The Chocolate Boutique

You can find us right across from the Kali Mandir in Dda Market No. 4. We are at shop number 9. It’s a small space, but we’ve filled it up with all the chocolate we make. The Chocolate Boutique is what we call it, though it feels more like a small kitchen most days. The smell of melting chocolate is always there, which is nice for us but maybe a bit much for the people next door. We don't have a big fancy storefront with glowing signs. It’s just a regular shop where we put out what we’ve made that morning. People stop by after visiting the temple or while they’re doing their regular shopping in the market. We spend a lot of time wrapping things in foil or putting them into little boxes for people to take home. It’s fiddly work, and our hands are usually covered in cocoa by noon. We use a lot of different molds and ingredients that we keep tucked away in the back cupboards. The cooling fridge takes up a lot of room, so we have to watch where we step. It’s just two or three of us working here, so we do everything from the cooking to the cleaning. Sometimes we run out of a certain type of sweet because we can only make so much at once. It’s a busy little corner of the market, but we like it that way. It's a living, and it keeps us busy from morning till night.