“I have been cooking since childhood, and grew up watching my grandmother cook with great passion,” says Rennee Saradha, the 24-year-old founder The Bagel Pot. The Bagel Pot is a unit of Attrai Vidhai (meaning a seed from the past), an organisation that aims to bridge the gap between the past and present. “Our philosophy is to feed people the forgotten foods of old tradition,” says Saradha.
The Bagel Pot believes that ‘what you eat becomes a part of you’. “Home cooked food is always the best, as it is prepared with love, and replicating that has never been easy because it has its own magic,” adds Saradha, adding that every chef in the Bagel Pot’s kitchen works to achieve just that. Their venue in OMR food street, Ambattur, exudes this as well.
Kottravai, a transwoman employee, is an example of this attitude. “When we cook with a problem running in our minds, the result is evident from the dish that is prepared, consequently causing a bad experience to the customers. So we prepare ourselves to keep our minds calm by listening to music before we step into the kitchen,” she says.
Saradha was looking to employ people who are unable to procure employment for themselves. That was when she identified PeriFerry, a social inclusion startup working for the upliftment of transgenders. Currently, they have two people from the community working at their outlet.
Every item on their menu from their hand-rolled classic bagel to an all-natural rose milk syrup — and all sauces, desserts, toppings and seasonings in between — is made from scratch.
The Bagel Pot does not use artificial preservatives, and works with natural colourings and flavours. Bagels are made of unbleached wheat flour and the dough is made to rest overnight. The shaping process is done by hand. “We like imperfection. In fact, we see perfection in our imperfect bagels,” laughs Saradha.
She also says that they do not use improvers to make the bagel fluffy, but boil it in water with malt instead, topping it seasonings before cooling. Cane sugar is melted over the cinnamon raisin bagel, for a crunchy taste in addition to the bagel crunch itself. The customer favourite, though, is the flavoured cream cheese topping, blended on toasted bagels.
There’s more to a bagel than its junk food image, feels Saradha, pointing out that it was historically considered a symbol of life — because of its shape — and given to new mothers in the Polish-Jewish tradition.