Share
Diwali is less than 10 days away. In the pursuit of meaningful gifts for foodies, you may want to source directly from farmers, buy handcrafted cook ware or sign up for recipe workshops. Here’s a list of ideas that speak of thoughtful gifting.
Mithais for a cause
A classic Diwali box from Yogisattva, a delivery kitchen and culinary studio in Mumbai with vegan plant-based foods on their menu. It is a limited edition launch with mithais, ceramic bowls and clay pots that speak of mindful collaborations. While the mithais, vegan, gluten free and refined sugar free, contain ingredients sourced from farmers, the ceramic bowls are by Artesanía - The Clay Studio and the clay lamps have been made by a street vendor named Jitu who is hearing impaired.
To order, check yogisattva.com. Orders beyond Mumbai need to be placed three days in advance.
Price: Starts at ₹249
From Kashmir
Dry fruits are synonymous with Diwali. If you want to get your hands on the finest kind, order walnuts, apricots and almonds from the brand Kashmir Rare. They have a gift box too with Kashmiri saffron to make gifting extra special. And, to seal it all with some love get the kahwa.
To order, check @kashmirrare on Instagram
Price: ₹375 for 250 grams of apricot, ₹550 for 250 gms of walnuts, ₹500 for 250 gms of almonds
Honey Trap
Pune’s Moonshine Meadery, that offers a range of meads from traditional, coffee and apple cyder, introduced the honey project called ‘hive to table’ last month. Honey is the heart of meads and they source this primary ingredient directly from beekeepers. It was only a matter of time till they launched bottled honey which is sourced from Rajasthan. They released about 500 bottles of rich, aromatic golden Sidr honey which can be delivered pan India. There’s a number to it because, the bees which suck the nectar of jujube flowers bloom for about a month. They get a short window to make honey. This is limited edition in the truest sense.
To order, check @MoonshineHoneyProject on Instagram Price: ₹555 for 500 gms
Green Heirloom
A cast iron kadhai for cooking mutton, clay pots for setting curd and bharanis for storing pickles are treasures of the Indian kitchen. Kochi-based Green Heirloom has these traditional cookware, and stoneware too, for adding more flavour to your food. Founder Kaviya Cherian, who launched the brand in August, is a passionate cook who works with local artisans to create these kitchens essentials considered to be heirloom pieces.
To order, check greenheirloom.in
Price: Starts at ₹500
Build a recipe
If experiences hold greater value for some, sign them up for the food workshops by Chef Shriya Shetty. She worked at Gaggan in Bangkok and Ellipsis in Mumbai before setting up an artisanal bakery called Pupkins Kitchen and a cake shop named Buttercream Co, both in Mangaluru. She runs weekly online cooking and baking workshops to help beginners to build recipes, or learn about ghee roast which is her specialty and bake breads. Shetty has been documenting lost recipes, ingredients and kitchen traditions of Karnataka which will be published in a soon-to-be-released book. In other words, here’s a chef who will teach you exactly what she knows and had never stopped learning.
To register for classes, check @chiashetts on Instagram
Price: Starts at ₹1799
Spices from the hills
Turmeric the colour of a golden sunrise, tongue tickling Szechuan pepper and dried bhoot jolokia in a spice box from Zizira, a brand from Meghalaya, will add colour to the kitchen cabinet. They work with farmers from the northeast and also retail tea and raw honey. But, if you are looking for an offbeat Diwali gift, look for their spice box with bottles containing bayleaf powder, black pepper, cinnamon and more packed in a rustic cane basket.
To order, check zizira.com
Price: ₹1400 for the spice basket
A toast to subscriptions
For those who prefer drinks over food, gift them a subscription. Coffee addicts will appreciate a steady refill and the subscriptions come at marked down prices which is good news for you. Dope Coffee and Blue Tokai are two homegrown roasters which offer subscriptions on their products. While the former extends to a one-month delivery period, Blue Tokai ranges from 6 to 26 deliveries which might take care of a year’s supply.
To order, check bluetokaicoffee.com and dopecoffee.in
Prices: Starts at ₹2310 for Blue Tokai, ₹400 for Dope Coffee
Setting the mood
A touch of simplicity imbued with festive colours of gulab and genda will brighten up a home. Saphed is a textile studio focussed on creating home decor and garments with linen. They have runners, table cloths and napkins in marigold yellow, gulab jaal pink, earthy terracotta and white. While you are at it, add a candle or two encased in a reusable terracotta pot and scented with marigold.
To order, check saphed.com
Prices: Starts at ₹599
