Bengaluru: Belagavi district on the Northern tip of Kittur (earlier Bombay or Mumbai) Karnataka bordering Southern Maharashtra is unique in multiple ways. Till recently and only a few decades back it was notoriously known for murders and topped the whole state in such heinous crimes for several years. It is well-known for its cash-rich crops like Tobacco and Sugarcane. Thanks to the mighty rivers Krishna, Ghataprabha and Malaprabha, most of the region is facilitated with the luxury of irrigation.
An amalgamation of a few cultures: Thanks to the geographical location and proximity to the neighbouring states of Goa and Maharashtra Belagavi has over some time evolved into an amalgamation of diverse cultures including local, Goan, Portuguese and Maharashtrian. The Maratha Light Infantry traces its lineage to the Bombay Sepoys, raised in 1768 and thereby recording it as the most senior light infantry regiment in the Indian Army. Hence people belonging to almost all states of the country reside and have settled here. Thus, you tend to overhear people conversing in any number of languages.
Several sweets: Interestingly Belagavi district is also home to several sweet delicacies apart from being known for the hot spicy dishes. Belagavi city has come to be known as Kundanagari or Kunda town due to the mouth-watering milk-sweet Kunda. Gokak town is famous for its Kardantu dry fruits sweet and Ladagi/Gulladaki laddus. Mallur village in Savadatti taluk is known for its Milk Cakes while a Sugarcane farmer has made Athani town known by producing Sugarcane Pedhas. Perhaps the list of Belagavi sweets looks like never-ending…
The Accidental Sweet Kunda: There are several stories doing rounds about the origin of Kunda. However, Raj K Purohit, owner of the Purohit or Camp Kunda sweet mart, dubbed as the original Kunda store puts up his own story-“Kunda started in 1952 which means almost 72 years back. It was an accident. My grandmother had kept milk to heat and forgot to close it. Meanwhile, my grandfather who had gone outside came to the house and could smell the milk being overheated. A thick layer was formed in the vessel and he was wondering whether the milk had been spoilt or what. Initially, he felt like throwing the milk but wondered about tasting it as the white milk had turned brown and felt the creamy milk taste good enough. He added some sugar to it and felt the taste to be better. As he was a professional cook he felt if I could relish the taste it is quite possible that many others may also like it. To start with he introduced his newfound sweet to relatives and known people by preparing the same later. He also did a survey-like thing to get feedback on his newfound product. Then he was planning to have a restaurant-like store in the market to sell sweets and thought of introducing the new sweet well and named it Kunda…
…Kunda became world famous: Now it has become part of history and world-famous as well. Not just in India, these days Kunda has become famous abroad as well. Our grandfather started this unit in the camp or cantonment area by registering as Camp Purohit Kunda, as it comes under the purview of military administration…
…1,500-2,000 kilograms daily: Now this store has transformed into a headquarters for manufacturing and we keep supplying to our all other stores across the city and elsewhere. On average maybe we manufacture around 1,500 to 2,000 kgs daily. We have nine branches in Belagavi and two in Goa. People visiting Belagavi have made it a practice to buy Kunda on their way back and insist on buying only Camp Purohit Kunda…
…Only because of the quality: As mentioned earlier, we have been in this sweet business for the past 72 years and have been able to stay afloat only because of maintaining the quality and service. This is the best that we can give from our side to the customer…
…Costlier than other Kundas: Our Kunda is costlier than other Kundas’ people make in the market. We purposefully put less sugar so that the sweet becomes delicious while others tend to put more sugar so that they can earn fast. So that is the difference. While making Kunda, we get a layer of ghee on the top, maybe after 4-5 hours from the time the process of preparing starts. But we don’t remove the ghee from that as it acts as a preservative for the Kunda, to sustain it for seven to eight days without being spoilt. On the contrary, others to earn more remove the ghee and their Kunda after two or three days start tasting differently…
…Right place to buy: That is the reason why people evince interest to buy Kunda from our outlets. For all those not knowing where to buy this is the right place. And the latest update in manufacturing is that we are also making Kunda sugar-free because we don’t want to lose diabetic patients. To cater to that category of customers we are specially making sugar-free Kunda. We are also into selling Kunda in pouch and tin packs and the shelf life of tin packs is much more, which is nine months as we have a sterilization process enabling it to last for nine months. These precautions will enable people to carry Kunda anywhere in the world…
…Fourth generation: We are originally from Guda Balotan village of Ahore tehsil in Jalore district of Rajasthan as our grandfather Shankar Lal Ji Purohit migrated here about 75 years back. To start with he was working in a small sweet store called Lakshmi Stores in the Camp area here itself. He was working as a cook there. This is the fourth generation in the family into the business of Kunda making and trading, my father Keshav Lal Ji Purohit has passed over the mantle to me”.
-Manohar Yadavatti
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