Elysian Delights – A New Vegan Bakery & Store In Gurgaon You MUST Try!

People in Delhi-NCR who’ve been waiting for an all-vegan spot to pick up baked goods, ice creams and sweet treats can rest easy now – thanks to Elysian Delights.

What

Elysian Delights is a venture by activist and ethical vegan Anchit Kawaatra. Described as a bakery and convenience store, they function as a cafe and a retail outlet for vegan food products (all made in-house).

Where

The bakery is in Gurgaon at JMD Galleria Mall on Sohna Road.

Ph: 99719 80350

What’s On The Menu?

Plenty! Choose from brownies, cakes, donuts, muffins, smoothies and a range of dips and snacks, like chocolate hazelnut spread and minty masala makhana. They even have sorbet and cashew-soy based frozen desserts!

We saw fellow vegans posting about all the goodies on Instagram and got in touch with founder Anchit to learn more about his venture and what’s in store.

 

 

 

 

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Elysian Delights is new to the Gurgaon/Delhi vegan scene, having only opened a couple of weeks ago. ???? They are fully vegan, with a great menu of savoury and sweet treats. We indulged in the delicious brownies and veggie pizza, as well as trying out two of their flavoured “mylks” - hazelnut cold coffee and strawberry, both of which were fab! ???? The owner, Anchit, is so friendly and passionate about his food and veganism. He also offered us a taste of a vegan, chocolate/hazelnut spread he is planning to market, which was very tasty, as well as a sample of the minty masala makhana. ???? We couldn’t resist taking a couple cakes each away with us, which were perfect to snack on this morning during our train trip to Agra. ???? Already looking forward to our next stop in Delhi, if only to visit @elysiandelightsllp! ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? #vegancakes #veganpizza #vegandelhi #veganindia #supportveganbusiness

A post shared by Andy ? (@hackney.vegan) on Aug 24, 2019 at 10:56pm PDT

When did your vegan journey begin?

About 2.5-3 years back I started my vegan journey. I had left drinking milk long before because I noticed lactose intolerance setting in, but paneer and cheese were still a part of my diet. I was also a non-vegetarian for a while till I noticed in 2008, how badly a roadside stall was handling a hen by its neck. I switched to being vegetarian on the spot.

How did Elysian Delights come about?

It started with the idea of having a small store for vegan items. Every shop we went to for sweets used dairy or eggs. This got me into cooking a bit. I used to try different recipes and test it on my family. Then I came across chocolate nut spreads and noticed all of them had dairy, plus some brands used palm oil and preservatives that were linked to diseases.

I started with formulating the chocolate spread Hazelate (currently under shelf-life test, the rest of the reports are with us). Then I needed a space to showcase the products. At ordinary stores, this would not get that much shelf space since many people need to be educated about vegan products – it would take time to sell. Also, we haven’t added any flavours, preservatives or colours to it. The name of the company – Elysian Delights - highlights that this is a paradise where everything is made with lots of heart and sincerity!

You don’t add any preservatives to your spreads – did it take you a long time to formulate the products?

For spreads (Hazelate), we did take about 3-4 months of regular trials before we zeroed in on the right recipe. (Our chocolate spreads have 40% nuts.)Then we did a trial with family members and some vegans,  and we got good feedback. I was actually looking for co-manufacturers, but one of them increased the final prices which would make the end products very expensive. That was not what we wanted. We wanted our products to be approachable and to not be perceived as elitist.

The response from customers has been largely positive, some have even purchased a jar or two. People who are conscious about additives and preservatives purchase it instantly.

How has the response been so far, and what are some of your bestsellers?

Our peanut butter cookies, big brownies, glazed pastry and vanilla cupcakes have been good sellers. The response has been a little slow as the crowd that comes in isn’t very aware of veganism. But the vegans who have visited have had a very good time having our food so that’s a win for starters!

Tell us a little bit more about ParadICE Frozen Desserts.

ParadICE frozen desserts are basically all forms of frozen treats, using cashew cream and soy as the base. Being dairy-free, we can’t call them ice creams. For now, we have sorbets and creamy frozen desserts. We may add popsicles as well, but as of now, it’s scoop-wise. Fudgy vanilla has been selling well and many have not noticed the difference between it and dairy ice cream!

Any new products/goodies we can look forward to in the days ahead?

We will be innovating and coming up with many products. For retail purposes, we will be starting made-to-order fresh vegannaise (mayonnaise) and cashew cheesy spread that we use on our pizzas and tofu tikka sandwiches. We will also have pure peanut butter.

Hopefully these spreads, chocolate spreads catch on so that sales pick up and we are less dependent on cafe sales and more focussed on our long term company mission - reforestation of a few hectares of lands, building lakes in it, getting wildlife back and giving street animals a place they can call home and return to nature.

If you’re in the city, head to JMD Galleria Mall and sample some of their goods. You can also find more details on their Facebook page.

_{*Feature image via Freepik}

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