Fresh Red Chillies In A New Avtaar; A Flavouful Experience

Let me try to impress you today with some of my English Gyaan.  I assure you it will not be an overload but is necessary to lead you to the food story this week.

I am sure many would not have heard about Paraprosdokians in English language.  As per Wikipedia,”paraprosdokian is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence, phrase, or larger discourse is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part. It is frequently used for humorous or dramatic effect, sometimes producing an anticlimax“.  For example, someone said, “I always take life with a pinch of salt….plus a slice of lemon, and a shot of tequila“.

Last week, I encountered a Paraprosdokian kind of a food and it was an amazing experience.  It so happened that a friend handed me over a small pack for me to try out something. The pack contained two small bottles containing two different jams. Jams ? Oh, I am not a very jam or pickle liking person (the only things I love are Punjabi sweet & sour lemon pickle and the Mango Chutney) and that’s the reason, unless the jams, chutneys or pickles placed on the tables in restaurants are strikingly appealing, I won’t even touch them.  In this case, the moment those bottles were taken out of the packs, the contents peeping out of the see through bottles caught my fancy. One of them was a striking red and the others was a distinct pale yellow. So what ? Where is the Paraprosdokian here ? Wait, the bang is yet to come.

The names on the bottles read – Red Chilli Jam and Mango Chilli Jam !!

I had heard about and tasted as well the Mango Chutney with black peppers or the Sweet Chilli Thai Sauce or Sweet & Sour Chinese dishes. But a chillified Jam ? The alarm of Paraprosdokian (Jams & Chillies) instantly rang in the head announcing that these needs to be tasted for sure and sooner. I brought it home and conspicuously placed it on a table where my rest of various sauce bottles are kept to ensure that these are visible lest I forget because I need a free time to concentrate to understand the flavours while tasting.

So, this Saturday, I ventured out to taste. Obviously, the first one to catch my fancy was that beauty – Red Chilli Jam. As soon as I opened the bottle, a gentle refreshing aroma of fresh Red Chillies greet you. Bring the bottle closer to your nose and you could inhale a shot of freshly chopped Red Chillies, an amazing experience which encourages you to try it out. Scooping out a spoonful of the contents, I put it in the mouth (I prefer to taste the things first on its own rather than using it with accompaniments) and contrary to the expectation, it was a mildly sweet jam with a predominant flavour of Red Chilli. A deadly combination which explodes various mild flavours on your palate. It is lemony tangy yet mildly sweet, it has a hint of garlic with a very mild heat of ginger. The after taste which lingers on to your palate for a while, keeps reminding you of the fresh Red Chillies. It looked great and it tasted even greater. It is an experience and words can’t do any justice. You need to experience it.

Now, I turned my eyes to the second beauty- the Mango Chilli Jam.  The look, though amazingly inviting, reminded you of that Mango Sweet & Sour Chutney.  In that Chutney, a hint of black peppers is always visible. However, here it was an attractive plain yellow jelly. The aroma coming out of the bottle was a mix of mango and chillies. Without wasting much time, I took a spoonful and tasted. This jam was a reverse of the red one. You are hit with a refreshing taste of fresh, sweet and tangy mango pulp first, of course with a blend of red chillies.  The flavour of red chillies is blended with the mango pulp in such a fashion that you taste both in one go. This jam too is sweet yet tangy and has a flavour of chillies though, the red chillies here are a bit mild than the red jam. The base of red jam is the pulp of red chillies, without the seeds (that’s why the predominant flavour) and the other one is a blend of mango pulp mixed with the pulp of albino chillies. The freshness and purity is ensured as the lable says that it has no preservatives.

I would sum up the experience as – If you love Red Chillies, these are for you. If you don’t like Red Chillies, these are for you, try it. If you love the flavour of Red Chillies but can’t handle the heat, these are for you.  So, try it out.  

Unlike me, you would surely not like to use these on its own. So, one can use it like you use other jams on your toast; will give you a different experience. Use it on your burgers. Use it in your sandwiches. Use it as a dip with fries, nachos and other savouries.  You may experiment with the red one on to your grilled chicken ( I will certainly try) and I also tried both the jams, singly and mixed, with my evening snack of Besan Cheela, was an interesting fun though.  I am sure, children would also love the experiment with these jams.

Must thank Indu Mathur, a friend for over two decades, who along with her daughter Koel has started this venture of hers a couple of years ago, for presenting me these. She is an HR professional who has been running her own consultancy for many years now. Her love for food and experimenting with various flavours encouraged her to start this boutique venture – The Food Art Factory (has a website and a facebook page besides being on instagram). Ask her why Art and she says,” I create something unusual and tasteful out of humble veggies and therefore it is an art”. She substantiates it with examples that the blind tests on her tomato chutney always elicited responses that it was a mango chutney. She also says that take a blind test on any child  for her gooseberry (Amla) Chutney and the child would love it but if you ask a child to taste an amla Chutney, it’s surely going to be a tough task.

Indu, lives in Ghaziabad, a town in NCR, where she does all the R&D work in her kitchen.  She has a workshop in Inderpuri in Delhi where these products are prepared and packed.  Each of her product lable distinctly says,”Homemade”.  Ask her and she informs that everything from sourcing the ingredients to packing (including the designing of labels, initially) is done by themselves and no one is employed.  Each product is made by her in small batches to ensure the quality and the homely touch.  They currently participate in food events and supply in Delhi and NCR against orders. The range includes Jams, Pickles, Chutneys and have recently introduced Flavoured Butters such as Garlic, Lemon, Cinnamon Honey, Orange Honey besides other flavours.

Both Indu and Koel are very passionate about the venture and do this for their love for food.  Indu has a dream to someday start a reastarant or a cafe of her own where she wants to serve only her products.  Ameen !

Everyone must follow ones passion and dreams.  I am following mine- Love for food.  So, I poured out my love for the amazing jams and for the person behind it (and is not a promotion).  The Products are a must try for a different experience and for the love for food.

Bon Appetite !! 

Rajesh Tara