SPOTLIGHT | Between a Man and his Spices: Rediscovering grandma’s cooking with Podi Nan Maga

Written by Hina Siddiqui, transmedia storyteller, cat+plant parent, and cuddle connoisseur who writes comics, games and newsletters; in collaboration with Abhiram Sridhar, the one-man show that is Podi Nan Maga.

If you have been following Probably Relevant, you probably know how relevant food is to us and everything we do.

Both Ragini and I are firm believers in centering food and food traditions in the narrative of community. Ragini literally designs performance experiences around curated menus and sending soup is my love language. Heck, even our meetings used to be centred around condiment exchanges. (Ragini, petition to bring back that trend!)

So it is hardly any surprise that when I walked into a Vegan Market at the Bangalore International Centre, I was already on the lookout for kind ventures and food businesses that we could feature in our next Spotlight. Though the Pride Flag dangling over this particular stall was definitely what sealed the deal for me.

Podi Nan Maga is a homegrown enterprise selling podis, pickles, chutneys and other 'touching' items. You can DM directly on Podi Nan Maga’s Instagram to order across India (and the world, to be honest). And you can be guaranteed that whatever you order will reach you fresh and flavourful since it is all made in small batches that sell out over a week.

Probably Relevant Side-Note: What is Podi?

Podi is a powdered spice blend common in South India that dates back to the 1300s. It can be used in cooking as well as dusted directly on food. Podi is usually made from a combination of lentils such as split Bengal, black gram, sesame seeds, curry leaves and spices like chilli, black pepper, and cumin, but podi mixes vary widely from one tradition to another. To know more about the history, culture and international fame podi now claims check out What Is Podi & How Do You Use It? written by cook and author Sonal Ved for Food52.

While the business itself started two years ago, the story behind Podi Nan Maga, like a lot of precious things, goes back to childhood. Thirty-two-year-old Abhiram, or the Podi Guy of Bengaluru grew up cooking with his grandmother. By the age of ten, he had already progressed to preparing meals for his entire family. For reasons we may never truly comprehend, Abhiram became an engineer and started working in IT. But, in an expected, yet happy twist, he realized that working in IT was tiring and taking a toll on his health because of the insane hours and irregular meals.

Abhiram at the Podi Nan Maga stand at a vegan market.

Thus, it was time to return to the kitchen. Abhiram had always admired the Dabbawalas of Mumbai and had personally seen the devastating lack of healthy food services within some of the biggest global tech firms. When he visited a friend in Mumbai and saw how convenient and wholesome the dabbawala service was, Abhiram let the Entrepreneurial Spirit guide him into starting his own tiffin delivery service. He started with 2 customers and quickly grew simply through word of mouth. But the hustle was real. “There were too many steps. My day started at 5 am with acquiring ingredients and ended late at night after washing all the dabbas and prepping for the next day,” Abhiram recalls.

And then of course there was the year that all our collective crises came to centrestage.

“Everything shut down during Covid. People started working from home and I went back to having 2 customers.” Coming back to the drawing board in these bleak times took the form of some intense brainstorming with former customer-now-friend Anand who specialized in marketing. There was already a use case for chutney businesses springing up. And then there was the fact that Abhiram was already well-versed in making substantial quantities of podis and pickles at home to send packages for his sister in the US. And the rest of course is Podi Nan Maga history.

Probably Relevant Side-Note: What’s in a name?

The name of this venture which essentially means The Podi Man is a little bit of an inside joke that Abhiram’s friend came up with. “Kal Nan Maga '' is a common term used in Bangalore. It’s like calling someone a rascal, with varying degrees of affection and the name of Abhiram’s podi brand is a play on this term. Podi Nan Maga’s branding also cleverly subverts the colloquialism with a lovely smiling image of Abhiram himself, designed by his friend Bruce, a tattoo artist.

Abhiram with his trusted Preethi Mixie-Grinder, gifted to him by his sister Shwetha.

