'There is no sincerer love than the love of food!'

Raashi Malhotra Sawhney, founder of The Picnik Basket, talks about her life influences and the journey into her food venture. 

The beginning

Most kids are enchanted by stories of castles and fairies. I grew up hearing about my maternal grand mom’s culinary expertise. The meals served in courses by a butler, the silver-service, freshly baked confectionery at tea-time & dessert after every meal! My takeaway was- what and how you eat are a reflection of your standard of living.

That being the foundation, I watched my mom transform her home-science degree into a flourishing cake business and assisted when I could after school. I shattered her dream of sending me to Le Cordon Bleu by pursuing a post graduate degree in economics. My academic stint in England gave me the opportunity to learn more about ‘Continental’ food. I tasted and learned recipes that had been coming down through generations, courtesy my English aunt. These casual experiences moulded my cooking style for life.

In 2007, Prince Charming swept me off my feet and I landed up in Mumbai. That’s when I started doing ready-to-serve food for parties under the banner of The Picnik Basket’. I even baked on request. My handmade fudge developed a fan following overnight. Despite the overwhelming response, I never considered myself “in-business”. This was my sabbatical. The wide travels during this phase only widened my culinary horizons. Grocery stores, delicatessens and restaurants were the high point of all my vacations. Street food and fine-dining experiences excited me equally. The husband was always a great accomplice! The Picnik Basket slipped into a natural hibernation as motherhood dawned.

The birth of my son and a new way of life

The turnaround happened when my son started eating solid foods and I began my quest to maximize the variety and nutrition he got. It became impossible to do this without exposing him to processed foods, Class II preservatives and high levels of sugar and salt. I started making things like marinara sauce, peanut butter and mayonnaise from scratch. That’s when I realized that I could replace a lot of bottled stuff in my larder. After a lot of research, experimenting and tasting, The Picnik Basket was reborn.

We now make multi-purpose spreads and sauces – both sweet and savoury.  For me, The Picnik Basket is a vehicle to not just spread good taste, but also awareness about wholesome eating. Either because of a lack of time, or cooking skills, people often resort to more “convenient” packaged foods. While we guide you on the different ways in which each product can be used, you can innovate with the products yourself too! We even customize the packaging for bulk orders. In the coming months and years, we hope to provide fresh alternatives to more and more commercial products, and to expand our geographical outreach. We deliver pan-Mumbai and Delhi.

Our Philosophy in a nutshell

Home-made

All our products are made in small batches out of my home kitchen ensuring that what you eat is fresh and made with the utmost care.

Hand Picked Ingredients

 Ingredients for our products are carefully chosen. Only the best quality nuts go into our nut butters, for instance.

Natural and wholesome

No preservatives, artificial colours or flavours. Nutrition and taste are equally important.

How to Order

Call us or Whatsapp on  99876 87005

Write to us

Feedback, opinions or rave reviews , we love to hear it all ! Email us at thepicnikbasket@gmail.com