091 Anar Gourmet Foods

Craving Indian cooking without the sprawling spice cabinet or the burn? We sit down with Priya and Glenn of Anar Gourmet Foods to unpack how they took a grandmother’s eight-hour curry powder and built it into clear, reliable seasoning kits you can cook on a Tuesday night. Think authentic South Indian flavor, simplified steps, and heat you control—not bland shortcuts.

Then we head across town for a sweet curveball. Ana Anthony introduces Leona’s “crisp witch,” an ice cream sandwich built with plush rice krispie treats around flavors like vanilla, chocolate, and bright plum at their new Garfield shop—lactose-free, gluten-friendly, and best eaten fresh. 

Later we close with pure nostalgia as Chris Beers of Grandpa Joe’s shares his grandmother’s meat pies, a steam-and-broth ritual that proves food memories travel far.

If this episode sparks your appetite, tap follow, share it with a friend who needs a weeknight win, and leave a quick review—your support helps more Pittsburgh food lovers find the show.

Transcript

Meet Priya And Glenn

Priya 0:00

Welcome to The Pittsburgh Dish. I'm your host, Doug Heilman. How do you lower the complexity and maybe a little bit of the heat to make Indian cooking more accessible at home? Priya and Glenn of Anar Gourmet Foods tells us how. What's a crisp witch? And where can you get one? Ana Anthony explains. And have you ever encountered a recipe for meat pies? Chris Beers of Grandpa Joe's candy shop shares a nostalgic dish. All that ahead, stay tuned. The Pittsburgh dish is supported by Chef Alekka. If you're looking to improve your own cooking skills or host a special in-home experience, Chef Alekka has you covered. Visit her website at chefalekka.com to learn more. Now, on to the show.

Doug 0:58

Thank you both so much for coming over and for being on the show. Would you introduce yourselves and what you have going on in the world of food?

Priya 1:09

And Priya, we let's start with you. Doug, thank you first of all for having us. We are so thrilled to meet you and to be in your space. It's absolutely beautiful. Oh, thank you. So I'm Priya. I'm the founder of Anar Gourmet Foods. And uh we have been doing this for quite some time now, about almost 10 years, in the Pittsburgh area. Okay. So we craft all natural gluten-free Indian seasoning kits for authentic infusion food, meaning that some of them are authentic recipes passed down from my mom and some that I have created in our kitchen with courtesy with uh help of my husband's palate.

Doug 1:49

All right, and that's Glenn. And Glenn, how about you? And and what role do you play in the food business here?

Glenn 1:55

Yes, hi Doug. Thanks for having us. It's it's really a pleasure being here. So I consider myself uh the chief assistant to the CEO and founder of Anar Gourmet Foods. That's probably the right position to be. I have experience in operations. So we try to operationalize our business as much as we can. Even though we're very small, there's still challenges, supply chain, and manufacturing, and packaging, and shipping, and all that good stuff. So that's really where I help out. And I also deliver pickup. I do want to ask, are you also like a chief taste tester? Yes, I do. Of course. Yes, yes. Yeah. You know, that's interesting. The way that we develop our products is um it's similar to what we've done in the medical diagnostics field. We both have experience there. Where you know, you you come up with, if you're developing an assay, you come up with reagents and you you know you have an objective, you put them together and you see if it works. And after a while, you think you've optimized the combination of reagents to achieve your objective. Just like a recipe, you put together the the spices, the ingredients, and you you cook it and you taste it. Well, we've done that, uh, and but in addition to that, we take it to the field. We do clinical trials, quote unquote. Well, we have defined cohorts where we give them uh examples of our proposed spices, they cook them, they give us feedback, standardized feedback. So over time, we've developed this process of developing new new spice mixing.

Doug 3:23

My goodness. I love that you took that existing uh knowledge and just the practicum of it all and just transferred that over to this adventure. Yes. Yeah. How wonderful. I've never experienced someone saying that. And I think I need to probably test my recipes with cohorts more.

