Jesal Sweet House founders expand business after closing Brickfields restaurant

Teranjit Kaur and Amar Singh founded Jesal Sweet House in 2002 to sell traditional North Indian sweets in Malaysia.

The couple started the business with RM800 in personal savings after finding it difficult to live on fixed monthly salaries. They initially faced significant setbacks, including a scam and a failed business partnership, but eventually rebuilt the company after making a profit from a wedding in Melaka.

The business expanded to include a restaurant in Brickfields that served North Indian cuisine for 17 years. However, Kaur and Singh closed the restaurant in 2021 due to the pandemic and high rental costs. Following the closure, the founders shifted their focus to outdoor events, bazaars, and shopping mall fairs to maintain their operations and support their family.

Kaur and Singh currently operate multiple booths simultaneously, often renting houses to prepare fresh sweets near event locations rather than transporting them from Kuala Lumpur. They use premium ingredients, such as reducing 100 litres of milk to 22 litres to create no-added-sugar kalakand. While they have a money-back guarantee for quality, Kaur says no customers have ever requested a refund in over 20 years. The founders recently reopened a restaurant in Puchong and plan to expand the business through franchising.