Kainaz, along with her sister Tina and parents started Theobroma.
“I became a chef by choice, but my family made me an entrepreneur,” says Kainaz Messman-Harchandrai, Creative Director - Production & Development, Theobroma. Kainaz, who along with her sister Tina and parents started after a “slightly eccentric Parsi family” grew a home catering business into a successful business venture.
In their new book, ‘Baking a Dream: The Theobroma Story’, they share their stories, stumbles, successes and secrets. “What most people don't know is that the recipe was born in the small Colaba kitchen, on a neighbour's request!” says Messman-Harchandrai. In a quick chat, ET Panache talks to Harchandrai about her journey.
What would your number one entrepreneurial tip be to young people? Any special challenges that a young woman would face?
Get going. It is a big myth that you need a great idea or eureka moment. Many people have many great business ideas and do nothing with it. Inertia is the demon that you must fight. Start any business and do it well. One cannot wait for the moment when everything is ready, for then we shall never begin.
My primary advice is the same for men and women. Be prepared to work incredibly hard. Starting a business is the easy part. There will be challenges at every turn, and you must face them head on.
The business world is disproportionately male, and it can be intimidating and overwhelming to women. We have to make ourselves heard and create the change that we want to see. Ask for help when it is required, do not feel you have to do everything yourself. Where you fall short, let someone else step in.
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How do you keep the balance of professional and personal when working with family? "Theobroma is a part of our family identity and structure. It has bound us all together," says Kainaz. We do not try and separate our personal and professional lives, it cannot be done. Our lives are so intrinsically woven around our work that trying to distance ourselves from any part of the business or expecting a part of our lives to be untouched by it is unrealistic. Theobroma is a part of our family identity and structure. It has bound us all together.
Sisters fight - what ticks you off about the other? And one quality you admire in the other? We trust each other and know that the other always has our back. This is our greatest comfort and what we can blindly rely on. We have different skills, are of a different temperament and our personalities are like chalk and cheese. We are made from the same fabric in other ways, and know each other well. It works. And if we fight, we let it go. Fighting is important, it does not allow matters to fester. We sometimes get angry and shout, but we move on quickly.
You're stuck working from home. What are some of the tools you are using to work from home. What's your setup like? It currently feels like I am required to be on one call or another, all the time. I am using WhatsApp, Zoom, and Skype. There are numerous matters that require my attention during this period of upheaval, and we are trying to do our best given the circumstances we find ourselves in.
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And of course, we got a brownie recipe too that you can try at home during the lockdown.
“When you are baking, respect the recipe. Baking is part art, part science. When you put something into the oven, an irreversible chemical change occurs and for that to be successful, the quantities, temperature, technique and timing needs to be right,” says Messman-Harchandrai.
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Walnut Brownie When you put something into the oven, an irreversible chemical change occurs and for that to be successful, the quantities, temperature, technique and timing needs to be right. Ingredients Salted Butter: 125 g All purpose flour: 50 g Caster Sugar: 175 g Cocoa Powder: 30 g Vanilla Essence/Extract: 1/2 tsp Eggs: 2 Chopped Walnuts: 50 g
Method
• Heat oven to 165°C • Grease and line a 6-inch square baking tin • Whisk together butter and sugar till pale, light and fluffy • Add eggs, one at a time, and continue whisking. Ensure first egg is fully incorporated before adding the second egg • Add vanilla • Sieve flour and cocoa together and fold into egg-butter-sugar mixture • Fold 25 grams chopped walnuts into the batter • Pour batter into the prepared baking tin • Sprinkle remaining 25 grams walnuts on top of the batter • Bake in a preheated oven at 165°C for 15 to 20 minutes. Please check after 15 minutes: the cake tester should come out with a little batter clinging onto it, but the batter should not be uncooked. Please do not over bake, or the brownie will become dry and crumbly
Gulkand Gujiyas, Juicy Jalebis, Healthy Oat Bars: Make Holi More Exciting With Dessert Recipes
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Every meal is incomplete without some mouth-watering desserts.
From jaggery-date gujiyas to juicy jalebis and healthy oat bars, these delicious Holi recipes with an interesting twist will make your day.
Here are some last-minute recipes to satiate your taste buds.
Every meal is incomplete without some mouth-watering desserts.From jaggery-date gujiyas to juicy jalebis and healthy oat bars, these delicious Holi recipes with an interesting twist will make your da..
