Preetha Anand is a Coimbatore-based acupuncture therapist who loves to cook. This passion recently led her to launch a range of pickles called the Redlid Foods. “It started with Deepavali in 2015. I was looking for something special to gift and wanted something I could make and which would be of use to them. So I decided to try my hand at non-vegetarian pickles. My first batch of tuna pickle was 10 kg and everyone loved it.” But Preetha did not follow up on this until March this year when she decided to launch her own business. She now sells fish, chicken, mutton, prawns and dates pickles.
“Usually we don’t make non-vegetarian pickles at home. There are a few brands available in the market but I found they did not have enough pieces of meat. The prawns pickle available in the market is made of dried prawns while I use fresh ones. For vegetarians, I offer dates pickle. It can be eaten with rice or be rolled into chapathis.” Her products come in bottles of 200gm. “Each bottle has 175 gm of boneless meat,” she claims. Though the shelf life of her pickles is eight months with refrigeration and three months without, she says that she does not make large quantities. She makes batches of five kg thrice a week. “That way, people are assured of buying fresh batches.”
Pickle
Preetha says that the most important part is to get the moisture out of the meat. “There are different methods like baking or drying. I sauté the meat for a specific time and add ginger-garlic paste, chilli and gingelli oil to it. Vinegar is used as a preservative.” She uses parla fish for her fish pickle, as it is available throughout the year.
Initially she worked out of the kitchen at home but has recently shifted to the kitchen of the a hotel run by her husband. “The meat is procured by the staff and this made my work easier as they knew from where to source the best quality products.”
The name of the brand? “My best friend suggested it. I do not know why she chose it. But when I ordered the glass bottles, to my surprise, they came with a red lids. It somehow made me believe that this was meant to happen. ”
Info you can use
Her products are available at Anjappar Restaurant, Gandhipuram
Price ranges from ₹135- ₹250 depending on the variety
Call 7094444741 for details