Priya 3:42

And I love the way Glenn articulated this because I can't articulate it like that, but it's from the heart. So basically, it's my mom's recipes that I take, but it takes me three or four months to perfect each recipe. That's because I love what she had made, but it's too hot for the American palate.

Doug 4:02

Yes.

Priya 4:02

So when you temper down the hot curry powder, which is by the way is our secret sauce, it's passed down from my grandmother. Uh uh. And she my mom did a lot of phone calls to India, got the recipe, and then we had to figure out how to sort of tailor it to our taste. Right. But it's that authentic recipe which takes about eight hours to make a small batch. And then we use a little bit of that, little bit of that magic in all our seasoning packets along with other ingredients.

Doug 4:30

Yes. Uh, you've given me sort of a thought. I I would love to talk about for our listeners, yeah, for those that haven't experienced your products yet, what what is the product line? And what are some of the, I don't know, the top sellers or the big hits?

Priya 4:46

So these are Indian seasoning kits, but they're adjusted for the American palette. Courtesy of my husband's and our neighborhood um cohort. So basically what you do is you take authentic taste, but then it takes three to four months to customize it. Because when you bring down, temper down the heat of the curry powder, everything else gets out of balance. So that has to be adjusted. And I like to get it to the level where 99% of the people who love try it love it. Love it. Yeah. So that takes a little bit of time, and then we give it out to our neighbors and ask them. And one of them actually is very, very exact, likes wine. She we created a wine list almost like for the for her. Oh, wow. So does it taste good? What's the texture? What's the you know, uh taste? Uh what are the notes? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Is it too spicy? And then based on that, I get feedback and then I keep cooking. And until my husband here says, that's it. I can't eat any more of it. Then I said, That's it. Luck in that recipe. Oh yes.

Doug 5:51

So if I go to the website right now, how many different uh season packets are there?

Priya 5:56

So we've created 13 seasoning blends. In this, yes. And then we have uh the hot curry powder, which is on its own.

Doug 6:04

On its own. So I could then adjust heat level if I am really into spice.

Priya 6:08

Yes. Okay.

Doug 6:09

Yes.

Priya 6:09

The way I adjust it is depending on how much jalapeno you add, you can ratchet up or temper it down.

Doug 6:16

Okay. Yeah. And you do more than just, you know, sell folks these packets. I've noticed on your website. There really are some specific traditional recipes, South Indian recipes. So folks are not completely on their own to just buy this packet and figure it out or go find a recipe. Yeah. You've provided almost a full experience for them at home, right?

Priya 6:36

That's right. Because each packet has a recipe on the back. And I have this wonderful designer. He and I can obsess about the recipe and the words saute versus fried. You marinated versus marinate for hours. But he has the patience because we want to make it so clear that literally a 10-year-old can make it. And I say that because I have given virtual cooking classes to 10-year-olds and they've made it. Yes. So it's so simple, you just can't mess up. And that's a little bit interesting for Indian cooking because it's so nuanced. It's all about the amount of spices, the timing, and the layering effect, and to get that right and get that taste where it's not sort of tempered down. Because sometimes a restaurant's temper it down. It's great, but it's tempered down. But until you taste that authentic taste, but not so hot that you're like, I don't like it. That's where we want to get the people so they can appreciate it.

Doug 7:34

Well, I think what else you're doing is you're lowering the barrier to entry for cooking authentic Indian food at home. Because, as you said, you've blended and perfected many, many spices into one packet at the right level. And I think that's why I probably haven't attempted enough Indian cooking at home. I'd rather go to a restaurant because I just don't know where to start, or maybe even cost prohibitive. I don't want to buy one jar of one thing for one recipe that I may never use again.

Priya 8:03

Yes. You hit the nail on the head, actually, because there are two main barriers to cooking Indian food at home. People think it's too expensive, like you said, because you end up with 25 ingredients pushed in the back of your pantry because you worked on it for four hours and you're like, that's it. I can't do it anymore. The second thing is people think curry and they think it's too hot, which it doesn't have to be at all. And that's where my husband's palette is perfect because he can say, tell whether it's too hot or not. And then you adjust the heat so people can figure it out, or at least have the opportunity to do that at home with the spice packet in the recipe.

