Millets in my ice cream

At the start of this 12 months, Bargav R spent his evenings in his kitchen whisking and mixing for all he’s price looking for that good recipe for a millet-based ice cream he had dreamed of. Three months and lots of trials later he launched Aathiyam Ice Cream at his retailer at Gandhipuram. “The response has been great. But I had to close down the store 15 days after the launch due to he lockdown. I reopened it two weeks ago and now I provide takeaways. My product is free from artificial colours, stabilisers and preservatives,” says the 32-year -old from Coimbatore.

Aathiyam Ice Cream comes in 24 totally different flavours. “All of them except the forest Honey is vegan,” he says. The base for his ice cream is a mix of milk extracted from ragi, kambu and thinai. “I use millets sourced from my farm in Dharmapuri. The millet milk is mild and enhances the flavours added to it. I also add a limited quantity of soya milk for thickness. They are whipped together with fruits till they reach the right consistency.”

Bhargav provides palm sugar for sweetness which he says provides it the brown color,however he’s not nervous about that. “For the mass-produced ice cream, each flavour comes in different colours. But in Aathiyam, most of them are brownish because of the palm sugar. I explain to customers who say they were looking forward to colourful icecreams, that this is the natural colour,” he explains. The manufacturing is finished in small batches of 300 litres. “My ice cream solely has a shelf lifetime of three months when saved under zero levels Celcius. So I manufacture on demand.”

Bhargav brainstormed along with his household to provide you with flavours. “They also tasted my product during trials and gave me their opinions.” The most troublesome half for him was to get the fruit-to-milk proportion proper. “Some fruits like the pineapple can irritate one’s mouth when used in excess. It took me around 50 trials to understand the ratio,” he says. Some of the preferred flavours are kambu, thinai, muskmelon, mint, ginger and uncooked mango. “The raw mango ice cream tastes best with a sprinkle of red chilli powder on top. But my favourite is thinai. It has a mild flavour of the millet.”

The ice cream is offered in bio-degradable cups and the value ranges from ₹60 to ₹130 for a serving. “The takeaway is packed in plastic containers. We are looking for eco-friendly options.” He gives supply for 4 km round Gandhipuram. “Safety of our customers is our priority. All our staffs wear masks and gloves. Their temperature is also checked every day,” he says. He plans to introduce a brand new line of flavours with herbs and spices subsequent month. “It will have combinations of ginger, mint, triphala, pepper, etc. I also hope to launch fruit salads and milkshakes soon.”

You should buy the ice cream at Aathiyaam, JSS Nature Products, Malarvizhi Complex, Dr Rajendra Prasad Road, Gandhipuram