Do you enjoy cooking up delicious meals from scratch? Then you’ll love Harpenden Sustainability Market newcomer Aunty Satya. They’ll be back with their Durban-style home-ground curry masala made from a traditional family recipe on Sunday the 20th of September.
Based just down the road in St Albans, Aunty Satya is run by Tanuja, who came to the UK from South Africa in the early 1990s. And the inspiration behind the brand? Aunty Satya herself, Tanuja’s much-loved, feisty, risk-taking aunt. Passionate about cooking healthy food from fresh, she was a regular fixture at Bhaktivedanta Manor, the local Hare Krishna Temple in Watford, where she regularly cooked for large festivals for 800 people.
When Satya sadly passed away two years ago, Tanjua decided to take the leap and set the business: ‘I thought, okay, maybe I can follow in her footsteps just a little bit. It felt like a lovely small way to honour her memory and to bring what she created to other people.’
South African Masala
While the business is young, the story behind it is not. The masala blend is based on a recipe created by Tanjua’s parents, which she now makes from home. After settling in the UK, Satya and Tanuja would stock up on the delicious masala every time they visited relatives. ‘This type of masala is very unique to South Africa,’ says Tanuja. She sells three types of spice blend – mild blend masala, medium blend masala and garam masala filled with aromatic spices including fenugreek and cloves.
The garam masala contains 6 spices and the blends contain 12. Tanjua buys the whole spices, roasts them and grinds them. She makes small batches, and any leftover powder is used at home, so it never goes to waste. Unlike many cheap masalas you can buy in supermarkets, there are no bulking agents such as flour or cheaper spices. With Aunty Satya, you get top quality ingredients.
Quick, easy and delicious meals
So how do you use the masala? Tanjua suggests you start by braising onions and garlic. Then add vegetables and meat, before sprinkling in the masala. Pour in some tomatoes, cook it, and it’s ready – a quick, easy and healthy meal. With Aunty Satya’s blends, there’s no buying each spice individually and weighing them out.
And for something different, why not sprinkle it on soup or cheese on toast? Follow Aunty Satya’s Instagram page where Tanuja shows how she’s using the masala for vegetarian and vegan dishes – her kitchen is strictly vegan.
Compostable packaging
Aunty Satya is switching packaging to compostable bags, even though they’re twice the price. Tanuja says, ‘in an ideal world, there would be no new plastic production. It’s more expensive to use recycled plastic than virgin plastic, which is mad — you’d think it would be the other way around. It’s the farmers and the producers being penalised, while the large stores are the ones with the power to actually change things.’
And Tanuja’s top eco tips? ‘Cook from fresh, rather than buying jarred sauces or pre-packaged spice kits. Eat more vegetables to bulk out meals. If children grow up seeing their parents cook good, healthy meals and eating well, that makes a big difference.’ Aunty Satya encourages people to follow a vegetarian or vegan diet for the health of the planet and their own bodies.
If you can’t make the next market, you can visit Aunty Satya’s website, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram. Join us at the next Sustainability Market on Sunday the 20th of September to discover Aunty Satya and other local eco and food stalls that promote a more sustainable lifestyle. Visit our markets page for the full schedule of dates.Discover more stallholders here.