Pickle your fancy

While the pumpkin sauteacutes in oil in the pan and earns itself a soft golden glow we tear open a podi packet that smells of curry leaves and a hint of moringa We sprinkle a generous portion give it a thorough mix cover it with the lid and let it cook on slow flameldquoThis is not how you use podirdquo Usha Sarvarayalu laughs over a Zoom call later that evening adding ldquobut this is the beauty of it We want our podis and pickles to be used in a contemporary way toordquo She is joined by her 28yearold niece Neha Alluri who spearheads The Manduva Project to give a brand identity and backstory to what Sarvarayalu and another aunt started before the lockdownHaving worked as consultant for nonprofits during her previous stint Alluri has a strong connect with rural areas ldquoI also drove Corporate Social Responsibility CSR for our edible oils business which helped me see the potential The Manduva Project had in its reach and scalerdquo Alluri says ldquoIn our family we all have that grandmother or a great aunt who takes the onus to ensure that every year we have our stock of pickle in our kitchen No recipes are documented and this tradition gets lost when they pass on I was speaking about this with my cousinrdquo Sarvarayalu recalls of how they started the initiativeLemon pickleSarvarayalursquos cousin Uma Alluri creates and keeps recipes of their grandaunts alivemdashthe ones who used to send them annual pickles ldquoOne day it struck us that why not do it for people who have lost their source of pickle providers The first year it floated among family members and then when Neha came and saw the potential she encouraged us to expand Now we want to make products with a twist Not everyone will eat it with dosa idli and rice But the taste is such that it can be tweaked into simpler eating habits as well like soups bruschetta or pizzardquo Sarvarayalu saysThe name comes from a manduva or an Andhra courtyard house where women would meet to make pickle and exchange recipes ldquoSince our childhood we have watched our mothers and grandmothers gather at the courtyard and collect recipesrdquo remembers SarvarayaluOne special pickle is made of jaggery and mango and it has been in the family for generations ldquoThis is made using mangoes where the seed has not formed So we plan and have them collected during a particular time in the summer before the mango matures I donrsquot know how they farmers know but they know when to pluck itrdquo she adds Their farms are spread across 57000 hectares and located in the west of Godavari district in Andhra PradeshSarvarayalursquos team has been reaching out to young farmers and wives of the farmers through their existing farmer networks They also plan to give them options of intercropping and hope to urge them to grow and supply to them The Manduva Project seeks to empower an army of women in rural AndhraCoconut chilli sprinkleldquoWhen it comes to the young generation of farmers they are lured to the cities and take up IT and blue collar jobs We wanted to create lucrative opportunities for them If the young generation stops farming our country is in troublerdquo Sarvarayalu explains Alluri was happily surprised when she saw the vast area they were working with ldquoThere was so much potential to grow We had the workforce to hire and grow as a cottage industry The pandemic has taught us that it canrsquot just be about social work and we had to create something that can stand by itselfrdquo she says The pickles are meant to take a new form in every kitchen ldquoWhat I cook in my kitchen and what you make in yours cannot be replicated A family neednrsquot lose their style but if you have an ancestral authentic pickle recipe we will make it for yourdquo says SarvarayaluAlong with pickles The Manduva Project offers eight podi variations A mixture of roasted grains and lentils like urad dal and moong dal it is pounded into a textured powder and flavoured with chilli and salt Podi is usually eaten with ghee and white rice In Tamil Nadu where lesser amount of rice is consumed it is eaten with idli and dosa That is why they serve it on the side and pour ghee over it We have our hands on a curryleaf moringa coconutchilli and a nallakaram ldquoWe experimented with the curry leaf and moringa combination because we had it growing in the garden But it turned out well and it is one of our bestsellers What we are doing is an improvisation of podisrdquo Sarvarayalu addsFor now their main customer base is in Hyderabad Bengaluru and Coimbatore For the pickle the mango is cut with a special cutter and left out to dry Once all the water content is lost they add chillies salt and spices The jaggery is also shaved and dried for three days Then finally it is soaked in oil and stored in large ceramic jars barnis The women from the village who make it are used to using a handful of ingredients ldquoWe try to make sure our products have the same flavour each time but since they are handmade and artisanal we do let customers know there may be a slight variation in texture because of the pounding and tasterdquo The Manduva Project also has some crisps or Telugu papad made of sago beetroot spinach and moong on the menu