Tastes like home made, sold in retail
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There
are very few Nagpurians who would not know Panditanche Vividh Vastu
Bhandar in Modi 3 in Sitabuldi. The shop is popular for its typical
Maharashtrian sweet and savoury snacks and a must visit for
Maharashtrians and nowadays even those from other communities during
festivals and weddings.
"This shop was established in 1964 by my father. In those days items like chakli, chiwda, karanjia were essentially made at home and nobody would even dream of buying these from the market," says Shirish Pandit, the owner of the shop.
The senior Pandit was inspired by the popularity of idli, dosa and wada which was consumed in big numbers by south Indians as well as others in various eateries in the city. "My mother used to make some Maharashtrian snack preparations very well and so my father began to market these during Ganesh festival and Diwali," he says.
Initially, these items were made to order but 1977 onwards they were made and sold on a daily basis. Today, the shop is especially known for its sweet items prepared from coconut. "Ola nariyal varieties do not have much of a shelf life and so no other shop prepares karnajia, laddu or barfi made from it," says Pandit.
Now the shop also sees a big rush during Christmas. "They are also serving these local delicacies to their guests so Christians too come here and buy from us."
"The scale has become a bit larger as we now use industrial mixers and other machinery which has been customized for our use," says Pandit and informs that his shop uses at least 600kg of sesame seeds during the Sankranti season.
"During Diwali we make up to 15,000 karanji, 600kg chakli and 400kg laddoos," he says. But what limits the production is that these are items which are made by hand piece wise. "We can't put dough in a machine and get karanjis out of it. It requires to be rolled and filled by hand and this restricts the number that can be made in a day," says Pandit and adds that now he is trying to get a mechanized sheeter which will roll the dough in long sheets from which circles will be cut to make this delicious sweet. "We have got machines to dry roast sesame seeds and also the flour for making laddoos. This has enhanced our production."
What keeps the items moving from the shelf is the rising popularity of traditional sweets and the growing significance of our culture and traditions among the youth, feels Pandit. "People carry our items even abroad," he says and adds this is what has propelled them to manufacture some typically Maharashtrian spices too. "Our dry mixes or upwas chi bhajani are very popular and so is the black garam masala."
Competition is tough and large scale production is difficult to execute for these items, says Shirish Pandit and adds "We use commercial cylinders which are very costly and so far are employing just six women to help us with the work. But increasing costs of raw ingredients is affecting us as we don't have volumes and can't execute big orders." Along with the mouth-watering goodies, Pandit also sells from his small jewellery store items which are must at a Maharasthrian wedding or any other celebration. "Gauri haar, moti nariyal, saptapadi and mundawari are all available with us," he says.
Just down the road from this shop is the 86-year-old grocery store Bapat Bandhu, a favourite with many Maharashtrian homes who still want their raw ingredients to be typically their own. "Maharashtrian women are very particular about the cereals and grains that they buy. They want it all to be clean, washed and dried and that's what we do," says Dhananjay Bapat who has taken up the reins of the shop set up by his grandfather. "This is must visit store for families where there are weddings, child birth or any other religious function. Turmeric and 'akshat' used in weddings is brought from our store as we give it the required treatment and sell in packets.
Care is taken to innovate and constantly upgrade the products to meet the changes in demand. "Khus khus, kharik powder used in laddoos, gound and tilli which has been washed and dried is brought from our shop and sent to US, UK and Australia by our customers," says Bapat and adds that this year the new items being sold are garlic and onion powder, roasted jowar flour and makhana flour for those who fast
"This shop was established in 1964 by my father. In those days items like chakli, chiwda, karanjia were essentially made at home and nobody would even dream of buying these from the market," says Shirish Pandit, the owner of the shop.
The senior Pandit was inspired by the popularity of idli, dosa and wada which was consumed in big numbers by south Indians as well as others in various eateries in the city. "My mother used to make some Maharashtrian snack preparations very well and so my father began to market these during Ganesh festival and Diwali," he says.
Initially, these items were made to order but 1977 onwards they were made and sold on a daily basis. Today, the shop is especially known for its sweet items prepared from coconut. "Ola nariyal varieties do not have much of a shelf life and so no other shop prepares karnajia, laddu or barfi made from it," says Pandit.
Now the shop also sees a big rush during Christmas. "They are also serving these local delicacies to their guests so Christians too come here and buy from us."
"The scale has become a bit larger as we now use industrial mixers and other machinery which has been customized for our use," says Pandit and informs that his shop uses at least 600kg of sesame seeds during the Sankranti season.
"During Diwali we make up to 15,000 karanji, 600kg chakli and 400kg laddoos," he says. But what limits the production is that these are items which are made by hand piece wise. "We can't put dough in a machine and get karanjis out of it. It requires to be rolled and filled by hand and this restricts the number that can be made in a day," says Pandit and adds that now he is trying to get a mechanized sheeter which will roll the dough in long sheets from which circles will be cut to make this delicious sweet. "We have got machines to dry roast sesame seeds and also the flour for making laddoos. This has enhanced our production."
What keeps the items moving from the shelf is the rising popularity of traditional sweets and the growing significance of our culture and traditions among the youth, feels Pandit. "People carry our items even abroad," he says and adds this is what has propelled them to manufacture some typically Maharashtrian spices too. "Our dry mixes or upwas chi bhajani are very popular and so is the black garam masala."
Competition is tough and large scale production is difficult to execute for these items, says Shirish Pandit and adds "We use commercial cylinders which are very costly and so far are employing just six women to help us with the work. But increasing costs of raw ingredients is affecting us as we don't have volumes and can't execute big orders." Along with the mouth-watering goodies, Pandit also sells from his small jewellery store items which are must at a Maharasthrian wedding or any other celebration. "Gauri haar, moti nariyal, saptapadi and mundawari are all available with us," he says.
Just down the road from this shop is the 86-year-old grocery store Bapat Bandhu, a favourite with many Maharashtrian homes who still want their raw ingredients to be typically their own. "Maharashtrian women are very particular about the cereals and grains that they buy. They want it all to be clean, washed and dried and that's what we do," says Dhananjay Bapat who has taken up the reins of the shop set up by his grandfather. "This is must visit store for families where there are weddings, child birth or any other religious function. Turmeric and 'akshat' used in weddings is brought from our store as we give it the required treatment and sell in packets.
Care is taken to innovate and constantly upgrade the products to meet the changes in demand. "Khus khus, kharik powder used in laddoos, gound and tilli which has been washed and dried is brought from our shop and sent to US, UK and Australia by our customers," says Bapat and adds that this year the new items being sold are garlic and onion powder, roasted jowar flour and makhana flour for those who fast
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