What began as a husband’s quest to satisfy his wife’s love for heat has evolved into Louder, a homegrown chilli oil brand. Guided by their Indian heritage and a flair for Sichuan aromatics, Wellington couple Gee and Jay Parbhu are proving that the best business ideas often start at the family dinner table.

Words Zoe Lloyd  Photos Zoe Lloyd, Jayshree and Giresh Parbhu

Chilli was a familiar ingredient for both Gee and Jay growing up with Indian grandparents. The couple were both born and raised in Wellington and have continued to cook with chilli for their own children. ‘The chilli oil is a real expression of what we love and we enjoy it at home, so it’s pulled out daily,’ Jay says.

The couple started playing around with different combinations of spices and aromatics they would use in their regular Indian cooking such as garlic, ginger, star anise, cloves and cinnamon. Over time, ingredients such as sesame and Sichuan pepper were added to the recipe which added depth to the savoury flavour. The result was a chilli oil with the perfect hit of spice and toastiness.

Creating a food brand was never part of the plan for Gee and Jay. They started out simply making big batches of their homemade chilli oil to use as their go to seasoning at home. At the time, Jay was working in human resources and Gee was in design; neither had any experience in hospitality.

One weekend, they invited some friends over for brunch and casually set out a jar of their chilli oil on the table. It was an instant hit, everyone couldn’t stop raving about it. That’s when a little seed was planted: if their friends loved it this much, maybe others would too. Before long, Gee and Jay were bottling up their first jars of Louder chilli oil for sale. They sold their first box to a local artisan store in Alicetown, Lower Hutt, and it grew from there.

Gee and Jay surprised their parents when they shared the news that they had decided to start a food business, however they have received endless encouragement and support.

Louder spicy sesame salt, the other half of the duo the couple make, is spicy, toasty, tangy and flavoured with chilli, black sesame and New Zealand lime. Gee and Jay originally had no plans to launch a secondary product so soon, however the idea came to Jay quite organically while out on a run. She likens the salt to the concept of Japanese togarashi, saying it complements the chilli oil well as part of their small product range. ‘It’s got a shelf life of a year and you can add it to everything.’

After a few years of Louder products being in the world, the couple are excited about growing further. ‘We are still the new kids on the block and a lot of people still don’t know about us,’ Jay says. ‘Louder is just part of our life, it’s a reflection of us. It’s good and it goes on everything!’

Louder chilli oil and Louder spicy sesame salt can be purchased through a number of selected stockists across New Zealand (and one in Singapore!). For more visit makeitlouder.nz

This spicy brunch dish takes inspiration from the classic sage fried eggs that was served at one of Pōneke’s (Wellington) iconic cafés, Nikau. Be sure to give your Louder chilli oil a good stir before using so you capture an even mix of all those aromatic flavours.

Serves 1

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 teaspoon butter

5-6 fresh sage leaves

2 free-range eggs

1 tablespoons of Louder chilli oil, or more to taste

2 slices of bread, toasted

Method

Heat a small non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the oil and butter, allowing them to melt and bubble gently without browning.

Quickly add the sage leaves and fry them gently until they begin to crisp up.

Using a spoon, push the sage leaves to one side of the pan, then crack the eggs one by one into the other side.

Once the edges of the egg whites start to crisp, spoon some of the hot oil and butter over the top of the eggs to help them cook evenly.

When the eggs are cooked to your liking, drizzle the chilli oil into the pan. Put the toast on a plate and slide the eggs on to the toast. Pour over the leftover oil and sage leaves from the pan over the eggs. Serve immediately.