Crispy tales from the boys

If you could have demoed your machine to royalty, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in your young career, you’d probably tuck it away as your proudest moment. But Eshwar K. Vikas insists that it’s when his automated tabletop dosa machine serves to feed the Army in the cold and ruthless Siachen that tops his list. The 24-year-olds, Eshwar and Sudeep Sabat, are the founders of DosaMatic, a Bengaluru-based creation that cooks one dosa a minute on the push of a button, something that is revolutionising the Indian kitchen and rounding up the definition of Make in India. This was one of their first creations as a kitchen robotics company, but they promise that they are only getting started.

“Even during our internship, when we’d get tired of all the work, Eshwar would motivate us and say, ‘Come on, you wanted to buy a Ferrari’,” recollects Sudeep. And it was probably their perseverance that got these electronics and communication engineering graduates this far. Eshwar’s mom was obviously proud to see him on TV and plastered all over the Internet, but the humble bloke manages to shrug it off, getting straight to the point.

Eshwar K. Vikas and Sudeep Sabat

‘Do you want a small dosa or a crisp one?’ Prince William is said to have asked his wife, Kate, before proceeding to make his own — a crisp dosa, that he went on to savour, breaking all protocol. “First, it wasn’t tested. Second, the royals don’t eat in public. But they still went ahead. When I told the princess that it could make pancakes and crepes too, she said she wanted it at the Buckingham Palace. We’re in talks and they’ll have it in their kitchen soon enough,” smiles Eshwar, the CEO, who personally showcased the machine to the visiting royalty when they wished to meet industrious entrepreneurs from our country. But as the founding duo tells us, it all started with a bite.

“We ordered for one masala dosa at Bikanervala, an ordinary restaurant at Karol Bagh in Delhi, for which we shelled out Rs 180. Upon prodding the management, they told us that the sky high prices were because they had to pay the chefs who weren’t even consistent with their attendance, a lot of money. If a burger can cost the same everywhere, why not a dosa?” he says.

A native of Orissa and a tech lover, Sudeep’s love for machines saw him get cracking on the prototypes using Google sketches, while Eshwar brought his previous knowledge of heading a food startup. What started off then for these roommates in college is now a full-fledged venture called Mukunda Foods with over 400 machines in kitchens across the globe. “It is supplied to over 16 countries including Germany, Australia, Canada, USA, the UK, Seychelles, Dubai and Rio de Janeiro amongst others,” says Sudeep. The enterprising duo, both students of SRM University have rolled out ready-to-eat batters, fillings, chutneys and curries to make using their machine simpler too.

In the tradition of most entrepreneurs, both their parents asked them to have a career backup. But they decided to dive into their enterprise, head first. “At Rs 1.5 lakhs, this is used from a Kamat Hotel and Iskcon to the Ritz and the DRDO,” says Sudeep. But now, they are on a new mission —to bring it into Indian homes for Rs 12,500. The youngsters do get to unwind when they aren’t ‘batter’ing about. “We usually go on bike rides with our company or read books,” says Eshwar. “Meanwhile, Eshwar also makes better dosas than his mom now, if that counts,” quips Sudeep.