The organic bake

Priyadharshini Bakthavatchalam and her husband Sakthikannan Su, residents of Thoraipakkam, have adopted an organic lifestyle.

They recycle old clothes, use mud pots for cooking and bio-enzymes for cleaning utensils and their house.

Going entirely organic meant Sakthukannan had to give up cakes with their artificial ingredients. As he hankers after cakes, this was a challenge. He met the challenge by keeping away from bakeries.

Then, he turned to Priyadharshini, “Why don’t you bake cakes using natural ingredients?”

That’s how Kannal Mozhi, an organic bakery, was born.

Started in 2017, Kannal Mozhi makes cakes, biscuits and ice-creams made only from natural ingredients.

“We realised that many people, especially organic foodies, love bakery produce but have limited organic options. These home-made egg-less bakes are especially for them,” says Priyadharshini. The basic ingredients in her cakes include wheat, palm sugar, honey and jaggery.

“I also use curd, milk, butter, coconut oil and lemon. These are ingredients readily available and used at home every day,” she says.

Different types of millets, brown sugar, palm sugar and palm jaggery constitute the basic ingredients of her organic ice-creams.

For brownies and chocolate cakes, she sources special bitter chocolates from Pollachi “which are a mix of cocoa powder and brown sugar.”

Fruits and dry fruits such as cashew, almond, hazelnut and pistachio are used as garnishing, while beetroot purée, carrot purée and red spinach are used for colouring.

Some of her popular bakes include mountain banana cake, dry-fruits cake, banana and dry-fruits cake, karupatti-coconut cake, beetroot cake, guava cake, apple-cinnamon cake and pineapple-cinnamon cake.

“Our dry fruit cake and mountain banana cakes are in demand, even as birthday cakes,” says Priyadharshini, a former IT professional.

She thinks organic even while serving her bakes.

Instead of the cardboard cake base, she serves her cakes in banana leaves.

“I am in the process of learning how to make cake boxes from palm leaves. This can be recycled as well,” she says. For more details, call 8056808355 or 9094825533, or visit www.facebook.com/kannalmozhi1.