Heirloom mithai with a modern twist for Deepavali 2022

Hatti & Giraffe

A few months before the pandemic hit, Shrikar Bhave, an architect, and his accountant wife, Girija, returned to India after quitting full-time jobs in the US. “Initially, we juggled our professional commitments with our business. We made all our laadus from our home kitchen — rolling and packing them late into the night for orders,” says Shrikar, of their brand Hatti & Giraffe, which offers nutty anti-dessert laadus and creamy besan barfis.

Shrikar Bhave and Girija
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Today, Hatti & Giraffe has grown to a team of seven and offers seven different products. The brand he says brings together the couple’s nicknames — Shrikar is fondly called hatti (elephant in Marathi), and the six feet tall Girija was christened ‘giraffe’ in school. 

As working professionals who prefer homemade food over store bought food, the duo realised the need for a niche market for family favourites. “We have perfected the recipes that we have learnt from our mothers and grandmothers, and have coupled them with our modern approach to focus on hygiene, sustainability,” he says. The anti-dessert laadus, crackling besan barfi, roasted pohe chivda are recipes from Shrikar’s mother, and the Konkani coconut wadi comes from Girija’s grandmother — all neatly packed in minimally designed blue tin boxes.

Hatti and Giraffe’s crackling besan barfi
| Photo Credit: Sachin Powle

This Deepavali, look forward to their new launches: keshar shrikhand (another recipe from his mother), anjeer pedha, salt and pepper cashews. “On customer feedback, we are also going to offer all our products in smaller tin boxes post-Deepavali,” says Shrikar. 

Sweets upwards of ₹500 and savouries start at ₹300 on hattiandgiraffe.com/

Bombay Sweet Shop, Mumbai

“Over the past couple of years, we have observed that while people want traditional mithai, they are open to and looking for some innovation,” says Sameer Seth, founder and CEO. Sticking to their brief of making mithai ‘contemporary, relevant, fun’, Mumbai-based Bombay Sweet Shop’s recently-introduced Indie Bar features layers of coconut fluff, pepper caramel, melt-in-your-mouth patissa — all wrapped in dark chocolate.

From Bombay Sweet Shop’s range
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

This festive season, launches at the two-year-old brand include Pista Khubani Jim Jam, Anjeer Chocolate Roll, Walnut Dodha Barfi, Badam Paak, Rangeela Laddu, Vegan Power Barfi and Saffron Cutting Katli.

Also available are gift hampers like the Diwali Delight Box, Teen Patti Bag, Badi Diwali Box, Chhoti Diwali Box with add-ons such as assorted nuts, chikki, savoury snacks, sweet-inspired candles and a deck of playing cards. Among their bestsellers, says Sameer, is the assorted mithai box of nine. He adds, “You can savour Kaju Bon Bons, Nolen Gur Kheer Kadam, Kaapi Paak, our version of the soft Mysore Paak flavoured with coffee, an extra indulgent Dulce de Leche Peda, among others.”

bombaysweetshop.com 

Meethi Kahani, Pune

When Anuradha Sawhney ventured into the now-trendy vegan mithai industry four years back, demand was limited to the metro cities. “Today, we receive orders for our vegan mithai from all parts of the country,” she says of the brand launched in 2021, adding that only plant-based ingredients are used at Meethi Kahani.

Today’s customers are looking for vegan mithai for varied reasons, she says. “While some want the same taste as their dairy counterparts but with the added benefit of health, others want cruelty free options.”

Vegan mithai at Meethi Kahani
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

This year, launches comprise a Rose Pistachio Barfi, Rose Chocolate Walnut Fudge, and a range of laddus. “In keeping with the trend of eating healthy, we have launched our super seed pumpkin, sunflower seed laddus. For the quinoa fans, we have quinoa laddus, and a range of millet, oat, bajra variants too.” says Anuradha, adding that their popular mithais are the pista mawa barfi, kaju katli (made with jaggery) and coconut barfi.

meethikahani.com

Almond House’s pootharekulu
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Almond House, Hyderabad

The pandemic has amplified the need for good practices, says Chaitanya Muppala, CEO. “Consumers expect a safe, hygienic and engaging retail shopping experience and also demand less plastic and environmentally safe and sustainable packaging.” Compared to pre-lockdown days, he says consumers are increasingly looking out for vegan options, no artificial sugar, and jaggery-based sweets.”

This festive season, premium dry fruit sweets, jaggery-based treats and vegan assortments are on offer. “New variants under the Khara range include milk matri, crunch mix, and our kaju burfi, bisticks and the khara range that includes chagodi, chekkalu, and murukulu, have always been the front runners,” he says, adding that traditional, in-house Telugu and Bengali mithai have always been popular. “Consumers are finding value in the goodness of jaggery, and our bobbatlu, kaju pak, and pootharekulu are popular.” 

almondhouse.com/