An established sweets brand in the premium space, creating quality products has been a consistent goal that has guided Anand Sweets for over three decades now. It’s this undivided focus on quality that has been a guiding factor in our pursuit to get only the best ingredients for our extensive catalogue of over 100+ sweets & savouries.
The main ingredients that go into almost every Anand Sweets creation are Sugar, Milk, Ghee, Dry fruits and Spices. Let us now take you on a journey of how and where we source these key ingredients that enable us to create the taste of Royal India every day of the year.
SUGAR: The most essential ingredient of them all, at Anand Sweets, our products are made using pharma-grade sugar. Unlike regular sugar, which is made white during the refining process using Sulphur, pharma-grade sugar is made white through a sophisticated distillation process. It is free from materials like sulphur, lead, arsenic and mercury and is, therefore, purer than regular sugar. At Anand, the decision to switch to pharma-grade sugar was taken five years ago, and was motivated by the growing trend of people reducing their sugar intake. We chose to sweeten our specialties with pharma-grade sugar based on logic that was on the lines of, “Even if our customers consume little sugar, it should be of good quality”.
"TRY: To experience the sweet taste of Anand, treat your colleagues to a box of our besan laddus or the Karnataka special Dharwad peda on special days."
MILK: At Anand, milk is used in all products that are khoa-based or made using chhena (Indian cottage cheese)—this latter category includes Bengali sweets like Rasgulla. On an average, we buy about 3000 litres of milk daily, which goes into making fresh products every single day.
We use four types of milk for making our products. The primary two, however, are:
Certified organic cow milk, which is ethically produced at a farm in Karnataka and buffalo milk, which is sourced from vendors in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh – the states are leading sources of buffalo milk in south India. We get this milk transported to our factory in containers. Since maintaining the freshness of milk – from source to factory – is extremely critical, we have a high bar in determining the quality of milk and implement strict quality control. For instance, cow milk has to be maintained at 4°C to stay fresh till it is consumed. We have milk chillers in our factory where all the milk is stored at 4°C. Pasteurising is another important process for maintaining the quality of milk. You can rest assured knowing that we pasteurise all the milk by ourselves in our factory.
As makers of traditional Indian mithai, there are some sweets made using only cow milk, some with only buffalo milk, and then there a few others made by mixing both the milk varieties. The variety is based on criteria including the texture of the sweet and the taste required.
"TRY: Anand Sweets Ajmeri Kalakand is a rich dessert made using high-quality milk, clarified butter, cardamom powder and sugar powder. Gift a box of Anand Sweets Ajmeri Kalakand or Doodh Peda to family and friends on festive occasions. Want o send sweets to a long-distance friend? Send them the Anand Sweets Rasgulla tin, which has a longer shelf life."
GHEE: As creators of Indian sweets that embody royalty, only pure ghee is used to make some of Anand’s decadent treats. We primarily use two types of ghee: Buffalo ghee, which is white in colour, goes into making North Indian-based treats. The ghee is sourced from the states of UP and Haryana where buffalo ghee is consumed the most. Cow ghee is used to prepare south Indian sweets particularly Mysore Pak. Our primary source of cow ghee is a place called Kangayam in Tamil Nadu, which is known as the cow ghee belt of south India. An additional trivia: The cow ghee that we use is aged in wooden barrels for two months. Doing this lends the ghee a unique smoky, nutty flavour. This is one of the many reasons why our ghee-based treats stand out in terms of taste and flavour.
Anand purchases around 35,000 litres of ghee in a month, on an average, and about 1000 to 1500 litres of ghee is used every day.
"TRY: Anand Sweets Mysore Pak is made with pure desi ghee and is so soft that it melts in your mouth in no time. Delight your near and dear ones by gifting them a Mysore Pak Celebration Tin for important family celebrations."
SPICES: Anand Sweets liberally uses spices for both sweets and savouries. Saffron and elaichi are two key ingredients that go into our sweets. Saffron in particular is an integral part of our sweet treats as it adds flavour and colour. We get our saffron from Kashmir, which is one of the predominant producers of the spice in the world. Our elaichi comes from Kerala. Masalas or spice blends are used in our signature savouries including matris and mixtures. We make our masalas in-house by buying good-quality single spices and blending them in our factory. The proportion of masalas used in every product is based on the respective recipe used to make the dish.
"TRY: Anand Sweets Motichoor Laddu is delicately flavoured with saffron and is a great give away during festivals and celebratory occasions. Try Anand Sweets savories like bhakarwadi, namakpara, achari matri, dry fruit samosa or kachori to get a taste of our specially-blended piquant masalas."
DRY FRUITS: As purveyors of premium quality sweets in Karnataka, Anand Sweets uses generous amounts of dry fruits in its sweets and savouries. We try and get cashews that come from Ivory Coast and are processed in Mangalore. While selecting cashews, we ensure that they have a shine because it can affect the appearance of sweets. Our Kaju Katli for instance has an extra sheen because we only pick cashews that have a shine to make the fudge. One thing to note about cashew nuts is that their note and tone stays the same irrespective of where they come from – be it India or outside. Almonds are different. To begin with, there are four types of almonds: Sonora, California, Mamra and Irani. Each variety has its distinctive characteristics, which is important to factor in while you’re making sweets with them. Irani almonds, for instance, are small but bitter; Mamra almonds from Kashmir have a pronounced dip in them and have a higher oil content which makes them pricier. California almonds are the most commonly available, reasonably priced variety.
Granularity, bitterness, mouthfeel and texture of the paste (made from grinding almonds) are a few factors we consider while choosing the type of almonds to be used for our sweets. Our indulgent and popular Badam Halwa is made using a combination of all four almond varieties. Our pistas, which are used in a range of our products from the signature Pistamika to Baklava, are imported from Iran.
In total, Anand Sweets gets around 20,000 kgs of dry fruits and nuts every month.
"TRY: The signature Anand Sweets Badamika and Pistamika biscuits enriched with almonds and pista make for a luxurious gift. Anand Sweets Assorted Dry Fruit Gift Boxes or the Anand Sweets Assorted Chikki Box makes for a thoughtful gift for your health-conscious family members and friends."
Try Anand Sweets extensive repertoire of sweets and savouries to get a first-hand taste of our quality of ingredients. Visit our stores or order online from our website: www.anandsweets.in