Doug 8:39

Yes. And and so uh let me ask, Glenn, is there a recipe or a spice packet that you guys have developed? You're like, this is probably one of my favorites, or you had more of your palate influence over one of those?

Glenn 8:51

Yes, exactly. Um, our spicy beef curry was developed, um, I think specifically with me in mind. Yes. So it's it's beef, marinated beef. Yeah, and it's spicy, but not too spicy. Yeah. And you know, the secret there, what I like to do is serve it over egg noodles as opposed to rice, and it really comes out nice. You're giving me sort of a stroganoff vibe here.

Doug 9:15

It's like stroganoff, only a little bit, a little bit sharper, a little bit more spicy. Very nice. And it's it is diverging from tradition in that it's noodles, and we don't see beef as much. I mean, we're seeing usually uh some vegetarian dishes or chicken, uh seafood, right? And so this is probably also uh a great option for folks that are trying to expand their palate, maybe go vegetarian at home, but still have a ton of flavor.

Priya 9:40

Yeah. So that's an interesting comment that you made because most people think Indian and they think vegetarian. When I go to places and they think instantly vegetarian, I'm actually a meditarian. Yes.

Doug 9:51

So I'm an omnitarian too. So dispel that myth if I'm saying the wrong thing, right? Like it's not always vegetarian for word, right?

Priya 9:59

From what my research, and you know, people can correct me, but I found that 40% of Indian population is vegetarian. Okay. The rest are, you know, they're eating meat.

Doug 10:10

Meat. Yeah.

Priya 10:11

Yeah. So most of our top sellers and most of our customers buy meat products. Okay. I would say like 90 to 95% are top sellers on meat products. That's what they get. It was a bit shocking to me when we started looking at that.

Doug 10:28

What you're saying is the spice blends or spice packets that are intended for meat dishes sell more. Yes. Probably because of our Americanized palate, that we just have to have some kind of meat at the meal. But uh, you do have vegetarian options.

Priya 10:42

Oh, yeah, absolutely. And we also translated some of the recipes. Like my mom um we used to eat lamb in India, goaten lamb. Yes. Not many people eat that here. So that's where we translate it into beef with my husband's, you know, input that more people eat beef here.

Doug 10:58

Yes.

Priya 10:59

So we have a spicy beef curry and one that's a lot milder, and it's our ground beef. That's our number two seller, actually. And that's more mild, it's more, I would say fusion flavored. I mean, it's still got that curry powder in it, but it's not so hot and strong that people are overwhelmed by it.

Doug 11:17

If I am a truly a beginner cook, like you mentioned, a 10-year-old could make this. Yes. Is there a particular dish or two that you would point them to as a starter recipe?

Priya 11:28

Absolutely. I would say we are chicken tikki masala. Okay. Super simple to make. The only things you cut is the chicken, a jalapeno, and uh garlic.

unknown 11:37

Okay.

Priya 11:38

And the rest are all literally like canned stuff. Really simple to make. The other one is our ground beef, which it elevates the flavor of ground beef and gives you that newfound appreciation for like a common ingredient.

Speaker 5 11:50

Yes.

Priya 11:51

And that's the other thing I do with my dishes. I want to make sure that whatever ingredients I use, people can get from the local grocery store. So you don't have to run to the Indian store and get the Asian peppers. So I try to make it super simple, sort of like an intro to cooking. Yes. And our goal, too, also was just like our multicultural family, like Glenn's from Chicago, I'm from India, our son Rana is um obviously a mix of both of us. So I like to look at it as a way to help people understand a different culture. And a great way to do that is through food. Always.

Origin Story of Anar

Doug 12:26

I couldn't agree more. You have kind of sparked my brain to go in this direction. Um, I would love to know how the business got started. So you said it's been going for about 10 years, but you both worked in in the medical field. So give us a little bit of the origin decision to do this.

