A tax practitioner by profession, Revati Akerkar Sanzagiri loves cooking and equates it with meditation. “I love cooking. It’s my meditation,” she exclaims. Developing her art of experimental cooking from her home kitchen and gradually taking it to an international level with her ventures ‘Shivrak by ‘Reva’s Recipes’, Revati now exhibits her recipes and spices at the counters across the globe, in the Gulf, USA, UK and European countries. Back in Goa, her Chaturthi orders are overflowing.
“My latest venture happened last month at a food expo in Thailand when ‘Shivark by Reva’s Recipes’ delivered a consignment there as a part of my business expansion plan. My products were received well and I got good support from Thai people and restaurants. I stayed back after the expo, meeting Thai people and Thai based Indians, restaurateurs and spreading word about my spices among the few Konkani/Goan restaurants there, offering my masala samples. They loved it and one of the prominent Indian coastal restaurant chef visited Goa last week, met me and took my masalas to use in their kitchen, which is huge for me,” says Ravati who is thankful to Cyril D'Souza of World Trade Centre who guided her to go for Import Export Code and register her business as a MSME.
“A Thai company named Thermomix, with their cooking robot, fed Chicken Xacuti recipe to the robot and my Xacuti Masala. That was an honour and an exciting feat. I was really happy about it,” says Revati who has spent 18 years abroad, 16 in Muscat and two in Abu Dhabi before returning to Goa for good in 2015. She went to Muscat in 2001 after her marriage as her husband, Nirmal Sanzagiri, was working there. Muscat was a tax-free country with no personal taxation. She started teaching art and craft to the kids and held her first kids’ summer camp.
She began exhibiting her culinary skills to her Omani, European, American and Egyptian friends who loved her food. "My mother respected Goan, Konkani food and her advice was to make and serve it whenever we invite friends so that our cuisine spreads. We never got trifal, kokum, haldi leaves, ambade etc abroad, so I thought of introducing these abroad, start a market for them and take our recipes to the world. Those were baby steps but today I am reaping the fruits, and got market for my masalas in Canada, UK and Thailand," says Revati. Back then, at an Indian Mela by Maharashtra Mandal Abu Dhabi in 2005 everyone enjoyed her Mumbai style chaat. She even got offers from one of the malls to start a Chaat centre there, but in 2006, the Sanzatiris moved back to Muscat, Oman.
At Muscat, Revati, as an event coordinator for Petroleum Development Oman’s Spouse Association at the International Market Place, generated record breaking collection which was distributed to various charities. Revati offered chaat, wada-pao, dabeli etc. At food fairs she sold sabudana khichadi, upasachi kachori, rice and dal packs, khatkhatem, ambat batat etc to raise funds for charity. People across the world enjoyed these dishes. All this didn’t earn her money, but she gained extreme confidence in her culinary skills. In 2003 she won a cooking competition held by the Times of Oman. The same recipe went for voting for gulf region and Revati got selected in Gulf region as well.
As a special project director with American women's group, she arranged a Christmas Bazaar, Holiday Bazaar and a much loved talk-show ‘Parineeta’ – the complete woman which was 16 adornments of Indian woman. ‘Parineeta’ started in 2011 and 500 plus non-Indian ladies learnt to drape sarees from her. Associated with the Goan community of Oman and Goan Wing Muscat, Revati was also a treasurer with Petroleum Development of Oman's Art Centre for nine years and an instructor of Malaysian Batik and Victorian Deco Art ie Decopoudge and Decopatch. These experiences further broadened her spectrum.
A British Girl Guide Overseas' leader, Revati used to have her own Girl Guide unit with Petroleum Development of Oman's International School, and another unit with British School Muscat. She got long service award of British Girl Guide Overseas. Revati also has a Guinness world record in Crochet as ladies of Indian origin from all over the world participated to make 11148 metres crochet blanket, which was an unbeatable Guinness World Record. Revati was a part of the Goa team.
Revati returned to Goa in 2015 with a dream to start her own GSB masala business and take it to the world. She is achieving it slowly. In Goa she began with ‘Rava’s Art’, conducting art classes from her studio in Ponda, and taught pinch pottery, Malaysian Batik, German Mosaic, Victorian Decopoudge, Decopatch, quilling, flower making and embroidery. Her second studio will be at Arambol. Revati also conducts camps during Diwali, summer and winter vacations.
Her second business venture, ‘Shivrak by Reva's Recipes’ was registered with FSSAI in 2018. As the name ‘Shivrak’ suggests, this food is vegetarian and prepared without using onion and garlic,” claims Revati whose USP is traditional heritage food, Gaud Saraswat Brahmin (GSB) cuisine as well as authentic Goan food, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian and Maharastrian Brahmani food. I offer khatkhatem, patolyo, ukadiche and khavyache modak, panchamrut, ambadyachi uddamethi, amboli, chatuney, surnoli, tonak etc. My masalas and homemade pickles (sovalachye) are in great demand. The other food is in demand all the year round,” she claims.
Revati has done Thai Chef Course in Dubai. She learnt Middle Eastern cooking, and North Indian recipes like chole, rajma, daal tadka, wada-pao, chaat, vada-kombdi (Malvani style) etc. Presently supplying from Ponda, she plans to expand delivering food to North and South Goa. Her clients are also increasing and now she is tapping international markets. She got good response in Canada market selling masalas through a friend. Her son Nishad lives in UK and helps her to market her products there. She started these visits after covid-19. Prior to that, Revati had visited New Zealand in 2015 and Seychelles and Mauritius in 2016. “People welcomed my idea of masalas, but these countries are having lot of restrictions. I am still working on licensing in these countries and hope to work with the Goan community there,” she asserts.
One thing unfolds another. Revati participated in the Heritage Festival organised by Pritha Keni and introduced her ‘Shivrak’ creations there. She also participated at Panaji Carnival through Fierce kitchen. People loved her masalas as a souvenir. Some were really happy that they got something without onion garlic vegetarian food to eat in Goa during Carnival. And that clicked an idea. Revati started her heritage Goan/Konkani/Mumbaikari masalas as a souvenir packing.
“Food is Annapurna Devi to me. It's Purna Brahma. I worship food. Never compromising on the quality, I buy spices from abroad too. My saffron comes from Iran, cardamom from Kerala and Guatemala, clove from Sri Lanka or Madagascar. I buy from specific shops in Muscat. My pepper, nutmeg, jaipatri, cinnamon, bay leaves are from Goa while jeera, fennel and corriander seeds from India,” shares Revati, who provided free meals to patients during the covid pandemic as giving back to society.
