For those of you who have had enough of factory made biscuits or rock hard local imitations, there is good news: Uttarkashi based ‘The Farmhaus Cafe & Bakery,’ the first of its kind. This German Bakery is run by the dynamic-duo Aakriti Rawat from Pauri and her German partner Stephan Pöllman, have made some interesting additions to their recipes: healthy cookies made from Raagi and Amaranth, indigenous crops from the hills of Uttarakhand.
“What makes it very special for us is that we wish to encourage local farmers to continue to grow their indigenous, super food crop like Raagi and Amaranth. At the same time we wish to employ more and more women in our business,” Aakriti tells us.
On the same lines, helping them out is Assistant Baker, 23-year-old Karishma from village Malla. An innocent Karishma confides in me, “When I first tasted the Raagi-Mandua cookies I was pleasantly surprised at how good they tasted. Mandua is something that we fed our cattle. Unaware that these could be turned into something so delicious and healthy. This is a great initiative, and now we are trying out recipes with Amaranth (chaulaee) as well. I am excited to learn something new everyday.”
Having lived in metropolitans, the duo is aware of the demand for healthy food options and is trying to plug the gap, by providing nutritious, organic homemade cookies made from super crop for city folks for starters.
“We have developed two kind of cookies – Raagi & Amaranth. Raagi cookies have almost 70% Mandua flour. Many other ingredients like apples, walnuts, jaggery etc. are locally sourced from Hursil and in and around Uttarkashi,” an added asset as Aakriti mentions.
Having grown up on cakes and cookies as a child, Stephan, an economist by profession but a baker by choice, puts it simply: ‘Baking runs in our family!’ The young man has been experimenting successfully with recipes from home but using indigenous nutritious ingredients from Uttarakashi, which to everyone’s pleasant surprise has worked out well.
Looking for a broader horizon, Aakriti and Stephan are on the look out for outlets for their ‘German cookies’ in Rishikesh, Dehradun & hopefully Delhi in the first stage. Those interested can get in touch with them to choose from an array of cookies. A sampling of each cookie out does the other in texture, feel and flavour.
To order:
Raagi: Chocolate Chip Raagi cookie, Coconut Jaggery Raagi cookie (Vegan), Coconut Raagi cookie, Almond-Butter Raagi cookie, Apple Oat Raagi cookie
Amaranth (Chaulaee) cookies:- Lemon Amaranth cookie, Coconut Amaranth cookie
Click/ call: https://www.facebook.com/thefarmhaus.ukt/ +91 98711 85941