Abhiram runs Podi Nan Maga out of his own kitchen making about 30-40 packets of 150 grams each time. There are no fancy machines or gadgets involved - just his reliable Preethi Mixie-Grinder - a gift from his sister Shwetha. Abhiram has recently employed one person to help out in this endeavor and says with pride, “My parents are happy that I am now hiring others. I am hoping that I can bring on more people as this grows.” He has also made a somewhat conscious decision to keep Podi Nan Maga off of grocery websites. “Platforms can charge anywhere between 30-40% margins and with a small-scale business like this, that is really not viable. Also, when you get to the industrial level, ratios (of ingredients) change which affects flavour and that is not where I want to be right now. I want to keep it fresh.” So Podi Nan Maga sells directly to customers at events and vegan markets. This also gives Abhiram a chance to interact with his client base and create awareness about what he does and why.

I also took a moment to talk to Abhiram about how being a man affects his perception with his customers. “70-75% of my clients are women and frankly, they are shocked to learn that I make these by hand. But the truth is that anybody can make chutney-podi. Times are changing and people are accepting that.”

And what about queerness, how does that play into it all? As a queer man, June was spectacular for Abhiram. Corporates reached out to him in droves, wanting him to directly sell to their employees at CSR and DEI events during Pride Month. Abhiram and I both agreed that this was a marvellous thing, not just for Podi Nan Maga, but also all other queer-run home businesses carving out their niche in India.

The full menu of podis, chutneys and pickles is available on the Podi Nan Maga’s Instagram.

You can order directly by sending Abhiram a message on Instagram

Or get in touch with him via WhatsApp on +91 72591 85963

Though all of these items will take you back and remind you of your own connections with food and your grandmas, our Probably Relevant Recommendation is the Puliogare.

And since we are big believers in building family through the exchange of recipes, here is a great little rasam recipe that Abhiram shared with us and that we are now bringing to you!

Traditional Udupi Rasam

Preparation time : 5 minutes | Total Time of Cooking : 25 minutes | Serves 4–5

Ingredients:

• 100g Toor Dal

• 2 cups water for pressure cooking (500ml) + 2 additional cups of water

• 1 medium-sized tomato

• 2 green chillies

• A pinch of asafoetida

• A pinch of turmeric powder

• 15 gms tamarind (1 small lemon-sized ball)

• 10 gms organic jaggery powder (optional but recommended)

• Salt to taste (preferably rock salt)

• 2–3 sprigs of curry leaves

• 2 Tbsp chopped coriander leaves

• 1 or 1.5 Tbsp (depending on taste) Udupi Rasam Powder - Available with Podi Nan Maga

• 1 Tbsp Ghee

Rasam as you like it! (Image Source: Medium) 

Method:

1. Pressure cook toor dal, tomato and green chillies with 2 cups of water for 2 whistles on high flame.

2. After 2 whistles, reduce the flame and cook for 10 minutes.

3. While the ingredients are being pressure cooked, soak the ball of tamarind in hot water.

4. After the pressure has been released, whisk/mash the ingredients on a low flame.

5. Add salt, jaggery, soaked tamarind, asafoetida, turmeric, curry leaves and 2 additional cups of water. Let the mixture slowly come to a boil for about 5–6 minutes in medium flame until there is no raw smell of tamarind and jaggery.

6. Mix in the rasam powder and ensure there are no lumps. Let it boil for 5 minutes on a low flame.

7. Switch off the flame and add coriander leaves.

8. Add a tadka with ghee, mustard seeds, hing. Pour it over the rasam and close the lid to lock the freshness.

9. Serve it hot with rice, ghee and papad with a side of Potato Fry, Chicken Sukka or Prawn Ghee Roast.

Additional Tips:

• Do not substitute organic jaggery powder with sugar or any other sweetener.

• Ensure toor dal is completely cooked and mashed.

• The rasam can be savoured as a soup by adding more water to the recipe.

• Feel free to tweak the amount of rasam powder and chilly according to your taste.

And as always, send us pictures when you give this recipe a try and we’ll do our best to make you famous on the ArtNowThus Instagram.