CHENNAI: When the sky is illuminating with Deepavali crackers and the neighbours are exchanging warm greetings of the festival, the idea of taking the celebrations to the next level with the sweets and savouries is often welcomed with open hands. But with the usual Deepavali bakshanam deliveries available in the city which presents their common list of snacks, at least a few of them would hope to find something unique in this season.
Madras Rail
Amid the early months of the pandemic in 2020, a group of friends came together to help out struggling families in Kumbakonam and Thirunalveli by raising orders for sweets and savoury items. This was the beginning of Madras Rail. And while they serviced the USA, Australia, Canada, Singapore and the UK in 2020-21, they are offering their services close to home in Chennai this year. “The idea is to help out families (down south) and we have been able to continuously support 45-50 families till now. People can write to us about what they want — halwa from Thirunalveli, handmade or machine made murukku, chikki, thattai, laddoo and more — and we will send it to them,” says SRS Mani, founder. And unless it is specified by the client, they do not promote branded products over the homemade delicacies from
these families.
Muriel Inc
With her seven years experience in the field, Maslyne from Muriel Inc brings to you flavours of India, during this festival season with a carefully curated collection of sweets from all over the country. The box has a wide range of sweets and savouries especially from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Thoothukudi and Chennai.About her variety Deepavali hamper, Maslyne shares, “These South Indian sweets are sourced from different districts and they are sent to me via night bus. I pick them up the next morning. We also customise the hamper as per the individual needs and budget. Thoothukudi macaroon, thengai paal murukku, coconut milk achu murukku, thattai, injimarappa, Tirunelveli iruttu kadai halwa, Chettinad adhirasam and Mysore pak are a few of the dishes that make it to the list.
Vaithees Iyer Kitchen
What began as a catering service in the 50s has spread its roots through multiple generations by the name of Vaithees Iyer Kitchen. The family business is now run by Ramanathan Iyer, the proprietor, and offers sattvic meals to senior citizens on a daily basis. They also provide bakshanam for various occasions like Krishna Jayanthi, Gokulashtami, Vinayaka Chathurthi, Karthikeya Deepam and, of course, Deepavali. “This year (like every year), we are offering sweets like jangiri, laddoo, badhusha, Mysore pak, wheat halwa, badam roll and much more, as well as favourites like Madras mixture, kara sev, omapodi etc. Our bakshanam is completely homemade with no preservative or added colours,” Ramanathan says. While the service had few orders during the pandemic, this year has seen a doubling in numbers already and they expect more to come in soon.
Homewood kitchen
Venki has been catering to the sweet tooth of the city dwellers for the past three years. Providing an authentic taste by using only the best products, Venki and his team have come up with came up with mothi laddoo, special Mysore pak, chandra kala, surya kala, peda, kaju katli, Madras mixture and kara boondi, with Thirupati laddoo being the speciality. “The customers usually have to inform only a day prior but for some sweets, we need at least two days. We cannot be in a hurry to prepare as it won’t do justice to the dish,” says Venki.
Nahar Kitchen
With a journey from creating appalams to Jain food and finally to Deepavali sweets, Nahar Kitchen has been providing Chennaiites with Deepavali Bakshanam for the past three years. An initiative by the couple, Ashwin Nahar and Sonia Nahar, the kitchen specialises in creating Jain food avoiding all the restricted food items. With sweets like kaju katli, badam katli, coconut barfi, motichoor laddoo, peda, milk cake, gulab jamun, rasgulla and savouries like namkeen, murukku and traditional adhirasam, the team labels everything as homemade. Sonia shares, “Our food is Jain food and we avoid using underground vegetables like onion, garlic, ginger, carrot and beetroot. We only use vegetables like tomatoes, drumsticks, and bottle gourd.” In addition to the sweets during the Deepavali season, they provide Jain south Indian meals throughout the year.
Sweet Karam Coffee
For those looking to expand their palates this year, Sweet Karam Coffee comes with its large assortment of sweets and snacks of the traditional variety and beyond. The one-stop destination home food store has been operational since 2015 and seeks to serve A to Z kitchen and snacking needs. “This Deepavali, we have authentic sweets in home-style preparation, and all-time favourite snacks. In addition to this, we have signature sweets created by us, that include gulab kaju katli, Boost barfi, Horlicks barfi, fig rolls, dry fruit rolls and other white sugar-free options. We also have millet snacks and delights made from indigenous rice varieties like Karuppu Kavuni adhirasam, Thooyamalli rice kara sev, Navara rice and cashew laddoo. People can also opt for combos and assorted boxes,” says Nalini Parthiban, co-founder.