About (draft)
Doosra isn't solving a problem. Nobody needs another functional snack. We're making joy — the kind that comes from a bowl on the table, a cup of chai, and something crunchy that makes people stop mid-sentence.
That's desi snack culture. It's also our food ethos: nourishing for your soul and your mood.
Why we do this
Every Indian house has a snack table. Someone arrives, and before they've taken their shoes off there's a bowl in front of them. Nobody asks whether they're hungry. That's the feeling we're packaging — a fun, tasty adventure through Indian snack culture, not a health claim.
Our guide is Ladoo, a Nilgiri marten on a rickshaw. He's named after the sweets I mixed into spicy snacks as a kid, which is more or less the whole idea of the company, arrived at thirty years early.
What a doosra is
A doosra is the ball that spins the other way. The one you didn't see coming.
It also means "the other one" — and "a second", as in the second bite, the one you take without deciding to. All three are true of what's in the bag: crispy spiced boondi and roasted nuts, and then chocolate, which is the part nobody expects.
Our story
Doosra is a modern read on the chai-time snacks of Indian kitchens: traditional flavours and ingredients with a sweet, indulgent turn, so no two bites taste quite the same. Crunchy, salty, sweet, and a warm spice that arrives last.
We started at farmers markets in New York, handing samples to strangers and watching their faces. We still do that most weekends. Everything is made in Queens, New York, in small batches, and it's all gluten-free — not as a diet claim, but because it means almost everyone at the table can eat it.
The snackmaker
I'm Kartik Das. Born in South India, raised in Singapore, trained in culinary schools in New York and London. A third-culture kid, which is a tidy way of saying I spent a long time being the different one in the room.
Doosra is that kid: different, and incredibly proud of the culture he comes from. What I want to do with it is spread joy through food, culture and flavour — one bowl at a time.
People who've vouched for us
- Winner, [AWARD NAME, YEAR]
- Chef Meherwan Irani and Chef Basu of INDAY
- Kent Burris (@dinewithkent)
- On the shelf at more than 30 independent grocers, provisions shops and design stores across the country
Where to next
See the eight ways people actually eat it, or take a look at the Gift Shop if you're buying for someone else.