Priya 12:46

Well, my mom is my inspiration for my cooking, cooked heavenly food. And like literally decades later, people would talk about how great her food was. So the secret sauce, our curry powder, was what was the essence of it. But people would say, I told mom, why don't you like start a restaurant or you know, we'll sell the curry powder? But people said, Well, we don't know what to do with the curry powder, and that's how it started that process of giving specific recipes. Um, it also started when we were in Indiana and I was doing marketing for a big uh medical diagnostic company. I'd come home and cook my heart out, and it was just so much more fulfilling and relaxing. And that's when the idea came of like, let's use these specific recipes and sell them at a farmer's market. Um, so we were doing that on the weekends while I was working 16 hours a day full-time for the other job. And my husband was consulting then, so he was a big supporter of even understanding how to even manufacture this, like at scale. Yes. Uh, a small scale, but at scale. And so he would go to the farmers markets and he would set up the tent, and then we would our son was about four years old, so I'd bring him with the wagon a little bit later on so not to wake a sleeping baby. And then he would we would, we would just sell and it we saw there were legs to it. People really appreciated it. I think both of us want to make a difference in the world in some way, even if it's for one person. I think that spreading the joy of our home recipes and seeing that it's making it easy for them and it's enjoyable to them really is so fulfilling.

Doug 14:21

Uh what I love too, though, is you're also carrying on your family's flavors and traditions and recipes. And so many, I I know so many moms and grandmas out there don't give their recipes out sometimes. So, what was that like to translate mom or grandma's recipe into something that's now this industrially standardized product?

Priya 14:43

Um, it was a very interesting experience because when I first started this process, I would ask my mom for the recipes and she would say, Oh, put a handful of curry powder and a little bit of salt. And it's literally, I took a spoon, a tablespoon, a measuring spoon and measured her hand out. Oh my gosh. Figure out the recipes. Later on, she got really good at giving me the way I would like. But she would say, Oh, just put a pinch of this or put a punta that or a handful of cilantro. Well, what exactly is that?

Doug 15:14

Yeah, like is it a quarter teaspoon? Is it a half a cup? Oh my gosh. So that's where you started.

Priya 15:19

Yeah. So standardizing that was that's part of the process that takes three or four months to figure out, well, what is it? Because you don't know which spice is throwing it out of balance out of like 10, 15 ingredients. But my mom was so patient and she would just walk through the recipe and then like really think through it, what would work. And then you also think you have to think through what works for the American palate.

Speaker 5 15:44

Yeah.

Priya 15:44

Yeah. So it's it's not sort of one and done. It's a process and it's a labor of love. And my mom, I'm just so grateful to her because she so willingly shared it. And that's what I want to do. I want to share it too, like the joy that brings our family when we eat and make it quick and easy, not a four-hour process, sharing that with others because things like this aren't meant to be in your own home. You gotta share it with the world and bring joy.

Doug 16:09

And she truly was your collaborator in all of this.

Priya 16:12

Yes.

Doug 16:13

Thank you for sharing that.

Glenn 16:15

Hi, this is Glenn.

Priya 16:16

And Priya from Anar Gourmet Foods. And you're listening to The Pittsburgh Dish.

Doug 16:23

I'd love to know a little bit more about I don't know, some of the behind the scenes, like there are a multitude of spices you're getting. Like, like how do you find those and source those? And then do you have a copacker now that blends that for you? Like, what's it all look like?

Glenn 16:39

Yeah. No, we don't have a co-packer now. We did, but we don't. Now we have our own licensed facility. Okay. So we actually do it ourselves. You're doing it yourselves. Do it ourselves. And we source our spices from a couple of different suppliers. Uh it's really a two-man show, and sometimes our son helps us. Okay. And we blend and we fill and we ship. You're really doing it all. Oh, we do. Yeah. Goodness. We would like to get to the point where we can't do it all. Right. We have to buy Eagle Packer. Yeah. Um that would be fantastic. And you know, and we're we're on the cusp. So because we have a good retail business now. We've got uh direct to consumer and we've got um other online sources. Uh beyond the website, where can folks find your spices?

