The Original article in Hindu Mistress of spices CHITRA BALASUBRAMANIAM
(The unedited version is .....)
A
catchy line, “Old Fashioned Gourmet” on a host of pickles, squashes etc piqued
my interest. Further probing revealed a passionate lady; Mrs. Shyam Lata Sihare
fondly called Amma, who was behind the products. And therein revealed a passion
for food and all the ingredients that went into it. The welcome ring in the
voice when I called up to speak to Shyam Lata, saying, “aap aayiye, hamare
products chakiye aur phir achha lage to likiye - you come taste our products
and if you like it, go ahead and write about it.” Amidst the aromatic waft of spices permeating
from the kitchen, an extremely courteous staff takes me to meet Amma. I am
greeted with a warm beaming smile with affection, despite a foot in cast.
And
before long, I am drawn into an Aladdin cave of sorts with a treasure of
information on spices, dals, food, jams, squashes and of course pickles. It
soon becomes apparent, that the entire operation is more of a passion and hobby
than a livelihood venture. Shyam Lata is a Marwari hailing from the J K
Industrial Group family. She elaborates, “The reason we started was to make
available quality products in which there is no adulteration. In a bid to make
a product affordable, there is a compromise in the quality of the ingredients.
If one does not eat right then how can one survive?” It is in this quest for
making products which are 100% pure that her venture started way back in 1993
and her products are in demand by those who appreciate quality including the
who’s who of Delhi.
So
what is so special about her pickles and other products? Pickles are available
all the time everywhere. Here lies the difference; the pickles made by her sold
under Aravali Foods are made the old fashioned way using the age old recipes
with nay a change. Everything is still hand made with little or no use of
machines. Spices are bought whole, washed, sun dried naturally, cleaned by hand
and then yes, hand pounded in a huge mortar and pestle. Salt is bought in rock
form, washed, dried and then again hand pounded to the fine powder. So is the
chilly, spice powders and garam masala. The mangoes, lemons, chillies are also
washed, dried and cut by hand quantities not withstanding. The mixing of the
pickles is done in huge vessels by hand using ladles just like it was once done
at home. There is no compromise no adulteration. As she says, “I will not
compromise on quality just to sell.”
With
this perfectionist bend, she started making a few kilos of pickles, which given
the good quality of ingredients, sold well. And then began the journey.
Speaking of the recipes, she says, “it is recipes made by my mother and
grandmother. First we made pickles, then squashes, then people started demanding
that we also sell them the hand pounded spices which we used in our pickles,
then came pappads, vadiyas, magode….. ” And more products are being added as
the journey progresses.
Given
this obsession for quality, she realized what mattered was to establish the
right sourcing for the ingredients straight from the farmers where there will
be little scope for adulteration. As she adds, “even the wholesale mandi does
not offer fresh good quality spices.” There were failures; an entire
consignment of Ajwain had to be thrown away because it was old stock. When hand
washed it revealed insects. A consignment of Badi elaichi went bad. So she got
down to researching, finding out, getting samples from across places,
testing-tasting them and finally discovering the niche source. So it was
finally Unjha, Mehsana District of Gujarat from where the best of ajwain
straight from the fields is procured. So fresh that she adds, “one can just use
a pinch and feel the aroma.” The hing or asafoetida is sourced from Kabul. The
liquid tapped from trees is imported into the country and is processed here. It
costs as much as Rs. 9000 - Rs. 10000 a kilo, the aroma is unimaginable. The
little packet that I have bought still manages to induce its smell in the
entire home. I query, “do I use a pinch”? All her staff cries in unison - no a
pinch is a lot. Shyam Lata adds, “Take a toothpick and prick it and put it in
the dish.” Whole turmeric is bought from Erode, cardamom fresh from the gardens
of Kerala, other spices from Bangalore. From Unjha come the dhania or coriander
seeds. She explains, “we buy the smallest size of coriander which are tender
and bursting with taste. The bigger sized ones are filled with husk and do not
have taste and aroma. While jeera it is the medium sized ones.” The garam
masala has a whopping 16 - 20 ingredients, including nag kesar, jaiphal, javitri,
karan phool, pipli small and big, tej patta, black pepper and of course no
coriander seeds. Rock salt called Sendha Namak comes from Sindh in Pakistan as
also the Kala Namak. The huge rock in white and black salt is shown to me. Kasoori
methi comes from Nagaur and she vouches is not bitter. The mangoes for the
pickles are the Rajapuri mangoes from Maharashtra and Resham Patti chillies
from Gujarat. This is just the tip of what is used.
Speaking
of red chilies, her assistant Tannu adds, “we clean out the seeds and the top
and nearly 40% of the weight is lost.” The
discussion of spices is so fascinating that I seem to have lost track of the
products made. Matter of factly, she adds, “pickles can be made with mangoes,
chillies, lemons. It is the combination and the spices which make it different.
None of my pickles use acetic acid or common salt. It is made using hand
pounded Sendha namak. There are oil free pickles as well.”
Unable
to accompany me to the dining table where her staff has spread out some of the
products, she goads me to ask them any question. The staff about 4 of them vies
with one another to give me information with a tremendous sense of pride in
what they are doing. So there is mango garlic, chilli garlic in a fine mash,
which goes delightfully with Paranthas I am told. Garlicy it is nice and
flavoured, Mirchoni uses mango with hing and is hot, there is chuara (dry
dates) with lemon and other ingredients, ginger with chuara, mango lachha,
meeti mirch, red chilli in orange juice, green chilli, red chilli with raisins,
lal mirch banarsi, hari mirch jaipuri…. Then during winters it is gobhi shalgam and
vegetable based ones. They make 40 or more types of pickles, (no, I think they have
never counted them). Then there are squashes and concentrates, the kairi pudina
(aam panna) is wonderfully refreshing. Each pickle has its own ingredient
carefully sourced, sorted and then made. What is foremost is quality, as she
adds, “even if a few pieces drop on the floor, we do not put it back. We keep
it aside for someone to take it but we do not sell it to our clients.”
Preserves do not use pectin. I am astounded by her attention to detail and
running the enterprise single handedly. In true style she says, “any new pickle
I keep it on my bed side table and carefully study its ageing.” For me, what
stood out was the distinct home made taste, not once, did I feel it was a
product made for the market. Lovingly made, delicious to taste and natural
spicy aroma, it is another world of slow food and good homely ole fashioned
charm.
