A handy re-sauce

Working from home for the past 15 months has come with the constant guiltridden dilemma of slogging in the kitchen or ordering in Especially when the cravings for say Asian food hit hard and one simply canrsquot imagine sweating it out for a meal after a long day Mumbaibased siblings and chefs Bijal and Chirag Makwana recognised this need to satisfy cravings while ensuring meal preps were a breeze Bijal a consultant and Chirag the head chef at Olive Bar and Kitchen figured the answer was readytouse pastes and sauces and rolled out their brand Gastronauts in November 2020 after months of RampDMushrooms in crunchy peanut sauceWhile the market is flooded with readytouse condiments the duo tells us that what sets their sauces pastes dressings and gourmet butters apart is that theyrsquore handcrafted in small batches and contain no preservatives ldquoDuring the lockdown we wanted to eat comfort food like khow suey and didnrsquot find good options to order in or prepare with readymade pastes which were laden with preservatives So we thought we need to make something that can help prepare a quick meal that everyone can enjoyrdquo shares Bijal about their products which range from honey and orange and apple pie butters to aglio olio paste triple crunch mustard dressing and Asian stirfry sauce among othersIt also helps that most of the condiments mdash sauces and pastes packed in 300gm bottles dressings in 180200gm jars and gourmet butters in 160gm containers mdash are priced between Rs 250 and Rs 400 Chirag adds that another aspect they kept in mind was to ensure their products have multiple applications ldquoFor instance Sicilian Love butter which has olive chilli flakes and herbs can be spread on a toast added to your pasta or used to bakerdquoFish in khow suey pasteWhen we try their sauces and pastes all priced at Rs 400 wersquore pleased to note that they indeed live up to the promise of being versatile Brownie points to Bijal a former marketing executive for the glass jar labels which succinctly state the ingredients in each sauce steps on how to cook it along with a tip or two about using it for other purposes For instance while the aglio olio paste mdash with little garlic chips and onions that add a nice bite mdash was a bit bland for our palate when cooked with spaghetti and chicken sausages it elevated our boring morning toast to a flavourful garlic bread within just five minutesAsian stirfried riceWe also enjoyed the streetstyle aroma and texture of the Asian stirfry sauce a pleasant change from its garlicheavy storebought counterparts It took around three spoonfuls and 15 minutes to transform leftover rice veggies and shredded chicken into a quick WFH Asian stirfried rice bowl that held its own The coarse and crunchy peanut sauce mdash also addictive as a dip mdash was lapped up as a sabzi of mushrooms and capsicum with bread one night when the fridge broke down However we wish both these sauces would bring more heat to the palateThe products range from pastes and sauces to dressings and buttersNot a fan of khow suey we followed the label and used the paste as a marinade for thawed basa chunks The nutty curry paste beautifully complemented the tawafried fish that we paired with buttered mushroom rice Similarly with no pad Thai noodles at home we tossed the pad Thai sauce with regular noodles chicken and veggies We added some of the peanut sauce and were pleased with the crunchytangy comboThe quantity of the sauces might look tight but you only need two to three spoonfuls for each attempt depending on the dish yoursquore aiming for The chefs tell us that with the brand name Gastronauts they wanted to help people make food thatrsquos out of the world without slogging in the kitchen And dare we say wersquore getting thereAlso Read Itrsquos a dealLog on to gastronauts_mum on Instagram