Gulab Aunty loves making Rajasthani food; she’s very popular with the North Indian diaspora in Chennai. The khakhras, masalas and theplas she has sent out of her kitchen since 1999 have helped sustain numerous folk with strict dietary restrictions, especially when they are travelling abroad.
Last year, as the demand grew some more, her son Rajesh Bhandari and nephews L. Nitin Chordia and Naveen Bhandari, came up with the idea of preserving her recipes and making them accessible to a lot more people, while giving her a break. “That’s how Gulabs came about; the recipes are hers and the quality is dictated by her,” says Nitin. The brand has about 24 products under four categories, and in the five months since it was started, has started retailing at over 50 outlets.
This is just one of the many instances that a family has branded its recipes as a way of preserving them, while sharing a unique culinary experience with consumers. The city already has restaurants like Anglo Aunty’s Takeaway on College Road, Nungambakkam, that features dishes based on recipes shared by Anglo-Indian families. At Namratha Joseph’s Cuckoo Club Diner on Harrington Road, Chetpet, diners can sample a variety of her family favourites from pies and cakes to burgers.
When it comes to Gulabs, Nitin says, “We wanted to keep the flavour and freshness just like it would be when Gulab Aunty makes it, even though we now operate out of a certified, food-safe unit on Greams Road. So, we have vacuum packed the khakhras and masalas, while the theplas are delivered fresh every day.” Sourcing ingredients locally is tricky, but they do get specific ingredients from authentic vendors as “the origin is important”.
To set themselves apart from other brands, the packaging is distinct, and is an attempt at going eco-friendly, he adds, “The cardboard packaging of the khakhras does stand out; we also have a pickle sleeve on the inside, making it easy to eat while travelling. The sharbats, thandai and pickles come in glass bottles.”
Josephine Rajaratnam’s son-in-law, Ajit, felt that the prawn and fish pickles she made and shared with family and friends all over the world deserved a wider audience. However, she felt that she was too old (at over 70 years of age) to start a business. Sonali Menon, Josephine’s daughter, says, “Last year, my husband passed away. My mother decided to do this in his memory; that’s why the brand is Aji’s Pickles.”
While they currently stock only the prawn pickle and operate out of home, the brand will soon be available in stores. “So far, it has become popular through word-of-mouth publicity alone. At Rs. 285 for a 300 gm bottle, we sell about 50 bottles a month,” says Sonali, adding that the recipe is known only to the family, but confesses that no one can make it like her mother does.
Chinmaya Arjun Raja went a step ahead and decided to document and preserve the pickles of his entire community in Rajapalayam through the brand Panakam — Tradition in a Bottle. “It is the community and family tradition of the Telugu-speaking Rajas of Rajapalayam.
It’s made from a specific kind of mango from our own groves in the region, which is sun-dried and naturally fermented for a few months, with no preservatives. It’s this attention to detail that gives the product a unique taste,” he says.
Although the brand started off with only the Rajapalayam mango pickle, they have now added amla (gooseberry), narthangai and kadarangai (varieties of bitter lemon) pickles from the same region. From Anakapalle near Visakhapatnam, they have Endaavakkai mango pickle with and without garlic, and the Bellam Pacchi avakkai pickle. These also follow traditional family recipes passed down generations.
When it comes to their family recipes, it’s important to those who are sharing them to keep it as authentic as possible. It’s the charm of knowing these stories behind the products picked off the shelf and the fact that they are made with care that keeps customers coming back for more.
GULABS: 72009 56060
AJI’S PICKLES: 98412 09813
PANAKAM: 97890 59024
