Ask anyone in India which place they’d love to visit at least once in their lifetime and you’re sure to hear ‘The Himalayas’. The picturesque locale is a dream destination for everyone. But, scenic beauty is not the only thing it offers.
The mountains and their evergreen valleys hold centuries of nutritional treasures that produce crops and food products you may never have heard of – with the potential to reward you a long and healthy life. So many solutions to prevalent health issues are hidden in the wondrous crops and cuisine of the region.
We, at Valley Culture, are huge patrons of the traditional Himalayan cuisine, and so are the founders of Amrit Bhawan. We’ve joined forces to present you with a colorful array of Himalayan foods and recipes that will surely surprise and delight you.
Walk with us through the terrain as we show you what we do and how and why we do it.
The Himalayan Landscape - What You Know & What You May Not
In the cuisine of Garhwal – a quaint region in Uttarakhand, our ancestors have found some super foods that flourish in the Himalayan soil. They experimented with them, made tasty dishes out of them and crafted an entire cuisine around them,
What makes Garhwali cuisine stand out among other cuisines of the Himalayas, is the fine blend of taste, nutrition and variety it offers.
Unfortunately, most visitors to Garhwal today prefer to eat momos , Noodles and other imported dishes , thinking that it’s the only food available there. This is truly saddening. We have switched to junk when our own homeland births miracle crops. We have become accustomed to a particular taste, and food style that it's almost unthinkable to eat healthily.
Did you also know climate change, modernization and massive tourism are altering the sacred landscape of the Himalayas? There has been severe water scarcity, constant soil erosion, landslides, deforestation and whatnot. Further fueling this sorry state is the low prices farmers’ produce is bought for. It’s becoming difficult to maintain a livelihood with only traditional farming, and farmers ghost their farmlands, and villages and migrate to different cities.
As children of the Himalayas, we decided to take matters into our own hands and encouraged reverse migration to help our nation gravitate towards our nourishing, homegrown food. That’s how our journey began.
Valley Culture – Bringing Himalayan Goodness to Your Table
We are a Himalayan superfood brand with a mission to form a sustainable, evergreen supply chain around the mountains, where our farmers believe in the power of their crops, grow, harvest and send it to your table, directly, without middlemen, or adulteration of any kind. That’s why we’ve partnered with 5000+ women farmers who took the giant leap of faith, trusted us and agreed to work with us.
With their help, we’re now able to nurture our rich traditional crops, process them naturally, and seal them with their nutrition completely intact. Since all our products are grown with ZERO toxins or chemicals with only exposure to pure air, water and soil, their nutritional value is higher than all others.
Valley Culture’s farmer connection is profound, in that you can almost feel the warmth of the farmers’ hands in our products. Farm produce is cleaned, sorted and processed naturally using traditional equipment operated with ZERO power.
We’ve been sending pristine wellness in the form of our ethically sourced Himalayan superfood to the entire nation, since 2019. We also wanted to introduce our tourists and visitors to the mesmerising flavours of the region. That’s why we collaborated with Amrit Bhawan.
Amrit Bhawan – A Retreat by the Himalayan Foothills
- Amrit Bhawan, is a tranquil retreat by the Ganga in the city of Haridwar (also in Uttarakhand). The 50 year old, restored art deco bungalow has 8 beautiful rooms as well as a private river ghat and offers a bespoke experience to travelers who want to see the city in a different way. One of the main highlights however, is its food. The property prides itself in serving home-style, nourishing regional Indian cuisine made from locally-sourced ingredients from the mountainous region of Garhwal and offers an extensive menu (curated with the help of a renowned nutritionist, Sangeeta Khanna).We love that they share most of our values, in practising sustainability, and offering the best taste and nutrition to their guests.
Blending Nativity and Nutrition – Impact of Our Power-Packed Duo
Together, Valley Culture and Amrit Bhawan, we have created a unique, enriching culinary experience for guests who visit Haridwar, in the foothills of the Himalayas.
Valley Culture’s products are actively used in the Amrit Bhawan kitchen to prepare appetizing, nutritious and authentic Garhwali dishes. Guests have shared rave reviews about how they perceived traditional meals to be bland before and how Amrit Bhawan’s sheer variety and intelligent use of fine ingredients have changed the way they look at traditional meals.
Amrit Bhawan’s Uttarakhand Thali is the best showcase for this. The Uttarakhand Thali is familiar but different. While the major components are just like a typical thali, it stands out with its liberal use of lentils, pulses and millets, and the lack of use of certain spices. It typically consists of a dal (could be gehat, navrangi, rajma, tor), a chainsu or fanu (again made of pulses like chana or gahat, ground into a paste before cooking), a couple of local sabzis usually tempered with Jakhiya seeds (wild mountain mustard) instead of cumin seeds, a pungent raita with mustard seeds, roti made of ragi flour (also called mandua or finger millet) and Himalayan red rice (or sometimes, with Barnyard millet or jhangora instead of rice).
Some of the other Garhwali dishes at Amrit Bhawan which are most loved by guests are as follows:
- Gahat / Horsegram Seekh Kebabs
- Pahadi Herb Dip – a tantalizing combo of curd and Himalayan Faran
- Desserts and puddings prepared with Jhangora (Barnyard millet)
These delicacies are made with Valley Culture’s finest Himalayan superfoods. In particular, replacing rice and wheat with different types of millet has truly yielded good results. Millets are a powerhouse of nutrition and every serving comes with a ton of minerals and vitamins. Consuming them daily prevents and controls diabetes, aids in weight loss, fills your stomach and keeps your energy levels high throughout the day.
They are perfect for all age groups and contexts. High iron content eases menstrual troubles, high protein and fibre deposits help in building muscle and ZERO fat content keeps your heart healthy.
Amrit Bhawan’s guests feel light and content after every meal and they particularly ask for the ingredients and shop for them from the Naashta Shop. Valley Culture’s handpicked gift packs are displayed for sale at the Naashta Shop – Amrit Bhawan’s exclusive flavor store for travelers to take the essence of the Himalayas home with them.
You can take a taste of the Himalayas home with you, and level up your daily meals with these unique ingredients.
If you want a long and healthy life, with you being super active, strong and sharp throughout your life, switching to our homegrown, farm-fresh produce is paramount. We’d love to help your transformational journey by ensuring you consume only the purest of superfoods.
That’s why we bring Valley Culture to you. Lifelong wellness comes at a 10% discount from the mountains. Grab your favorite's now at Valley Culture India.
To find out more about Amrit Bhawan, please visit www.amritbhawan.in or call +91 98977 06899.
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