Stores showcase Sankethi cuisine

Located in Malleswaram and Basavanagudi, Adukale specialises in the cusine of a Brahmin sub-sect

Thank you for making these items and keeping up with the consistency for years. If you hadn’t made it easy for us, perhaps our children wouldn’t know what these dishes are.” This was the comment Metrolife heard from a customer who came to Adukale Experience Store in Gandhi Bazaar on Monday afternoon.

A venture started in 2009 by family members Malati Sharma, Nagarathna Ravindra and Ravindra, Adukale provides Sankethi dishes that one can easily make at home. Their objective was to build relationships through food.

Adukale, meaning kitchen in Sankethi, has a rich history and cultural mix from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. Bharat, the next-generation owner, says, “Sankethis are an endangered species. There are only a few of us left. We’re known for being foodies.”

The experience

The experience store was first established a year ago in Malleswaram. Their new branch in Gandhi Bazaar is only seven months old.

“Since 2009, our products have been a part of many retail shops across the state. Most of the time, the shop owners themselves became ambassadors as they liked our product,” says Ravindra, one of the co-owners.

Adukale provides a variety of instant foods like poha, idli, dosa and upma. There are also masala powders like sambar, puliyogare, vangi bhath, lemon rasam and gojjna pudi. An array of chutney powders and South Indian filter coffee powders are available too.

The owners tell Metrolife that the recipes they have used are traditional. With their factory outlet on Nice Road, Ravindra points out that there are only certain things machines can do.

“If you have to check the consistency of powders and batters, you have to do it the old-fashioned way. Perhaps that’s why our customers come back saying the items taste the same as they did a decade ago,” he says. Today, the Adukale items are present in over 100 retail stores across the city and even has loyal customers across the globe from Japan, USA to the UK. Malati Sharma and Nagarathna Ravindra decided to go ahead with this initiative a decade ago as they used to make these items for their children when they moved abroad. “Our children found it easier to make this in between their busy schedules and not miss home so much. We soon realised that there might be more people like them and this is how we can help,” says Nagarathna.

The experience store gives customers a chance to walk in and taste the product before making the purchase.

Samples of the instants, coffee and the snacks with its dips are readily available at the store for customers to taste.

Building a community

Adukale’s food items have become popular enough that elder couples find it easier to purchase the ready-to-eat item and prepare it at home rather than making it from scratch. “Instead of making the items from scratch (roasting, heating etc), the elderly couple finds it easier to use the ready-to-eat packages and cook only what’s required for two people,” explains Nagarathna.

Music and food

The team isn’t only reviving the culture through food. Once a month, a musical event called ‘Swada Aswada’ is held where stellar musicians, such as Rathnamala Prakash and Srinivasa Udupa and Archana Udupa, perform. Malathi is a well-known singer herself.

The history

Sankethis are known to have come from Sengottai, close to the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. History says a woman named Nacharamma was the one who brought Sankethis here and settled in Kaushika near Hassan and Bettadapura in Mysuru district. The community’s culinary blend also range from these three states.

“If you come to a traditional Sankethi home, you’ll find the food very spicy but the concept of red chilli in the cuisine started only about 200 or 300 years ago. It was always the use of pepper that did the trick and enhanced its flavours,” clarifies Ravindra.

Mother-in-law approved

When Nagarathna came into the family as Ravindra’s wife, she didn’t know too much about Sankethi’s cuisine. She went to her mother-in-law, Lakshmidevamma, to teach her everything she needed to know.

“She was an excellent cook. I still have all the recipes she’s taught me. She measured all the ingredients with the inside and outside of her fist. It took me a while to get a hang of it but I eventually learnt,” says Nagarathna.

Since the family decided to revive Sankethi cuisine, it made sure everything tastes like home.
“Though my mother passed away a few years ago, she was around when we launched Adukale. We’re proud to say that we got her seal of approval for the dishes,” says Malati Sharma.