About Us

I co-founded our boutique family-owned business with my husband, Glenn. We are proud member of the Women's Business Enterprise (WBE) based in the North Hills, near Pittsburgh, PA. We met and fell in love while working in medical diagnostic field. Wanting to embark on a dream of mine, we began our journey mixing spices for our favorite dishes. We tested our recipes on each other, our little one, and even our neighbors. After much cooking and fine-tuning, we decided to present our spice-mixes and recipes for your enjoyment!

Glenn and Priya

INCEPTION OF ANAR GOURMET FOODS

my sweet mom and dad

Most of us remember favorite dishes from our childhood. My favorite memories are those of my mom’s cooking when we lived in India. I would wake up in the morning to smell the hearty, comforting aromas of my mom cooking us chickpeas or potato curry with rotis for our lunchboxes. Weekends of special goat curry or tamarind-flavored fish curries still evoke memories of family fun around the table. On special occasions such as birthdays and holidays, we would wait hungrily for that extra delicious chicken curry and coconut rice made lovingly by both mom and dad.

mom and grandparents Anyone who has ever tasted my mom's food raves about it. She has generously given me the secret and not-so secret ingredients and tips for her recipes. In addition, my loving grandma gave me our family recipe for the famed HOT South Indian Curry Powder. Each family has their own secret recipe for curry powders where my grandma comes from. I know ours is extra special as it tastes so good. One taste of a dish from the spice-mix, and I know you’ll agree with me.

Many of my friends say they enjoy Indian food but think it’s too hard to make at home. Anar Gourmet Foods’ spice-mixes does the hard part for you. We blend the spices for you, and then give you step-by-step instructions as to how to make the dish with the spice-mixes. The complexity of Indian food is made easy, and you get to make and eat many of these addictive dishes. Anar Gourmet foods also presents some fusion spice-mixes. Notable is the beef and mushroom spice-mix, a favorite with my husband Glenn, who loves beef.

Come, enjoy cooking with our spice-mixes! Come, savor the spicy rich flavors of life itself! I hope you enjoy the fulfilling experience of easily preparing delicious Indian cuisine with Anar Gourmet Foods spice-mixes. Enjoy the wishes of abundance and prosperity associated with the symbol of the anar, the pomegranate.

Anar in Hindi (one of India’s many languages) means Pomegranate. Pomegranates have been symbols of prosperity, abundance, fertility, and even immortality, across centuries in Roman, Greek, Middle-Eastern, Central Asian and South Asian cultures.

Anardana, or the dried seeds of pomegranates, are often used as a tangy and flavorful spice in Iranian cooking, Central Asian and South Asian cooking.

By making this wonderful fruit the symbol of our spice mixes, we hope to convey our wishes for abundance and prosperity in your lives. Try our delicious gourmet spices-mixes and the easy-to-make recipes that come with them. The 13^th century Persian poet Rumi says:

Come to the orchard in Spring.

There is light and wine, and sweethearts

in the pomegranate flowers.

If you do not come, these do not matter.

If you do come, these do not matter.

― Jalaluddin Rumi

I hope you enjoy life, love, and delicious gourmet Indian food as much as I do .

- Priya, Co-Founder of Anar Gourmet Foods

Pittsburgh, PA

Wow. This was amazing!

I bought a few items at the Pittsburgh Home Show and finally used made this.. It was truly.superb. Better than any restaurant! Can't wait to try more. (and it looks exactly like the picture)

Hi Elizabeth,

Thank you for your AWESOME review! I'm SO delighted that you loved my Grandma's Spicy Chicken Curry seasoning kit and that it met your expectations. I will let my mom know that you loved her recipe. I'm sure she will be thrilled. Thank you SO much! Cheers Priya

Wow! So Tasty!

What a fantastic way to bring Indian Cuisine into my home. Priya, your Tikka Masala Seasoning packets leave me speechless! Thank you so much for taking the step to open this business offering these amazing tastes into everyone's home. Kept me going back for 2nd and 3rd helpings! Very dangerous for singles households. Once my four kits are all gone, I will absolutely be ordering four more! Thanks 10 times more! - Fred

Dear Frederick,
I absolutely loved your review. My family got a good chuckle out of it because we could relate to going back for 2nds and 3rd helpings of chicken tikka masala. I am so glad our seasonings brought you joy with this dish. Thank YOU for your awesome review. Cheers Priya

A fabulous dish!

I saw Priya profiled in a newspaper article and decided to try her recipe. It was wonderful - scrumptious flavors and very easy to follow. It makes a lot of sauce that can be used with other proteins and veggies - a dish that keeps on giving! So glad I gave it a try.

Hi Victoria,
I am absolutely thrilled that you loved my chicken tikka masala seasonings, recipe and tips to maximize the dish. Thank you SO much for your detailed and thoughtful review. We celebrated with a happy dance. Cheers Priya

Husband loved it!

I was taken by your ad that said I could adjust the spice level. I bought the Chicken Tikka Masala and the Butter Chicken mixes. I made the Tikka Masala for my husband, who cannot tolerate much heat, and made it without adding any jalapeño. He LOVED it. After dinner he came in and asked for a small bowl of rice with the sauce on it. He asked me to order more immediately! Thank you for making this spice mix so easily adaptable for people like my husband, who can’t enjoy spicy hot foods, but love the flavors of this dish. I think we are about to be regular customers! (PS—I enjoyed it as well!)

Hi Evelyn,
Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful review. Oh my gosh!! I’m absolutely thrilled that your husband enjoyed the chicken tikka masala and that you did too.
It takes me 3-4 months to perfect a recipe and customize the spicy heat. So it’s fulfilling to know that I was able to help you make Indian food that you both loved.

Thank you for sharing your experience. It means a lot to me and my business.

Wonderful company!!

I read about this company in my local paper and was super excited to order some of the spice kits for my daughter’s birthday. She LOVES Indian food and makes it occasionally, but because the spice preparation can be daunting and ordering spices online can result in pounds of something you may not use in your lifetime, my daughter did not make her own very often. What a brilliant idea to sell spice packets for those of us who don’t want to buy a ton of exotic spices but want to cook our own Indian food! Oh - and the gift decoration was gorgeous. Very personal service. Highly recommend!

Hi Barbara,
Thank you SO much for your thoughtful and AWESOME review ! The reason I started this company was to make it easier to cook Indian food. I'm thrilled in particular that you are enjoying our unique home cooking in your home. I'm so glad you, your daughter and family loved our gift decorations. It truly was made with love from our family to yours. :-). Thanks again. Wishing you all the best. Cheers ~ Priya

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