The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Turn your hobby into paying vocation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 23, 2006
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Turn your hobby into paying vocation

M.L. Melly Maitreyi

Homemade chocolates made by some women gaining popularity in city

HYDERABAD: If you thought that the mouth-watering and oh-so-divinely delicious chocolates are only the prerogative of popular brands world over, think again.

They sure have stiff competition from homemade chocolates churned out by quite a few women in the city for whom chocolate making is an oh-so-passionate hobby. It is mostly friends and relatives who get to taste the chocolates first and then it is only a matter of time before word spreads about the exotic homemade chocolates.

That has been the experience of Radhika R. Mandala of Hi-tec City and Sarosh Samdani of Banjara Hills working with an MNC.

`Outlet planned'

Radhika R. Mandala enrolled for a course on `Chocolate making' in Delhi four years ago and got hooked. After making an impact in her neighbourhood, she relocated to city two years ago and won quite a few corporate clients like TCI, Rahejas, Karvy.

And what Radhika (Ph.No.98493 10881) enjoys even more is teaching her enthusiastic students. "All my students can dish out delicious chocolates with the hands on experience they get in the class," says Radhika who takes baking classes too. Buoyed by the response, she has plans to have an outlet in a mall soon.

Sarosh (98855 33310) is a young chocolate maker from home. "I love chocolates so much that I ended up enrolling in a course on chocolate-making two years ago," she said.

Home made chocolates have a distinct and different flavour and that is what people love.

While basics are taught in a course, it is one's creativity and imagination that goes more into chocolate making, she says.

Varieties

So, what's on the shelf? Varieties of chocolates with hard centre (with a variety of nuts) and a crunchy taste, soft centre such as marzipan (cashew paste), fudge etc., making up for a rich and gooey filling, truffles and liqueur chocolates, and all these in different flavours.

Then, Sarosh is popular for her liquid centre chocolates too that come with honey and raisins with a bitter taste outside. Her speciality is chocolate glasses, which are used for partaking tequila shots. One can take the shot and eat the glass too.

Working with an MNC, chocolate making is a hobby for her and more a weekend affair. "But I will take it up full time in future", says Sarosh, who also takes classes during weekends.

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