So just this past weekend, we finished up Wilderfest, Bangalore's First Annual Vegan Fest at VR Bangalore. As a co- organiser, I was so so grateful for an opportunity to push veganism into the mainstream. Because of it, I had a chance to meet some of those seemingly mythical vegan businesses I'd only heard about on the magical place that is the internet. One of the hottest stalls at the fest? It was Vijay Sweets.
Wait for it. They are India's first vegan sweets and snacks company. They run out of Coimbatore. The most famous product that had all the vegans buzzing was their Mysore Pak. Ah Mysore Pak. Usually known as that melt-in-your-mouth sweet made out of gram flour, sugar, and ghee. You'd think there was no way to make great tasting Mysore Pak without, gasp, the ghee, right?
Wrong.
Meet the guy behind the most incredible vegan Mysore Pak, Aravindan V, a vegan from Coimbatore.
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| That's him! That's him! |
Aravindan had a simple vision. He wanted to keep all the tradition involved with our foods but ethically challenge the way we thought about familiar tastes and practices. To do it he was aware he had to make a rather sizeable dent on the Indian infatuation with ghee. There was only one thing to do: Make a vegan sweet taste so good that people couldn't even tell the difference between his version and the original. I can legit tell you that non-vegans are raving about this sweet. We're finishing packets of it at my office as I type this. It's delicious and I challenge you to tell me otherwise. Aravindan describes himself as a simple middle class Indian man who has dreams and desires most of the country can relate to. He also collects knives which is compelling given he's a vegan. Aravindan are you secretly a serial killer? :) I was thrilled when he said I could pester him with some questions about his business and his vision in general. So here goes!
RM: Vegan Mysore Pak! You've hit on not just an amazing local idea but executed it so fabulously. Vegans and non-vegans alike are raving about your sweets. It tastes incredible and most of us can't stop at one piece. Tell us how this idea popped up in your head one fine day.
AV: It's a family business. We have been selling sweets and namkeens for the past 30 years. When I quit my job I knew I wanted to take up my family business. But my ethics came first. I didn't want to earn money by running a business that used animal products. I started experimenting with ingredients. Soon i had a few veganised products. Once all the products were vegan I set myself up for a new challenge. What sweet seemed hardest to master in a vegan way? That's when Mysore Pak popped in my mind. Technically speaking, it was not making a vegan Mysore Pak that was challenging. The challenge was making a version that tasted very close to the dairy version and retailing the same at a cheaper rate when compared to its dairy version.
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| How they look. Too good to be true. But it's true. |
RM: How long did you experiment with the recipe? Did you have different versions over time? Are you happy with the recipe you currently have?
AV: It took us around 2 months to get the ingredients right. We experimented with lot of plant based milks to get the perfect taste. Finally found the right combination which tasted very similar to the dairy Mysore Pak. Our customers are happy with the current version and that means we are also happy.
RM:You are India's first vegan sweets and snacks company- so tell us what other products are you offering? Can we get a sneak peek into the future?
AV: We offer more than 40 varieties of traditional Namkeen and a few varieties of sweets. Yes, we are planning to come up with a varied range of affordable traditional vegan sweets.
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| Other things on offer like halwa and namkeens |
RM: As a vegan entrepreneur with a vegan product, what are the most important learnings and wisdom you've accumulated? What's important, in your opinion, to consider when trying to make impact on ethical grounds?
AV: As a vegan entrepreneur it's extraordinarily important for me to be careful with taste and quality. I am not representing just food here, I am representing a movement. We don't compromise on taste and quality. We have a very simple vision: to provide affordable, tasty, and traditional sweets & snacks in the most ethical way possible.
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| Sweet-Sweet Samples at Wilderfest |
RM: Since we live in a time where the cruelty animals endure for us to consume everyday foods is invisible to most, what would you like to tell the people of our country right now about plant-based foods and substitutes?
AV: I think everybody is a compassionate person on the inside. But most people are taught to believe that there is no cruelty on their plates. We're taught not to think about it and just accept it.
I want to tell everyone that you don't have to compromise on taste. We just have to make a stronger effort to find cruelty-free versions of what we love most. I believe we can.
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| Boxed Mysore Pak from Vijay Sweets |
RM: Has there been a kitchen disaster at Vijay Sweets that would make our readers laugh?
AV: Well I remember this one time when we were experimenting with a sweet recipe using different plant-based mylks. Some of the combinations were obviously a bit weird. So we had fights about who would taste them and we just laughed a lot because of the weird expressions we made when we tasted our 'experiment'.
How excited are you to try some vegan Mysore Pak? Hop onto FB and place an order today. Click HERE to get on their page.
