Dr. Rukhsar Syed Shah is first woman in Kashmir who set up frozen food venture.
After completing PhD in Food technology, Dr Rukhsar was busy in her married life, but her longing towards her passion couldn’t hold her back long. Being the first woman in Kashmir who set up frozen food venture, KHALIS, which offers a wide range of frozen chicken products, ready to fry/bake. Each product is carefully prepared using quality ingredients and finally frozen to retain the mouth-watering taste for you and your family, anytime, anywhere.
KHALIS offers a wide range of must-try products, ranging from Kalari Cheese Samosa, Chicken Keema Samosa, Tangy and crispy chicken popcorn, juicy chicken strips and much more. Team KHALIS swears by the amazingly tasty and luscious Kalari Cheese Samosa, made with a perfect balance of crispy and cheesy. The special cheese used in this Samosa is locally known as Moashcraj. They have already formulated many new recipes and look forward to launching more products both in veg and non-veg variants in the near future as more orders and reviews start to kick in.
” As I am an avid foodie myself and love to experiment with all kinds of cuisines, I have always been curious to know more about food, not just the recipe or the method but about its production, preservation and other various aspects. I am happy that I am one of the lucky ones who could live their passion through their career. As a food technologist I am well aware of the hazardous preservatives and other additives that go into our daily food and being a mother I always worry about what kind of snacks I should give to my children. I am sure all the mothers would agree with me, and not just mothers but everyone who wants to eat healthy, pure and safe food. My passion for food, a vast technical knowledge and motherly instincts led me to experiment and cook a varied range of snacks which gave way to KHALIS”, said Rukhsar, mother of 2, a PhD in Food technology, born and brought up in Kashmir, married for 5 years now.
” I always longed to pursue my passion but due to constraints of time I wasn’t able to shape it into a reality. Nevertheless, my family who have always been the best critics of my cooking and the strongest support system pushed me to participate in a state level culinary competition, I stood second in it and this small victory led me into knowing that cooking is what I want to pursue. Last year, I tried my hand at serving homemade snacks at an exhibition held at SKICC where everyone from all the age groups loved and praised my food. KHALIS is a result of how people and especially my own family responded to my cooking, leading me in turning my small kitchen experiments into a full-fledged frozen food venture. I started taking online orders and the response was overwhelming. Although a varied number of non-vegetarian snacks are available in the market with KHALIS, I guarantee to serve not just food that tastes good but is safe, pure and 100 per cent halal” she said .
A thorough hunt to sense the competition in the market seemed an easy task but little did I know it not only comes with its economic challenges but also puts your ethics at stake. I assumed halal chicken to be an easily available commodity but I had no idea that this simple job would be the most challenging part of my journey. I was shocked to see what was being sold in the market in the name of halal boneless chicken. I was in a dilemma considering we live in a Muslim majority place and the chicken supply we were supposed to have should be majorly halal but the eye-opening market survey shook me to bits.
After a lot of struggle to procure safe, hygienic and 100 per cent halal cut chicken I found a handful of local vendors in Kashmir. Although I had to pay much more but I am glad I am providing guaranteed halal snacks and not procuring it from outside the state which comes with a lot of doubt when it comes to halal cut and hygiene standards. I am happy that I have been able to face these challenges very well until now and look forward to producing quality products only, no matter what challenges come my way,” she adds.
