The Mistress Of Spices!
For the best blends, spices and marinades look no further than Balbina Pinto. This spice scientist believes that spices are like people, each with their own individual personality. INDIRA RODERICKS checks out her range of exotic flavours.

You would have no trouble finding Balbina Pinto�s factory in suburban Goregaon. Once you reach the industrial estate where it is located, just ask for the masalawallas and you will be directed to her.

There is no sitting idle for the men and women that work at the factory. Spices are to be dried, ground, cooled, weighed, packed and shipped off. Huge drums are filled with various spices from the everyday Kashmiri red chili powder to the exotic lemon and rosemary blend, spare ribs blend, taco and pizza seasoning and always in demand Goan sausage masala.

Now into the 16th year, Konkan Spices and Curry Makers (KSC, that�s the name of her company!), started in Balbina�s kitchen but now has moved to its own address, bigger and large enough to accommodate her growing business. In her work she is assisted by her husband and chief executive of the company Sidney.

�As a Home Science graduate from Nirmala Niketan, I have spent several years researching and studying about spices. I believe that spices are like people in a group, each with their own personality. An amalgamation of spices without identifying their personality can be disastrous,� she said.

Her range is vast and her motto is hassle free cooking with her products. There are spice blends for exotic food, retort foods, rubs that convert into marinades for fish, chicken and meat (both frozen and chilled), spice flavouring for cakes, puddings and ice-creams and spice and herbal seasonings for pastas, pizzas and such. She has also developed pasta flavours for the ITC Foods Division.

Initially Balbina carried out her research and ran her business from home. But the demand for her products grew so much that she was forced to set up shop elsewhere. With her products what she has done is brought back quality spice powders into the commercial market free from fillers, preservatives, artificial colours or chemicals. She continued, �With the advent of the price wars - manufacturers and dealers in spice powders reduced the potency of spices by adding cheap not so easy to detect fillers. But if you are using pure spices, you don�t need more than 10 � 12 gms of spices to cook 1 kg of food, be it vegetables, meat or fish.

Armed with researched information and samples of the KSC�s spices, she visited 5 star hotels, corporate canteens, bulk food manufacturers and even super/ hypermarkets. �I told them of the harmful artificial colors in spice powders much before the world woke up to Sudan colors. I even explained to them that if you use the real thing then your consumption of spices in your preparations comes down drastically. Further, the taste of the food is enhanced. It was tough in the beginning, but now people have faith in my spices and I have started supplying to all the major hotels and canteens,� she said.

If there is one thing Balbina vouches for it is the quality of her spices. And with a guaranteed shelf life of twelve months, you can be sure of the product.

Her list of clients is impressive � all the Taj properties in Goa, Sun-n-Sand in Pune, and in Mumbai, the Orchid Ecotel, Mochas�, Mars Restaurants among many, many others. You can also pick up her spices at most malls and supermarkets in the city and country.

Together with her husband, they want make KSC a part of every kitchen in the world. �Not just in households, but in hotels, catering units and packaged food plants, both in India and abroad,� they said.

Konkan Spices & Curry Makers,
41, Khurana Compound,
I. B. Patel Road, Goregaon East,
Bombay 400 063.
Tel No: 91 22 2685 3403/2632 6311.
Fax No: 91 22 2634 8178
E-Mail: [email protected]