Priya 17:23

Sure. We are in uh market districts. Okay. Some giant eagles in the local area and in fresh times in the local area. We're also on our website, on Amazon, Walmart, and we just launched into US wellness meets, and they are I think they're based in Missouri. Yeah, they're based in Missouri, yeah. And uh so we are just doing sort of a collab co-marketing as of this week. Okay.

Doug 17:49

Yeah. I I also was wondering when you were saying, you know, you you're doing all of your own things, you're in a unique spot that you have a product that doesn't, that's pretty shelf stable, right? Oh yes. So like, you know, if someone buys a packet, you know, how long is that good for Best Buy? I mean, are you talking like a couple months or a year?

Priya 18:07

See, this was interesting. We just did a taste test last night. What we do is uh we have some packets and when we kind of validate it over time. And uh we found the sweet spot was about 18 months. But last night I pulled out a packet that was sitting around uh for like literally two years and we cooked with it and it came out fantastic. Fantastic. Okay. Yeah. So we tried to make sure that whatever the customer is getting is the best possible experience can have. Of course.

Doug 18:32

I think I was just thinking in the background, like you're doing it all yourselves, and it's not like a perishable, which is pretty good, or it has a pretty good shelf stable life. So that's sort of an advantage to your proposal. Yeah, yeah.

Priya 18:44

Yeah. And I've heard people take out a packet after three, four years, and I'm like, oh my goodness, I haven't tested that, but if you love it, that's great.

Doug 18:51

Well, I think my my mom might have spices in her cupboard from my, I don't know, elementary school days. Yeah. Yeah. And they still get used at the holidays.

Priya 19:02

The other thing I wanted to add when we were talking about, you know, a couple of sources where we get our spices, what we do is when we switch to we actually get most of them from locally here in Pittsburgh too.

Speaker 5 19:12

Yeah.

Priya 19:12

Uh we go there, we look at their facility, we also validate the spices according to our recipe and see what the taste is like. So we just want to make sure that the spices that we get, because sometimes different spice blends give different flavors. So we try to make sure that it's very true to what we want and don't deviate from it. So there are some specific places we get the spices and that exact set of brand that we don't deviate from. So that's part of the sauce. So people can absolutely make Indian food with recipes, but depending on the spices they use, it does give a different taste. It could turn out differently. Yes. And even the curry powders, there's so many different variations of it. And ours are it's just uh made in such a way that you cannot replicate the taste. I know that because it's unique even to my grandmother's home from the village that she's from.

Doug 20:05

Well, I want to talk about that a little bit more, but before we move on, I had one final question around the business, and that's the name. Yes. Anar. Where does that come from? Or enlighten us a little bit more on that.

Priya 20:16

So Anar has a very special meaning for us. Anar is the reverse of our son's name Rana. Oh. Rana means prince in Hindi. Uh uh, he actually found out, I think in Urdu, he says it's king. We're like, well, not yet yet. Not yet. He's still a teenager, right? So um, and rana reversed is the word anar, which in the Hindi language means pomegranate.

Speaker 5 20:42

Okay.

Priya 20:42

And pomegranate is the symbol of prosperity and abundance and immortality and good things. So it's sort of sending out that good wishes for law all into the universe. And um, the way I like to think about our company is it's sort of the best of both worlds because we have the western and the eastern influences, and like our son, we like to think that it evokes the best qualities in us.

Doug 21:07

It's a nice flint. I love that as a guiding star to all these things.

Priya 21:11

Yeah. And there's a little bit of a background to that because when I came to this country like decades ago, I wanted to be so American because I was a teenager and I just, you know, was very uncomfortable in my skin. And then I the pendulum swung where it's like I became more Americanized than Indian. But now I'm comfortable that it's sort of the best of both worlds. Yes.

Doug 21:36

Yeah. Yeah.

Priya 21:36

So I'm comfortable in my skin.

