Sampa Aachar Co.

Sampa Aachar Co. is based in Najirpur, in the Haripur section of Manikchak, Malda. As you can probably guess from the name, we make pickles. It is a very seasonal business. When the mangoes are ready, we are working from morning until very late at night. The whole yard is filled with jars sitting in the sun. We use the old recipes that have been in the family for a long time. It takes a lot of salt and oil and patience. My name is Sampa and I run this with my sisters. We don't have a factory. We just use the back part of our house and the courtyard. The smell of vinegar and mustard oil is very strong around here. Sometimes the neighbors complain, but then we give them a jar of chili pickle and they are happy again. We have to be careful about the monkeys because they try to steal the fruit when we leave it out to dry. It is a lot of peeling and cutting by hand, so our fingers usually have little nicks on them. We sell the jars at the local market or sometimes people come directly to the house in Najirpur. We don't have a fancy label, just a piece of paper with the date on it. It’s just honest work that keeps us busy throughout the year and feeds our family.