No matter what, there's always something special about food coming from your grandma's kitchen. And if you're away from home, there's nothing you crave for more than your paati's pickles and podis, isn't it? Thankfully, this paati has her kitchen open to all, washing you over with nostalgia and bombastic flavours with her offerings. Called GirijaPaati Homefoods, this online food store is run by, as the name suggests, Girija paati, who has over 50 years of experience cooking for her massive joint family.
From pickles and podis to home-made sweets and savouries, GirijaPaati Homefoods offers South Indian delicacies all prepared using natural ingredients and heirloom recipes. Their pickles and pastes range includes options like purattasi mangai thokku (raw mango pickle), puliyodharai paste podi (spicy tamarind rice mix), milagai curry (green chilli & tamarind pickle) which she innovated as a young bride and spicy and salted lime pickle. Prices start from about INR 400 for 250 gms.
GirijaPaati Homefoods also offers a range of simple yet flavoursome podis like rasam podi, paruppu podi, idly, sambar and bisibela bath podi etc. In karams (savouries), they have mixture, butter murukku, ribbon pakkoda and omapodi. Prices start from about INR 300. But if you're the kind who loves desi ghee and homemade sweets, go straight to their sweets section which includes cashew balls, date nut mittai made with dates, pistachios, almonds and cashews. These contain absolutely no preservatives, processed sugar or artificial sweeteners. But it's their Theratti Paal made with slow-cooked buffalo milk, ghee and jaggery that we can't wait to try. This treat apparently also comes with an ayurvedic ingredient called jadhika, which promotes digestion. Love ladoos? Check out Girija Paati’s maaladdu’s which come with fried gram, ghee, cashews and cardamom.