The Boston Globe
July 11, 2007
By Emily Schwab

Tastes of India and America in one chip

When he was a boy, Paul Jaggi's mother cooked for him and his 10 older siblings in the small kitchen of their three-room house in New Delhi . "She was always smiling and singing," says Jaggi. The kids called her "Baji," a derivative of mother that conveys both respect and endearment.

Almost 40 years later, Jaggi has two kids of his own and a product named for his mother, called Baji's. This is the most recent in a succession of Jaggi's food ventures. He co founded Ethnic Gourmet Foods with his brother Bob in 1997 ; the brand was bought by Heinz Frozen Foods four years later. Last summer he launched Baji's with a line of papadum chips in flavors inspired by Indian cuisine.

The chips are a cross between potato chips and Indian papadums -- the thin, round breads often made with lentil flour. Baji's brand are thicker than potato chips, to reduce breakage in the bag, and smaller than papadums , to be more snack friendly. Instead of lentil flour, the crisps are made with milder potato and fava bean flours. The additional seasonings, says the entrepreneur, "bring an authentic Indian flavor" to this Americanized product.

Flavors range from a traditional tandoori -- a spicy interpretation of the classic clay-oven baked dish -- to funky mango chutney. That one "starts with sweetness," says Jaggi, "and then it has a kick in the end," which is courtesy of chili and garlic. Milder chips are made from yogurt and dill; pungent ones from cilantro.

All the senses can work here. "If you open the bag of cilantro, you can smell cilantro," says Jaggi. Some varieties are still in the planning stages, like tamarind or roasted garlic, but there is good reason for that. "We want to keep the failures in our kitchen," says Jaggi, not in the bag of chips. Baji would be proud.

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