Doug 21:38

And you don't want to hide it. Yeah. Our uniqueness is what makes all the things in the world special.

Priya 21:43

Absolutely.

Doug 21:44

Yeah. Well, you've you've mentioned it a few times, so I'd love to shift gears and talk about your early backgrounds and how this food journey has happened. First off, how long have you been in the Pittsburgh area? You mentioned you grew up in different places. We moved here in uh

Glenn 22:00

2015 and that's when we transferred the business here. Okay. So we've been here almost eleven years. All right.

Priya 22:07

Welcome. We moved here for my husband's job, and that's when my husband was so supportive and just said, because this is what I've been wanting to do, and he said, just go full time. And I did because if I don't do this, I'd never know.

Doug 22:19

Right. You have to go for it. Yes. And Glenn, did I hear earlier you grew up in the Chicago area?

Glenn 22:26

Chicago, in the city on the west side. Yeah. And uh went to college in Florida, got a job with a major company, spent some time in Europe. So I've had a uh a pretty varied career. Very you know, very enjoyable. And fortunately, I met uh Priya and uh the rest is history. Very happy that we have um a nice family and a nice little business going.

Doug 22:48

Priya, where did you all meet? Where did you and Glenn meet?

Priya 22:51

Oh, we met in the Massachusetts area. Okay. Yeah, because this have been all over.

Speaker 5 22:55

All over.

Priya 22:56

Yeah, when I first came from India, we got into Massachusetts, and uh I got into I have a BS in biology, MBA in marketing. So I was doing marketing for a company uh there, and the I think it was two weeks before I joined the company, he had joined it, and he was like at the executive level, and here I was sort of mid-level marketing, and we met in a boardroom.

Doug 23:19

Oh, but you were both fresh to that company.

Glenn 23:21

Right. We were both fresh to that company. I was there all of two weeks, but I was asked to host an onboarding meeting for newer employees. Interesting. And that's where we met for the first time. And I was I was smitten from the moment literally from the moment I laid my eyes on. That's the right answer.

Doug 23:40

Priya, how old were you when you came to the States?

Priya 23:43

I was 15 years old. Okay.

Doug 23:45

Yeah. And so you had a lot of formative years back in India. What part of India did you uh did your family hail from?

Priya 23:53

Well, I had a very interesting background in India because my father was uh the principal of boarding schools, Seventh-day Adventist boarding schools.

Speaker 5 24:01

Okay.

Priya 24:01

So um, very unusual for you know having a different religious background. Yes. And then he also was a pastor. So we moved around from schools.

Speaker 5 24:13

I see.

Priya 24:14

And then the last five years we were in the New Delhi area.

Speaker 5 24:17

Okay.

Priya 24:18

So my parents are from South India, uh, from a state called Andhra Pradesh. Okay. But uh I never really stayed there. We would just go on vacations and visit our cousins. But I so I'd like to think it's more New Delhi, because that's what I remember. We moved probably in those 15 years, like eight states. Or actually, I'm sorry, about four states, but different places. It was quite quite a lot of changes.

Doug 24:40

With all of that moving around, did you find, I mean, just like in the American states, the food culture or the tastes and flavors, did they vary quite a bit?

Priya 24:49

Um, you know, I don't recall too much of that. The answer, short answer is yes. They're absolutely very different, state to state, even home to home.

Doug 24:57

Yes.

Priya 24:58

My parent my mom cooked more of the South Indian food.

Doug 25:00

So she had everything- She just kept bringing it with you.

Priya 25:02

That's it. That's it. Their repertoire of dishes was different. Uh, interestingly enough, like in the Seventh day Adventist religion, you're not supposed to drink tea or coffee or eat meat, which we did.

Doug 25:14

Oh, yeah. I mean, seven-day adventists, usually vegetarians. Yes, right?

Priya 25:17

Yes, yes, yes. So um, I think they now it's more allowed. Yeah, more relaxed. But my mom brought her food, like all her favorite recipes and stuff like that, throughout wherever we went. Um, but they did change ingredients and flavors as time went on. And even here, like in the last few years that they were in the area, you could tell that the tastes were slow sort of changing.

