From an early age, Upasana Parasrampuria was encouraged to chase her dreams. “So, whether it was representing India in pistol shooting, or practicing law at one of the city’s top tier law firms, I have never been shy to follow a passion,” she says.
However, pulling 14-hour long days at the law firm meant that food, eating well and nutrition took a backseat. Irregular eating habits started taking a toll on her mental and physical health. “When I started paying more attention and becoming more mindful of what I ate, it reignited in me my lifelong passion for food – only this time I was focused on how to make ‘eating healthy’ as delicious as the platefuls of junk I was so happy to consume before!” she recalls.
Upasana went to New York to study her culinary passions and on her return, she set up Diet Tamasha – a cloud-based artisanal bakery that specializes in allergy-friendly and guilt-free desserts and bakes, based out of Mumbai. “With time, my brother and I also set up our retail brand Pink Harvest Farms, geared towards living a balanced holistic life, more accessible in the modern world,” she says. In August this year, they launched their snacking chocolate brand, Bean To Chocolatier. Upasana shares her journey with TMM.
What have been some of the learnings along the way?
I think the biggest learning for us is that there is a huge portion of the Indian audience that is 
actively looking for high quality, nutritious healthy food. And that they are willing to take chances and try something new if it adds value to their lives. I think this learning was key for us – to realise that you can create all the products you want, but brand loyalty can only be built if you are adding real value to your consumer lives and lifestyle, not just trying to sell them a product. Our strength lies in creating products that work their way naturally into the modern lifestyle – from a range of natural Asian marinades by Diet Tamasha, an Edamame Spaghetti by Pink Harvest Farms so yum you’ll ditch the wheat for good, or India’s first no refined sugar, pure chocolate baking chips from Bean To Chocolatier.
Tell us about your latest baby – Bean To Chocolatier.
Okay, so this one was based on a pretty simple thought. I love, love, LOVE chocolate. I love to snack on it, love to use it in cooking, binge on Netflix with a bag of my favourites. But it’s chocolate, so bad for you right? Not ours. We don’t use ready chocolate or even cocoa powder – we roast and grind our own beans. We don’t use oil, a cheap substitute for the real thing – but amazingly smooth cocoa butter. We don’t use refined sugar, instead caramel-ey natural, organic unrefined sugar. We also strongly believe in inclusivity, so every range has a sugar-free variant sweetened with Stevia for diabetics or those with a dietary restriction.
Our range of snacking chocolates is something we’ve been working painstakingly on with our consultant for almost two years, to get the ingredients, product and final taste just right. The launch was planned for March but due to present circumstances got pushed to August – just in time for the festive season.
Where do you source your ingredients from?
We are proud to have created an all Indian brand that produces world-class luxury chocolate. Our cocoa beans are harvested directly from our partner farms in Idukki and other regions in the South. Even our machinery – the roaster, mills, grinders are all proudly made in India. Little known fact, India is one of the largest exporters of chocolate machinery in the world!
Tell us about some of the products and are you planning to grow the product portfolio?
We launched with ‘Bean To Bark’ – delicious snacking slivers of dark chocolate, topped with almonds or quinoa. We then introduced ‘Bean To Berries’ – heavenly whole dried berries coated in pure chocolate. For the festive season, we have ‘Bean To Nutters’ – whole roasted nuts coated in chocolate, and our first milk variant – incredible milk chocolate coated hazelnuts. We’re most excited though about our ‘Bean To Buttons’ to fulfill an Indian baker’s dream – pure chocolate baking chips. The product portfolio is rapidly growing – up next we’re going to introduce products to round out the baking range.
RECIPE
Dark Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookies
Ingredients
½ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup jaggery
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups maida/ flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
100g Bean To Buttons Baking Chocolate Chips
Method:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, jaggery, salt, and melted butter until a paste forms with no lumps.
- Whisk in the egg and vanilla, beating until light ribbons fall off the whisk and remain for a short while before falling back into the mixture.
- Sift in the flour and baking soda, then fold the mixture with a spatula (Be careful not to overmix, which could give cakier cookies).
- Fold in the chocolate buttons, then chill the dough for at least 30 minutes. For a more intense toffee caramel-like flavour and deeper colour, chill the dough overnight. The longer the dough rests the more complex its flavour will be.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Scoop the dough with an ice-cream scoop onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, leaving at least 4 inches of space between cookies and 2 inches of space from the edges of the pan so that the cookies can spread evenly.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the edges have started to barely brown. Cool completely before serving. Enjoy on its own or with a scoop of ice cream!
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