Professor of English at Ashoka University and self-described sugar addict Madhavi Menon received a devastating blow last year: a doctor imposed dietary restrictions banning gluten and refined sugars. Suddenly, Delhi was devoid of bakeries that could satisfy their cravings.

At first, Menon dismissed gluten-free, refined-sugar-free recipes sent by concerned friends: “I'm not a cook, I'm not interested in how food gets produced, I'm only interested in consuming it — or at least, I was,” they said.

But as desperation grew, Menon slowly started collaborating with their cook Bishu Das, who was ready to embark on this new adventure.

“He knew about my restrictions, and he knew how much I'd been suffering,” Menon said. “I would start narrating the recipes to him, and he would get it instantly.”

Fourteen months of research and inspiration from jaggery-based South Indian sweets transformed Menon’s traditionally non-baking household into Jaggery Desserts, a home-kitchen that specializes in unrefined sugar desserts.

The journey started with testing date cookies over and over again till the ingredients, texture, and taste felt right: “I just threw myself headlong into doing this kind of research and Bishu threw himself headlong into executing the research,” Menon said.

The process of “refining, refining, refining” their unrefined sweets, led to a set of 12 exclusive desserts ranging from gooey caramel wicked bars to the salted caramel "cheesecake,” all of which are lactose-free, gluten-free, refined-sugar-free, refined-oil-free, mostly vegan.

Earlier this year, Menon’s partner, Jonathan Gil Harris, Professor of English at Ashoka University, suggested taking their collection to a commercial scale, thinking that there’d be many people scrambling to find unrefined sweets that fit their dietary needs.

The home-kitchen launched with a roaring start around March, building their client base slowly, by word of mouth, with Harris heading marketing. The team focuses on taste and quality of ingredients, rather than quantity, and all profits go to their staff— Bishu, sous-chef Chumki Das, and Pradeep Sheet for deliveries.

“We're hoping to keep it small, sticking with getting our quality ingredients,” Menon said. “And I'm happy because I have a steady source of desserts.”

https://www.jaggerydesserts.com
https://www.jaggerydesserts.com/menu
https://www.jaggerydesserts.com/ingredients