Pranathi Spices & Pickles

At Pranathi Spices & Pickles, we mostly work out of our space in Venkateswara Nagar. The address is 6-296/7 A, which is a bit of a mouthful, but once you get to Quthbullapur, it isn't too hard to find. We started this because we had so many extra mangoes and vegetables one year. Now, the whole place smells like vinegar and mustard oil almost every day. It's a family thing, so you'll usually see my aunt or my sister-in-law sitting on the floor peeling garlic or chopping up ginger. Our hands are almost always stained yellow from the turmeric. We don't have a big storefront with glass windows. It's more of a workshop where people come to the door and ask for what they need. Sometimes we run out of jars and have to wait for the delivery truck to arrive. It’s a bit chaotic during the peak pickle season, with crates everywhere and everyone talking at once. We use the recipes that have been in the family for a long time, nothing written down on paper, just remembered. We don't use any fancy preservatives, so things stay natural. It's just a small local business trying to keep up with the orders from the neighborhood. We aren't looking to be a huge brand, just happy if people enjoy what we make. We don't have a big delivery truck, so sometimes I have to take the orders out on my old scooter. It's a bit of a bumpy ride through the streets, but the pickles always get there in one piece.