With love, from Kashmir

An entrepreneur from Kashmir wants to introduce the country to rich produce from the Valley through her startup

Entrepreneur Manjot Chawla Andrabi has lived in Kashmir long enough to vouch for the quality of its almonds, walnuts, and vegetables. “They have a distinct taste. It may have a lot to do with the weather conditions.” Keen to share the rich produce with the rest of the country, she launched Kashmir Rare in August last year.

Dried apricots

The Instagram-based venture has collaborated with farms across the northern state to offer organic sun-dried tomatoes, aubergines, bottle gourd and rare morel mushrooms, along with nuts and premium saffron. The dried apricots, grown organically in and around the regions of Hardas and Kargil in Ladakh, are dehydrated naturally using sunlight, without affecting flavour and nutrients. “An apricot kernel is a single seed found inside the apricot. Billed as a new superfood, it’s believed to have   cancer fighting and detox-enhancing properties,” she says.

Manjot Chawla Andrabi

Andrabi sources the saffron from Pampore and walnuts from south Kashmir. They have also launched a special winter edition of artisanal homemade chocolate barks with dried fruit. “We had been doing this informally, however, the pandemic-induced lockdown allowed us to give it a formal structure.” The only challenge, says Andrabi, is to continue maintaining the quality of the produce and ensure uniformity in the taste of everything they source. Next up is the plan to add more fresh produce to the repertoire, to deliver across India.

What: Kashmir Rare
Where: @Kashmirrare Instagram

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