Doug 25:42

Yeah. What about food life for you in terms of cooking? Yeah. Uh when did you start cooking?

Speaker 1 25:48

I started actually cooking more so in my like late 20s. Okay.

Priya 25:52

When I moved out of my parents' home and had my own place, and I was, you know, I just literally stopped eating because I didn't have the flavors that I liked.

Speaker 1 26:00

Right. So it was more of a survival instinct, like, oh my gosh, I can't keep running to my parents' house. I gotta cook. I can't imagine. Yeah. Like a culture shock almost. Like, what do I do? Because she cooked fabulous food all the time, and there was so much of it all the time.

Priya 26:16

And no matter what, the food was always good. Even when we came to this country, um, it was a jarring experience because you know, you have a little bit of that American experience where you're very well off in India, and then you came here and you didn't have much at all. But the one thing we had was good food.

Doug 26:34

Yeah. Always. What curries, roti, like like what are some of the dishes that she's just like, Mom, I need that. Like this is the ultimate comfort dish.

Priya 26:42

The ultimate comfort dish is her chicken curry, which I have packaged. It's called Grandma's Spicy Chicken Curry. Oh. And uh coconut rice, which we had last night.

Doug 26:51

And it was delicious. Sounds so good. We're a little before lunch, but I could go for that. Glenn, I I imagine your growing up food world was a little different.

Glenn 27:00

Not the same kind of flavors. No, no. Typical Chicago flavor. Pizza, hot dogs, uh, Italian beef, but um very adaptable. Uh gotta eat, uh, good food. And now um I'm into it. I'm I'm really into the diversity, the blending of cultures, as as Priya mentioned. And and now, believe it or not, I enjoy cooking. And I'll take the reins whenever I have to or can.

Doug 27:25

Was that later in life you weren't really cooking in your earlier years?

Glenn 27:29

No, I wasn't really cooking. I really didn't pay much attention to it. I I'd go to the barbecue once in a while and feel a steak, but uh but recently, I mean really within the past several years, I kind of like it. And I kind of, you know, I'm doing more of it.

Doug 27:41

Well, Priya, you mentioned too, like I love cooking as a stress relief and it puts my mind in a totally different place from the other things of the day, too. So I I find when I'm not it's when it's not high pressure, yes, you know, it's it's fun to do. Yeah. Well, thank you guys so much for sharing some of your background. So I I'd love to move us forward a little bit. The business has been going for keep me on, she said over 10. Almost 11 years. 11 years now. You're in multiple grocery store markets as well as managing your own website. Are there any new thoughts or goals or or events coming up for you in the in the coming months or year?

Priya 28:23

Absolutely. Actually, we are going to be at the home and garden show. Oh, congratulations. Thank you. So, yeah, we're gonna be there. And um, I realized we can't do it all. Just a few weeks ago, I had this epiphany that I am the bottleneck. Because you can't do it all, and there's only so many hours in a day. Um, so I think the best path forward is really to look for influencers and creators who can help spread the word. Yes. Um, that in this digital age is so important to to amplify your voice. Right.

Doug 29:00

So And people want to help you. Yeah. I'm gonna say, I mean, that's part of what I love doing on this show and meeting people is I want folks to know you because I think what you're doing is unique, special. You both have said it, you know, just showing this culture and making it an easier way to do that for folks. So I'm wishing you all the best.

Priya 29:20

Oh, thank you. We really appreciate coming on your show and talking to you in such a comfortable environment.

Doug 29:26

Oh, thank you. Are there any new flavors or products in the works? Uh are you testing anything right now?

Glenn 29:35

Yeah, you know, there's one uh product line that we actually manufactured a couple of runs and it was very successful, but it's difficult. And it's difficult because it's a ready-to-eat frozen entree. Oh, yes. And so we need uh specialized manufacturing. Of course. And uh and we did have uh a small arrangement in place, but we can't we we can't scale. Not sustainable. Yeah, it's not sustainable. So that's something that's waiting in the wings. Yeah. And also, um, we've been working on chicken corma lately. Yeah, yeah. Chicken corma, yeah. That'll be a new recipe coming. Yeah. That sounds delicious.