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Ingredients:
Roasted cashewnut: 75 gm
Roasted almond flakes: 75 gm
Tossed oats: 50 gm
Tossed sesame seed: 25 gm
Raisin: 30 gm
Dry coconut powder – 25 gm
Honey - 150 gm
Jaggery syrup - 180 gm
Brown Sugar – 50gm
Carrot (boiled & grated with 20 gm brown sugar) - 100 gm
Method:
- Roast cashewnut, almond flakes, sesame seeds, and coconut powder
- Put all together in bowl
- Mix honey jaggery, brown sugar, and cook until everything dissolves properly
- Fold the nut mix in the above mix
- Fill the above mix in tray lined with butter paper
- Put the Silpad on the tray and roll it to make even surface
- Rest it for a day and cut it to desired shape
- Top with glazed carrot and pumpkin seeds
(The recipe is by Prem K Pogakula, Executive Chef at The Imperial, New Delhi)
Ingredients:
Split green gram skinless (dhulimoong dal) - soaked and ground to a coarse paste: 1 cup
Ghee: 1 cup
Gram flour (besan): 1 tbsp
Milk: 1 1/2 cups
Sugar: 1 cup
Khoya/mawa: 3/4 cup
Almonds (cut into slivers): 10-12
Chandikavarq: 1 sheet
A pinch of green cardamom powder
Saffron (kesar) for garnish
Method:
- Heat ghee in a non-stick pan. Add gram flour and mix well. Add moong dal, lower heat and mix well
- Sauté, stirring continuously, till golden brown or for 20-25 minutes
- Heat 1/2 cup milk in another non-stick pan
- Add generous pinch of saffron, and mix well for 1 minute. Turn off the flame
- Heat sugar and 1 cup water in another non-stick pan. Cook till sugar dissolves completely
- Add saffron milk to moong dal and mix well
- Add remaining milk and keep stirring
- Add khoya in saffron milk pan, mix and heat for 2 minutes
- Add khoya to moong dal mixture along with cardamom powder, some almond slivers and sugar syrup
- Mix well, cover and cook on low heat for 5 minutes, stirring once a while
- Remove lid, mix once. Turn off the heat and transfer in a serving dish
- Serve hot garnished with chandikavarq, saffron and remaining almond slivers
(The recipe is by Ankur Sood, Regional Chef at PVR - The Luxury Collection)
Ingredients:
Split green gram skinless (dhulimoong dal) - soaked and ground to a coarse paste: 1 cup
Ghee: 1 cup
Gram flour (besan): 1 tbsp
Milk: 1 1/2 cups
Sugar: 1 cup
Khoya/mawa: 3/4 cup
Almonds (..
Method:
- Mix maida, corn flour and baking soda in a bowl
- Add ghee and orange food colour in the above mixture
- To make a thick batter, add curd and water. Mix well until it is thick and has a pouring consistency
- Keep it aside for 8-10 hours or overnight
- To make the sugar syrup, heat water in a pan over medium flame
- Add sugar and mix until fully dissolved
- Simmer the syrup until it attains one string consistency
- Add saffron, cardamom powder and rose essence. Stir well
- Heat oil in a pan over medium flame for deep frying
- Fill the jalebi batter in a muslin cloth and pierce a small hole in the cloth
- Squeeze the muslin cloth to make concentric circles
- Fry till jalebis are crisp and golden
- Ensure that the sugar syrup is warm and not very hot
- Soak the jalebis in sugar syrup for 2-3 minutes
- Remove from the syrup, and place it on a tray lined with butter paper
- Decorate with silver foil and serve the jalebis hot, warm or at room temperature with creamy Rabri
- Serve hot jalebi along with milk
(The recipe is by Suresh Thampy, Executive Chef at Holiday Inn Mumbai International Airport)
Method:
- Sieve the flour. Mix maida with oil.
- Mix well using fingers so that the mixture takes the form of bread crumbs, and binds to a certain extent
- Add some water and knead lightly. Keep adding water as required and knead into soft but tight dough. Set aside and cover
- Mash the khoya and fry it till it turns light brown in colour
- Add sugar and cardamom powder into the khoya and mix well
- Add almonds, cashew, coconut and raisins. Fry for 2 minutes. Allow it to cool
- Divide the dough into small balls and roll each ball into a small round of 4 inch diameter
- Fill half the round with the khoya mixture and with rose petal sweetened (gulkand)
- Fold it and seal the round, twisting the edges inwards. Take care that the filling doesn't ooze out
- Heat ghee in a pan and deep fry the gujiyas in batches on medium flame
- When golden brown in colour, strain and remove
- Arrange on a plate and cover with chandiverk and pista
(The recipe is by Ajay Mathur, Executive Chef at Jaypee Palace, Agra)
Serving: 25 Pieces
Ingredients
For the covering
Ghee: 800 ml
Maida: 500 gm
Oil: 120 ml
For the filling:
Khoya: 600gm
Green cardemom powder: 8gm
Almond: 25 gm
Raisins: 25 gm
Dried Coconut: 25 ..
