, I would suggest our new creation – Butter Chicken Nuggets. If you like Chinese, then we have created with an Indian twist, which is also a new creation – they are Chicken Tikka Steamed Bun. Something to try, as we have added ajwain on top of the steamed bun which gives a unique taste to the bun.

Which is the most popular food product, from amongst the wide range?

Railway cutlet is the most popular in our range apart from our Asli Punjabi Samosa. Now we have increased our Samosa range to Channa Chat, Hot & Spicy from our existing Chilli Milli &Potli Samosa. Try any of our Samosas’ and you will fall in love them.