Punjab Paneer & Sweet Bhandar

In Geeta Colony, over at 316 Block, you’ll find us starting the day before the sun is even up. The first thing we do is check the milk delivery. Making paneer is a daily routine that doesn't leave much room for breaks. The kitchen stays hot because the big vats are always going. We make our sweets in small batches so they don't sit around too long. Some days are busier than others, especially when there’s a local festival or someone is having a big family dinner nearby. The shop isn't very large, so it gets a bit cramped when five or six people are all trying to get their snacks at once. We’ve got the usual trays of barfi and gulab jamun laid out, and the smell of cardamom stays in my clothes long after I go home. It’s a family-run thing, so you might see my nephew helping out or my brother handling the cash box while I’m in the back. We don't use any fancy machines; it’s mostly just hands and wooden paddles. Sometimes we run out of something popular by the afternoon, and people get a bit annoyed, but we’d rather sell out than have old stock. It’s just how we've always done things here in the colony. It’s simple food for people who live nearby and know what we offer. There isn't much to it besides hard work and fresh ingredients, and that's the way we prefer it to stay.