The Big Scoop

‘Tilgul ghya aani god god bola’. (Here, have til-gud and speak sweetly) One of the most important festivals in Maharashtra, Makar Sankranti, celebrated on January 14, is incomplete without exchanging the til-gud (sesame-jaggery) sweets while mouthing this phrase. But what if this traditional sweet was offered in the form of an ice cream? This simple thought led to Parag Chaphekar and Sanmish Marathe’s experiment two years years ago, resulting in the launch of tilgud ice cream under their brand Icestasy Projects. “People in Mumbai lapped up the idea when we launched the flavour in 2017 ahead of Makar Sankranti. It was a fine departure from the tradition without compromising on the flavours that are synonymous with the festival,” explains Chaphekar. What made the flavour popular, however, was not its quirkiness alone. The ice cream, made using jaggery and sesame, also offers bits of tilgul that add the crunch associated with the sweet.

While Chaphekar and Marathe, who co-own Icestasy along with Milind Salvi, are currently busy with orders for the tilgul flavour ahead of the festival, it is only a small part of their diverse range. “With options such as besan laddoo, puranpoli, ukadiche modak among others, it may seem that Icestasy is focussing on Maharashtrian sweets. But we personalise almost any flavour based on the demand or need. We also have on our menu black sesame, ginger, and cutting chai biskoot among other flavours,” says Chaphekar.

Mumbai-based Icestasy, however, is not available on retail but Chaphekar and Marathe sell to restaurants across Mumbai and other cities of India. Among their clients are restaurants such as Burma Burma in Delhi and Mumbai and Pune’s Pandora, with celebrity chef Ajay Chopra formerly at its helm. “Since experimenting and customising is our core strength, it makes more sense to engage with restaurants, hotels and brands directly, to offer them something they may not have the resources to create. For instance, we are currently working on bibinca ice cream for a restaurant offering Goan cuisine,” says Marathe, who was in the F&B industry before joining Chaphekar to start Icestasy a little over four years ago.

Currently, the trio outsources the manufacturing of their products out of several ice cream manufacturing units. But their main facility sits in Lalbaug. A small unit, it produces several litres of multiple flavours through the day. The refrigerator inside stocks exotic flavours such as avocado and honey, Japanese matcha and caramel and cheese popcorn alongside the more common vanilla and butterscotch. Chaphekar and Marathe explain that their aim is to replicate the original flavour in the ice cream. “We use real vanilla beans, matcha or avocado and create our own butterscotch sauce, as opposed to using artificial flavours. The result is ice creams that are sometimes more expensive than what you will find in the market but the quality and taste, we guarantee, are better.” While these exotic flavours remain their strength, Icestasy also manufactures the usual range of chocolate and fruit ice creams.

To arrive at the precise flavours, however, is a long process. Sometimes it takes up to 15 versions over several months to reach that stage where we feel the ice cream tastes the same as the origin. Among the toughest was their besan laddoo ice cream. “We realised only after experimenting a couple of times that besan (gram flour) cannot be used in ice cream at its regular consistency that is used to prepare besan laddoos. Our third partner, Milind, an expert at creating flavours, then found the correct consistency to make the ice cream taste like the mithai,” Marathe explains. The outcome is for anyone to taste. Icestasy is able to capture nuanced flavours such as the ukadiche modak, steamed rice flour dumplings with a coconut-jaggery filling, popularly associated with Ganapati festival. The ice cream comes with bits of the coconut-jaggery filling to complete the experience. Says Chaphekar, “Retailing is part of our plan. But our core strength is the spirit of innovation.”