Family opens store to promote Sankethi cuisine
BENGALURU: Gojjuavalakki, a spicy-sweet snack made from puffed rice, is a signature dish of Sankethis. This small community of Smartha Brahmins, residing primarily in the Mysuru region, were originally from Sengottai in Tamil Nadu. They migrated to Karnataka a few centuries ago and just as their dialect is a mixture of Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam, their food too is a blend of tastes from all these regions.
A family has been trying to promote their food culture through Adukale brand, and on Sunday they opened their first exclusive store at 51, 7th Cross in Malleswaram, where you can sample the dishes before placing your order.
Signature dishes -- Chomai (steamed rice vermicelli), Gojjavalakki (peppered beaten rice) and Kolakkttaes (steamed rice dumplings) -- and many quintessential south Indian dishes can be sampled here. Their product line includes fenugreek flour or dosa batter, upma mix made from beaten rice and grated coconut and pepper kootu powder.
Bharat Kaushik, who belong to the family, says that he has always been passionate about food. “My parents (Ravindra and Nagarathna) and my aunt Malathi Sharma started Sankethi and the brand has slowly grown in the last eight years. The next step was opening this store.” Malathi Sharma is also a popular singer.
As a small community of around 40,000 people, Bharat felt the need to represent the food that he grew up with. “Our ancestors moved all over the place and hence, our cuisine and our culture is an amalgamation of all things south Indian.”