'Happiness is homemade'

Two types of home-made pickles — one with red chillies and the other made with potatoes and green peas! Yes, you read right, and it was lip-smacking.
'Happiness is homemade'

HYDERABAD: My craving for wholesome, healthy home-made North Indian food, led me to Abhipsa Tulshan and her mother Nirmala Tulshan’s doorstep this week. ‘Foodwrap’ is a pure vegetarian home catering enterprise that the mother-daughter runs from their home in Jubilee Hills since 2014. “This is not just a business, but it’s our passion project,” asserts Abhipsa who quit her job at a call centre to start this kitchen with her mother. And the passion surely transcends into the delicious food that they make. Specialising in Marwari cuisine, giving healthy twists to regular food is what sets them apart.

For instance, the Rajkachori that I had was made in fresh, crisp poori stuffed with dhokla made with spinach and topped with sev, coriander and tamarind chutney and curd. The green dhokla gave the chaat a splash of colour and a unique twist to this street-food. Abhipsa says, “Some people do not prefer aloo, so we add dhokla.”

Abhipsa ans Nirmala Tulshan
Abhipsa ans Nirmala Tulshan

The Marwari lunch that followed was a simple meal that had the quintessential tastes of ghar ka khana, without any added colours, preservatives or extra oil. The paneer badami was not spicy, was a little sweet in light tomato gravy topped with slivers of almonds. It paired well with hara bhara parathas made of wheat. The nutritious rotis were soft and thankfully, not oily. The meal also had a mix of dal chawal – typical tuvar daal in a flavourful tadka mixed with white rice.

Two types of home-made pickles — one with red chillies and the other made with potatoes and green peas! Yes, you read right, and it was lip-smacking. Fluffy and tangy dahi vada and gaund laddoo ended the meal. The healthy laddoo made of jaggery had a nice crunch, and we couldn’t stop at just one. “The USP of our food is that each and every component is made at home and we don’t compromise on the quality of the ingredients,” shares the duo that runs this with five other staff.

Not just sticking to traditional Mawari food, they also make international dishes such as spinach rice with veg augratin, pastas, burgers, etc. On the range of food, she says, “We started with daily meals and chaats to fill the gap for good ghar ka khana, which became an instant hit. We moved on to making homemade dry snacks like bhel, jhaal muri, mathris, and flavoured bhujiyas.” Abhipsa credits her mother Nirmala for these recipes.

Always open to adaptation, she adds, “We customise our starters; whip up new dishes and tweak the old ones of my mother’s recipes.” As they do not have a fixed menu and also do on-site catering, orders have to be placed two days in advance. Food is delivered in leak-proof packaging using local courier services. Going forward, she says, “We want to make the best vegetarian dry snacks and home-cooked food,” and adds, “Happiness is homemade”.

She can be reached at: abtulshan@gmail.com

— Tamanna S Mehdi tamanna@newindianexpress.com @tamannamehdi

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