What to gift this Diwali?

Everyone wants to do something new, occasionally. Festivals are the best times when we have the desire to follow the customs that were followed in our home and be traditional and yet we want to be different and unique. A classic case of that would be the idea of Diwali gifts. We want to be traditional in our Diwali gifts but we certainly want to be unique!

Original Indian Table’s Diwali Gift Boxes are the answer!  As much as we enjoy the ghee-laden sweets on Diwali, let us switch to a healthy but equally delicious alternative this time.  Do away with the usual practice of gifting chocolates, mithai and cakes this year and gift indigenous food products straight from the farms to your table.

The Mix and Match Diwali Gift Boxes have been curated with products produced by the best farmers of six states in India especially for you . The boxes are brimming with the farmers’ passion for sustainable farming and our love bringing you indigenous products. We are sure you can taste both of them in our products.

The Match Diwali Gift Box is a delectable selection of 100% Indian dry fruits and a traditional Indian sweet. The dry fruits comprise of the sweetest dried apricots from Ladakh and the walnuts which are the collective effort of women farmers in Himachal Pradesh. The Black Sesame Jaggery Bites are perfect for the onset of winter are from Gujarat. You might have heard of or enjoyed the ‘til ki chikki’ or ‘til ke laddoo’ sometime; our sweet made of black sesame seeds grown by a farmer group doing zero-budget natural farming in Gujarat and jaggery is our modern take on it. Did we mention they are all hand-made?

Five states in one gift box. That’s our Mix Diwali Gift Box: a combination of ingredients and ready-to-eat sweet and savoury snacks. This box is all traditional, but with a twist. Walnuts and Black Sesame Jaggery Bites are same as the Match Box. To add to the delicacy and make it more savoury, we have added the Lemon Rind Himalayan Rock Salt from Uttarakhand, perfect to be used as a seasoning. Our signature five rice blend from West Bengal is made with two varieties of brown and red rice and a dash of black rice; makes a great biryani for Diwali. A healthy version of the classic Gujarati festive snack ‘Chevdo’ made with flakes of finger millet (ragi), pearl millet (bajra), red rice and roasted wheat produced by tribal farmers in Tamil Nadu is a flavoursome ready-to-eat snack in the box.

These unique and traditional Diwali Gift Boxes are available at Original Indian Table as well as Amazon. We are shipping across India. Order our Mix and Match Diwali Gift Boxes soon and spread the joy of healthy food this Diwali.

This Diwali. Be Different. Be Healthy. 

Be Traditional. Be Original Indian Table.

Anecdote of Apricots

There is a story behind every dried apricot from Original Indian Table that lands on your plate, and finally finds its way to your stomach. Let us hear the anecdote of the apricot!

We claim that Original Indian Table’s dried apricots are the sweetest ever. This assertion that you would have not had sweeter apricots before is based on how and from where these apricots have been sourced.

Our dried apricots are directly sourced from Ladakh, abundant with wild growth of apricot trees. These are harvested and dried by the local farmers working with the Ladakh Ecological Development Group (LEDeG).

LEDeG is a non-governmental organization based at Leh. It works with and for the underprivileged people residing in structurally disadvantaged areas of Ladakh. LEDeG also aims to address the environmental and cultural issues that affect the people in the region.

Farmers in Ladakh were facing exploitation and were at a disadvantage due to marketing channels that were outdated. Consequently, LEDeG came into the picture and started working with groups and cooperatives of farmers to aggregate local fruits like apricots. Then they built a brand identity for them and helped the farmers to supply these apricots in larger quantities in order to get a better price for their produce.

The apricots, however, grow wildly in the areas of Ladakh. They are native to the place and according to LEDeG, they can be found randomly all across the villages, in areas where irrigation or any water source is available – on the periphery of crop fields, stream banks and open spaces.

The Original Indian Table dried apricots that you savour are harvested and dried within a period of 40 days between July and August, since the climatic conditions are harsh rest of the year.

As a result of these efforts, the dried apricots are rich in fibre and loaded with Vitamin A & C. And we can proudly say, they are as sweet as the fruits of heaven.

Now we know the tale testifying the taste of toothsome dried apricots of Original Indian Table!

You can buy Original Indian Table’s Dried Apricots here.

Photo credits: LEDeG