Spicy Andhra Pickles Keep a Tradition Alive

Vasantha Valli Malladi is a senior entrepreneur from Secunderabad, known for her exotic and spicy Andhra pickles. It’s also her way to preserve a tradition that is slowly going out of practice in the Indian kitchen. 

If you are a regular at The Hundred Hands exhibition held every year in Bangalore, you’ve probably had a taste of Vasantha Valli Malladi’s lip smacking pickles. Her collection includes traditional staples like Avakaya and Gongura pickles, including a delicious chutney style Amla pickle introduced recently. Also in the pipeline, a delicious range of podis (powders) to add that extra zing to your food.

Cooking and a love for food and fresh ingredients is something Mrs Malladi, 65, a resident of Secunderabad, grew up with. “My father was a doctor, mother a homemaker and a very good cook. I used to help her in the kitchen and that inspired me to learn.” Married at an early age, Mrs Malladi stayed on with her parents to complete her matriculation and imbibed a few things from her mother’s kitchen, like the right way to make the food in a specific Andhra style, the use of correct ingredients and the nutritional benefits of certain foods among other things.

Married to a scientist for the last 50 years, Mrs Malladi was an accomplished student and dreamt of becoming a doctor once. She completed her graduation after having her children. “I would drop them off to school and go to college,” she smiles. Having a scientist husband with an interest in minute details of things and the spiritual aspect of life, opened up a different world for her, says her daughter Lakshmi Chowdhari, an entrepreneur herself. “His interest and ideas moulded hers too in many ways.”  

The germ of starting something from a skill everyone appreciated Mrs Malladi for came from the family’s years of stay in the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology Campus in Hyderabad. There were people from diverse regions in the campus but everyone loved the food that Mrs Malladi would make. So as her husband retired and children grew up, the family pushed her to express herself through her food. 

Mrs Malladi started with pickles as Andhra Pradesh is known for them and she wished to spread their taste. Pickles in Andhra Pradesh are made from a variety of sour vegetables like Raw Mango, tamarind, cucumber, Amla and the well known Gongura Leaf. Made in sesame oil, they tend to be spicy and full of flavour. “I realised most working people do not have any time to make these pickles but do have a taste for them,” Valli says. Since these were recipes she had grown up with and had been used for generations in her family, it was also her way of preserving the tradition. The response was overwhelming and Vaidik Foods, Mrs Malladi’s brand of homemade pickles, created with fresh, handpicked ingredients, was born. “One lady sent us a message saying she used to only like eating her mother’s fish pickle but after tasting the Avvakaya made by us, she loved its taste,” Lakshmi, who helps her mother with logistics issues like sourcing and marketing, points out. 

In many ways, this is also Mrs Malladi’s way of empowering women from less privileged background. She employs three women to help her with the preparation process and to maintain the strict standards of cleanliness she adheres to. The material comes from various parts of Andhra Pradesh and each ingredient is sourced from the place it is best known for. “E.g., our chillies come from Guntur,” she says, explaining why chillies are such a favourite. “We make extremely spicy chutney and pickles with it. The spice brings out the sweat in the body and cools it.” Like the chillies, the mangoes are handpicked from Nujiveedu, known for its mango produce and the sesame oil from Samaralkota in Andhra Pradesh. 

Mrs Malladi’s grandfather Dr. Rama Shashtri was a well known Ayurvedic doctor and the medicinal value of certain foods is ingrained in her. “We have grown up eating the Amla pickle, rich in Vitamin C. The Til (sesame) oil used in making the pickles is good for the heart and in increasing calcium content…” 

The process of making the pickles takes about two to three month, right from picking the ingredients to the final packaging. It’s a process that involves a fair amount of hard work and diligence, such as “Staying away from water, drying your hands and maintaining very hygienic conditions, packing with the right amount of oil, among other things. All the nuances have to be checked thoroughly,” Lakshmi points out. The pickles do not have any preservatives or artificial colours and the production process is similar to what has been carried on in Mrs Malladi and her husband’s family for generations. While her family is encouraging her to expand the business, this senior entrepreneur herself wants to take it further only if she is able to maintain the personal touch and level of precision she maintains right now. 

What has turning entrepreneur at a later age meant for her? “This is my own venture and though I do not need the money, it still feels good to earn something of my own and put it back in the business,” she says with pride. It’s also the joy and recognition that something she enjoys doing gets from people.So the next time you are craving for a touch of spice, take a bite of one of the pickles lovingly created by Malladi Vasantha Valli. It’s a true taste of well-preserved tradition. 

To know about the range or place an order for Vaidik Foods pickles, mail to vaidikfoods@gmail.com. You can also call 09246246162.