We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Saira Malhotra. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Saira below.

Saira, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

The Dancing Elephant has seamlessly merged ancient Ayurvedic wisdom with modern culinary preferences, evolving from a humble incubator to a nationally recognized CPG brand. Our journey, driven by a vision to share the well-being properties of Kitchari, began with hands-on production and distribution by the 2 of us Female, Minority Founders where we made a heat and eat version of the kitchari (a spiced blend of grains and lentils) .

Being recognised in the Washington Post at The Specialty Food exhibition sparked an increased interest in The Dancing Elephant, and we realised that we need to solve for scale s. We strategically partnered with a copacker to enhance efficiency while preserving the authenticity of our product. Transitioning from ready-to-eat to ready-to-cook, we aligned with Ayurvedic principles for fresh cooking, ensuring a longer shelf life and streamlined distribution.

Key milestones punctuate our story, notably winning the Fairway Pitch Slam competition. This victory granted access to all Fairway stores and a powerful marketing campaign, propelling us into the national spotlight.

The Dancing Elephant’s story encapsulates entrepreneurship, commitment to tradition, and culinary innovation. We are eager to share more about our journey and how we are reshaping the ready-to-cook market. Please let us know if you are interested in featuring our founder story. We offer interviews, high-resolution images, and tailored insights for your audience.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

At The Dancing Elephant, Chandni and I (Saira) met at a cooking class I had hosted We hit off and explored all kinds of food based ventures together. We realized that more and more people around us were motivated to introduce more ingredients like ginger, turmeric, cumin in to their lives because of the well being benefits and there was a growing interest in Yoga and it’s sibling; Ayurveda. There was also an increased interest in plant based and gluten free cooking. Enter, The Dancing Elephant. We vowed to make Ayurveda more accessible through our read to cook meals. In 2022, we launched our ready to cook plant based pouches of Kitchari – the cornerstone of Ayurvedic cooking that consists of rice/ quinoa , lentils, vegetables and functional spices. We are so proud of the fact that we could take our grandmothers recipe, add a bit of our quirkiness and turn it in to a ready to cook meal – but don’t worry, whilst its convenient, it maintains the Ayurvedic integrity of ingredients that our grandmothers would expect from us.

1. Butternut Karma: A grounding blend of rice, lentils, fragrant spices, coconut, and makrut leaves.
2. Spinach Shakti: An edible green juice-inspired mix of rice, lentils, fragrant spices, and spinach.
3. Pea Prana: A protein-packed variety that can be enjoyed hot or chilled, perfect as a cooked salad.

Versatility is our forte – our Kitcharis shine as the main event, a stellar side, or a delightful addition to grain bowls. Whether it’s lunch, dinner, or a savory breakfast (trust us, it’s a must for breakky). Just add water, simmer for 20 minutes, and grab a bowl and spoon and you’re off to the races.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Can you share the story of a time when you had to pivot (in business, career or life). When we first launched The Dancing Elephant, we wanted to make it as convenient as possible by making it a ‘heat and eat’ product. We started branding it that way and started distributing it to retailers in NYC. Chandni and I were doing everything from procuring ingredients to making the product in an incubator kitchen to delivery. There were 2 big challenges that surfaced:
1) It was hard to scale with this model
2) Shelf life was a huge challenge as we were not willing to add preservatives

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Navigating the turbulent waters of the pandemic, we confronted a pivotal moment in our journey – the need to reshape our product. Exploring the idea of transforming it into a frozen meal posed significant challenges. Despite dedicated R&D efforts over several months, the feasibility for a startup like ours proved elusive due to cost constraints. Undeterred, we encountered another hurdle in finding a suitable co-packer. As a fledgling brand in the food industry, our modest order sizes lacked appeal, making collaboration difficult. Yet, surrendering to adversity was never an option.
Persistently pushing forward, we discovered a strategic pivot that turned out to be a game-changer on every front. Opting for a “ready-to-cook” approach not only aligned perfectly with Ayurvedic principles of fresh eating but also preserved the convenience of a fully assembled meal. This decision significantly enhanced scalability and logistical viability, enabling us to effortlessly ship our kitcharis nationwide.
In the face of challenges, our commitment to innovation and resilience led us to a solution that not only maintained the essence of our vision but also opened new avenues for growth.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thedancingelephant.com
• Instagram: dancingelephant_ayurveda
• Facebook: The Dancing Elephant
• Linkedin: The Dancing Elephant
• Twitter: @DEfeedyourneed

Image Credits
Christina Branco