Throughout my married life, right upto the striking of Covid, all the groceries were bought by my husband. I saw that a list was made and food was on the table. He did the buying of all the groceries-- which included meat, toiletries, cleaning agents and fruit. In typical fashion he went with his list to Royal Mart or Food World and did all the household purchases.
Then Covid struck and put paid to all his visiting of stores and bringing home the bacon so to speak. I started by ordering from Naamdharis, but soon after a few months, I moved to Big Basket, which my classmate who has come home to retire in Bangalore from Dubai, suggested.
Her husband still prefers going to the SBI store in that huge campus, but I lazily prefer Big Basket. If you list up all your needs and it mounts to Rs 1200 and over, you get FREE delivery. That’s all I was looking for and all the brands I was used to using all my life. I know the brand I like and no shortchanging there. Over time I have come to realise that Big Basket is definitely the cheapest online store in the city.
The best part since I am checking what’s on sale I stumble on great stuff that we have forgotten to enjoy for years --- Mum used to make us Weikfield jellies. Ah ha! One could get it in Mango, Strawberry and Orange. Trying it out after years one does not have to solidify it in the fridge any more. They have a setting agent which sets it outside the fridge really well. So the guys are enjoying a couple of bowls of Aunty Sheela as we called it, cause of a very obese Aunt.
I like their chicken cause I have taken over the cooking. The men were complaining about too much oil and the veggies tasted awful. If the chicken is cleaned and sold as chillie chicken bits, --no cleaning and cutting for me. My chicken dish is done in 20 minutes or less. The men enjoy the drumsticks too, so those I pressurise for them to enjoy a well cooked dish. Before the chicken had to be cleaned and cut. Three cheers to Fresho and Big Basket.
I can choose the trays of eggs I want that come safely and unbroken-- unlike those from Royal Mart in a plastic bag. Invariably one or two would be broken. Now the egg tray can be returned and reused and the same with the Fresho Banana. Return the box, they reuse it. And the best part, there are two types of bananas -- the small or baby Robusta and the regular. We prefer the small Robustas and ofcourse the Yellakis.
Water melons, grapes, oranges, the prices are all comparable with the market and one does not get short changed if the item is bad or raw. Just send off a mail to customer care and they replace it or put the cash into your wallet. I have much more control of what’s being bought and nothing is getting wasted since I order only what we require.
When it comes to mixtures or snacks -- I have only liked the Halidram’s quality. They have a great variety like the Aloo Bhujia and the Khatta Meetha which we enjoy and ofcourse I love the salted peanuts. Just plain, none of that crappy masala on them. Usually I had to buy bags of them from the US on my return, no more. They are available in a great brand called Jabsons.
Paneer is another favourite and one can get all varieties. I order the Amul creamy ( malai) one or even the Milky Mist is not bad in contrast to the hard and tough Nandini paneer. Reminds me of the great stuff we used to eat in Gupta market as kids. Soft and springy cubes in a gravy of spinach and cream. The spinach comes fresh from the farm in Hoskote.
And my North Indian delights like dried mango and Amla which I have not eaten in years. Bags of the stuff come in and I chomp away in delight. Elaichi rusk, Fat brinjals for pickle, big cauliflowers for hardly anything. Infact it's tough to bring up the bill to 1200 as everything is so cheap.
