Saucy beginnings

Pinky Danani makes pasta with her homemade pesto sauce. Pics/Satej Shinde

A larger part of 2020 was about living the DIY life. Most of us had discovered a newfound interest in whipping up elaborate menus from scratch. As time passed, we felt the need to seek help without having to try too hard. Through the lockdown, chefs bottled up their best ideas for gravies and sauces in a ready-to-cook avatar that led to dishes being created in minutes. Pinky Danani, a marketing and communications professional who lost her job during the pandemic, launched The Dipping Sauces in September. It focusses on hummus, inspired by her travels to the Middle East, but her pasta and pizza sauces are becoming a rage too. "People like that it is freshly-prepared, home-cooked and saves time."

Jewellery designer Minal Punjabi's story is similar: "The lockdown gave me time to work on my first passion - cooking. Having interned with Moshe Shek years ago, it was fulfilling to launch Peach & Melon, which bottles artisanal sauces and rolls out hand-made pastas." Her menu includes pesto cream, black bean sauce, five spice chilli garlic and drizzles for aglio olio.

The lockdown also inspired tweaking of businesses and Megha Poddar of White Light Food who catered hand-churned ready-made cooking sauces, gravies and pastes to restaurants, among other products, has now turned her attention to direct customers with the promise of cooking dishes in less than four minutes. The menu celebrates Asian bestsellers like black bean sauce, garlic pepper sauce, khow suey and laksa curry pastes.

Minal Punjabi

Makhani to pomodoro
Mayuree Rao decided to make biryani during the lockdown. The tedious process got the better of her; she stopped at the masala and left it for the next day. "When I got back to the preparation, I realised all I had to do was layer the rice and meat and set it on the stove to cook," says Rao. This experience inspired her to launch Wonder Foods and Farms. She uses pink salt instead of white and jaggery instead of sugar in all her recipes; she plans to grow some of the ingredients on her Karjat farm called Nivaant.

Mayuree Rao

Last week, the ex-journalist and marketing professional hosted a brunch table for an small group where we got a taste of her pomodoro sauce spiked with a few South Indian masalas to craft a desi dip with the fried prawns; her Malvani sauce was a standout in the mushroom curry. Created in a central kitchen in Mulund, a line-up of curries and sauces are expected soon.

Megha Poddar

In our home kitchen, we gave two of her sauces a go. The makhani and alfredo. Each 300 gm jar comes with a recipe that requires mixing of the content into sautéed veggies or cooked meat with a cooking time of two minutes. In what can be called the shortest cooking stint ever, we had a makhani dish that was a perfect symphony of tomato, onions, ginger, garlic, cashew nuts and masalas. Our second dish was with the alfredo sauce. Let's just say it took us more time to chill the wine than rustling up a cheesy mushroom pasta. Both dishes served four.

Asheesh Dubash

It's time for Africa
Consultant chef Asheesh Dubash found 2020 to be the ideal year to revive Antohito Foods. A section of her menu includes marinades, pastes ranging from African curry paste, Indonesian goreng and Asian marinades. Dubash has studied at Le Cordon Bleu London and came back to work in India. "I started Antohito seven years ago but it was always more on the back burner while I did various consulting projects. The venture, which is the literal pronunciation of the Mexican word ‘antojito', offers products made in small batches, made with zero preservatives and are pure vegetarian.

All orders come with a recipe card, and Dubash mentions they are a guideline and offer room for encouragement and experimentation. When we tried the African curry, we cut the coconut milk by half.

African curry
Serves: 2 to 3
Recipe
Pour 1 tsp of vegetable oil in a pan. When hot, add 75 gm of African curry paste and stir for 1-2 minutes. Add 1½ cups of chopped tomatoes; cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Now add 250 gm of protein or vegetables. Cook for 4-5 minutes. Add 400 ml coconut milk and let the curry simmer till the protein/vegetables are cooked. Add more water if required. Taste for seasoning. Sprinkle with fresh coriander before serving. Serve with hot rice or roti.

Order in

>> The Dipping Sauce
Call: 9820340277
Log on to: @thedippingsauces on Instagram

>> White Light Food
Call: 9819336323
Log on to: @whitelightfood

>> Peach & Melon
Call: 9820146002
Log on to: @peach&melon

>> Antohito
Call: 9867188779
Log on to:@Antohito_foods

>> Wonder Foods and Farms
Call: 9967660179
Log on to: @wonderfoodsandfarms