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Ingredients:
For pancakes:
All purpose flour (maida): 1 cup
Semolina: 2 tsp
Powdered sugar: 2 tsp
White bread: 3 slices
Green cardamom powder: 1/2 tsp
Pistachios (finely sliced, for garnishing): 2 tsp
Almonds (finely sliced, for garnishing): 2 tsp
Clarified butter (for frying): 3 tbsp
For sugar syrup:
Water: 1.5 cups
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Crushed green cardamom: 4
Saffron strands: 5-6
Method:
- Take plain flour (maida) in a working bowl
- Add semolina and powdered sugar to the bowl
- Mix all these dry ingredients well
- Add water in desired quantity to make a batter of smooth consistency. Ensure that there are no lumps
- Take 3 slices of white bread and crumble them in a food processor
- Add this crumbled bread to the batter, mix well and leave it aside for 15 minutes to allow fermentation
- Take a pan with broad base. Add 1/4 cup water to it and keep it on the flame
- Add sugar to the water and heat it for 6-7 minutes to get a sugar syrup of flowing consistency
- Take the syrup off the flame and add saffron strands
- Add the crushed green cardamom to the syrup
- Allow the syrup to cool to room temperature
- Allow it to cook for 1-2 minutes and flip to the other side
- Repeat flip till both sides become golden brown in colour
- Dip the cooked pancakes in the sugar syrup
- Take them out of sugar syrup and place on plate
- Garnish them with finely chopped almonds and pistachios and serve hot
(The recipe is by Prasad Metrani, Executive Chef at Fairmont, Jaipur)
Ingredients:
For pancakes:
All purpose flour (maida): 1 cup
Semolina: 2 tsp
Powdered sugar: 2 tsp
White bread: 3 slices
Green cardamom powder: 1/2 tsp
Pistachios (finely sliced, for garnishing): 2 t..
Method:
- Add sugar and lemon slice to water, and bring to boil
- Remove any scum. Reduce the syrup to 3/4th
- Remove half of the syrup and keep aside, and boil the rest till it reaches 2 string consistency. Remove from flame
- Take a clean marble or a wide paraant
- Mix the chenna and khoya together, and mash it with the base of your palm to ensure there are no grains
- Mix in the refined flour, corn flour and baking powder
- Make into tight round balls of approximately 30 gm each
- Bring oil to medium hot, and gently slide the gulab jamuns in the oil
- Make sure you do not put any spoon now as there are chances it may break. Wait till the gulab jamuns start to float
- At this stage, gently increase the flame and cook till golden brown
- Remove and drop them gently into the earlier prepared light sugar syrup. Keep them there for 10-12 mins
- Then, transfer the same into the sugar syrup with 2 string consistency
- Let them rest for half hour. Gently heat before serving them with the syrup
(The recipe is by Ankur Sood, Regional Chef at PVR - The Luxury Collection)
For the dough:
Wheat flour (atta): 500 gm
Ghee (melted, cold): 150 gm
For the filing:
Almond flour: 50 gm
Dates (finely chopped): 100
Sesame seeds: 10 gm
Honey: 15 ml
Cardamom powder: 2 tsp
For the syrup:
Jaggery: 200 gm
Water: 150 ml
Method:
For the dough:
- Mix melted ghee with wheat flour and rub with your palms
- Knead a soft dough using water
- Cover and keep aside
For the filling:
- Mix all ingredient to a soft mix and fill to the dough equally
- Keep in the fridge till it gets firm
- Deep fry in ghee under slow temperature till golden brown colour
- Make a thick jaggery syrup and soak for some time
- Strain and sprinkle roasted sesame seed and mix nut flakes
(The recipe is by Gopal Jha, Executive Chef at Grand Mercure, Bangalore)
Ingredients:
For the dough:
Wheat flour (atta): 500 gm
Ghee (melted, cold): 150 gm
For the filing:
Almond flour: 50 gm
Dates (finely chopped): 100
Sesame seeds: 10 gm
Honey: 15 ml
Cardamom powder: ..
Business News › Magazines › Panache › ‘Baking is part art, part science’: Theobroma founder talks WFH, shares tips for shepreneurs & her prized walnut brownie recipeText Size:AAA
