Sweets and desserts can bring joy at any time of the day, at any occasion. Sometimes one doesn’t need any good reason to have sweets. But has anyone ever thought that sweets can be a luxury? Each sweet has its own story but today we talk to two of the top players Chef Ashay Dhopatkar and Chef Neha Lakhani of the ‘mithai’ industry game and explore different aspects of sweet-love.
Essence of a good sweet
We believe in weaving the Artisanal truth and sense of the happiness, as it’s a work of pure artistry. The ingredients and the level sweetness is what distinguishes the quality of the Mithai. ARQ Mithai’s sweetness is comparatively well balanced than those of market standards. We have rooted out any kind of additives, preservatives, artificial flavours or colourings and modelling all the mithai with natural organic ingredients only. The ingredients are sourced from all over the country. For instance; gurbandi almonds from the northern region, goan cashews, our lacha saffron is sourced from Kashmir,and all other exquisite variety of ingredients such as Valrhona chocolate, fresh fruit purées, 24 karat gold leaf and gir cow ghee.
Inspiration
Our love for food and passion for the art. We had always wondered why an Indian Sweet can’t be given the same finesse and importance as its French counterpart. We want Mithai to be just as relevant and admissible as its French counterparts like a classic French macaron or Belgian Chocolate.
Having worked at several Michelin star kitchens for around 9 years in London, my (Ashay) never ending desire for perfection and attention to the minutest details is what I’ve implemented at ARQ. Working as Culinary Directors at the prestigious ‘Constitution Club Of India’ we decided to partner by taking our work relationship further with ‘ARQ Mithai’ and started our entrepreneurial journey in the beginning of 2019.
Personal favourite
I (Ashay) personally love Nani’s Garden Seed Cress; which is inspired from my Nani’s laddoo that I ate as a kid in Maharashtra. It is one of the healthiest options from our range of mithai and is perfect for health conscious consumers. My (Neha) personal favourite is Martiline Marmalade which is distinctly sweet & has citric flavours of tangerine and malta orange folded into gurmandi almond paste to create this tangy delight.
MALTERINE MARMALADE
Ingredients
- GUDBANDI ALMONDS 200 gms
- SUGAR 150 gms
- WATER 200 ml
- GIR COW GHEE 30 gms
- ORANGE PEEL CHOPPED 10 gms
- CHOPPED TANGERINE 10gms
- GOLD LEAF FOR GARNISH
- DEHYDRATED ORANGE SLICES FOR GARNISH
Method
- The best way to peel out the skins of almonds is by soaking them in luke warm water. This makes it faster and and does’nt affect the badams flavor. Once the almonds are peeled, place them in a separate bowl.
- Grind the almonds in a grinder coarsely and sed aside.
- Firstly add the sugar and water in a traditional Indian kadhai with a thick bottom, and allow the sugar to mix in.
- Wait for the sugar syrup to come to a slight simmer and slowly add the ground almonds to it. Stirring all the time while doing so.
- Add the chopped orange & tangerine peels and fold them in till the light flavor of oranges get mixed in to the mix.
- Add the ghee till you get the right consistent texture and place onto a tray.
- Once the base is put in the tray allow it to cool down and set.
- Then cut the mithai with a knife and place the dehydrated oranges on top of the mithai. Serve.
