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Hurst Mel Mel's Gourmet Indian C lose your eyes and picture this: succulent cubes of chicken bubbling happily in a creamy butter sauce, the distinctive aromas of roasted coriander and cumin seeds filling the air, while rich tantalising curries flirt with hot garlic naan bread. Indian food is a banquet of colours, smells and flavours that please the palate and nourish the soul. Mel has brought this magic of India to your home! Meet Mel, Owner, Director, Entrepreneur, Businesswoman, Mum and face of New Zealand's hugely popular brand - Mel's. "Cooking is like Love, it must be entered into with complete abandon, or not at all!" Cooking has always been a passion for Mel, born to Anglo-Indian parents from Mumbai, India. Being raised and schooled in different parts of the country triggered an avid love for food and exotic flavours that has only fuelled her love affair with Indian cuisine. As love stories often go, Mel met Avi, her husband, who is a Hotelier and a foodie, quite by accident over a bowl of steaming curry when they worked together at a premium Hotel in Mumbai. The couple moved to New Zealand in 2000 and made a lot of friends. "At work I found my Kiwi friends asking me if I knew how to make a good curry – being Indian and all!" says Mel. Writing out intricate Indian recipes for friends just made them come back and say how nice it would be if they could have all these recipes cooked for them without all the hassles of tedious Indian cooking! Soon Mel started to create little lunch boxes of home cooked authentic Indian food that she would distribute at work. The food was so delicious and the lunch boxes were such a success that she was soon inundated with so many requests, and an idea for a business was born. "Building a business with no capital, a baby on the way, in a new country and with full time jobs was a huge challenge. You quickly learn to leverage time and money. Often the best way is to jump in and do it!" "Persistence and passion for our product was what got us where we are today!" says Mel. From these humble beginnings and a lot of sacrifices along the way, began an adventure that has made Mel's the household name it is in New Zealand today. Mel's range of gourmet Indian sauces is versatile, exquisitely authentic tasting, and can be used with meats, chicken or veggies. The range utilises both local and imported ingredients, fresh herbs and whole spices in each packet. Mel's runs from a HACCP approved factory in Auckland. "Staff is so important too - we have a fabulous team working with us. " What better way to experience a place and its people than to tuck yourself into a traditional meal? Eating like the locals will tell you more about a place than visiting a museum or monument. In each sumptuous sachet of Mel's gourmet Indian sauces lies the wisdom, love and culinary traditions of grandmothers, aunts, cooks and friends, passed down from generation to generation. "In my marriage of spices I have kept recipes as you would taste them if you were in India," says Mel. "I invite you to indulge! Escape to the coco-nutty Malabar Coast, the bustling street corners of Mumbai or the Capital – Delhi, with my much loved Butter Chicken Masala." Mel's is available at premium Delis and supermarkets across New Zealand and online. Mel's is now looking at exporting overseas. www.mels.co.nz WHO'S WHO 2012 37