Speaker 1 30:11

Oh, it's good.

Doug 30:12

All right. Well, I love all of it, and um, it's just been so wonderful to talk about this journey and all of your products and experience. Why don't we do this for listeners? If we've piqued their interest and they want to find you and follow you and maybe order some spices from you. Yeah. Uh, can we remind them of your website and your social handles where you like to exist uh there?

Priya 30:36

Yeah, absolutely. Uh, we are at www.anargourmetfoods.com, and you can find us on social media on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok at Anar Gourmet Foods. All right.

Doug 30:50

I always have a final sort of customary question for our guests, and you can answer together or separately. The name of the show is The Pittsburgh Dish. Yes. What's the best dish that you've had to eat this past week?

Priya 31:09

This past week was last night with my mom's authentic South Indian chicken curry and coconut rice.

Speaker 1 31:16

Oh, this was the dish. That was the dish. Oh, well, it sounds like the best bite. Did you make it? I made it last night. Oh. And it was, it really was amazing.

Doug 31:26

Remembered flavors are always the best flavors. Yes. What was your second favorite?

Speaker 1 31:30

The second favorite was my husband's meatballs. Oh, he he cooks heavenly. He really does. Oh very, very good food. Yeah.

Doug 31:40

I like Glenn, you gotta plug yourself sometimes. I love it. And Glenn, what about you? Was what was your best bite?

Glenn 31:49

It was actually last night. Uh yeah, yeah. The uh the pairing of chicken, uh chicken curry with coconut rice. Outstanding. They just go so well with a nice glass of sweet Riesling it might have.

Doug 32:00

Oh, well, I like this. You know, you mentioned earlier you had a neighbor that's a real wine person. And I was wondering if you have some pairing ideas. Um, because we've talked to another woman that I appreciate, Kanika, and she's known as the Indian Somm. She's trying to pair wines with food. What she's shared with me is it's not super common in India. So I think that's a good also. Hey, Kanika, if you're listening, maybe another good collab with you.

Priya 32:25

Absolutely. Yeah, my husband's very good with the Riesling. So yeah. Yeah.

Glenn 32:30

And I can tell you what not to pair. I mean, with the spicy beef curry, you'd think that red wine may go well, but it doesn't do it. No way. Yeah.

Doug 32:38

No. All those like flavor notes don't always work together. No, they clash. Oh, interesting. Yeah.

Priya 32:44

So a sweet German Riesling.

Doug 32:47

To cool off the spicy heat. Yeah, it's effective.

Priya 32:50

Interesting.

unknown 32:51

Yeah.

Doug 32:51

Well, I love that. And it sounds like these uh these dishes were truly the best bites this week. Yes. Thank you. Priya, Glenn, again, I want to thank you so much for your time. And thanks for being on the Pittsburgh Dish. Thanks, Doug. Thanks for having us.

Priya 33:07

Yeah, it's our pleasure. Thank you so much.

What is a Crispwich?

Doug 33:10

Up next, have you ever heard of a crisp wich? Anna of Ana Eats Pittsburgh educates us and tells us where to get one. Hey everybody, we're joined today with Anna Anthony of Anna Eats Pittsburgh. Hi. Hi, Ana. Welcome back.

Ana 33:25

Thanks for having me.

Doug 33:27

Anna, when you're out and about, I know that you go to a lot of great dinners, savory places. Yes. But is there ever a place that kind of catches you with a sweet treat somewhere you're like, oh my gosh, I gotta go back there.

Ana 33:39

I have a crazy sweet tooth, Doug. Do you? Yes, I do.

Doug 33:42

Well, you actually did bring a few things today. So I guess I should. Yes. I shouldn't be. Yes. There's some sweet treats sitting on the table.

Ana 33:49

Oh yeah. Um okay. So one of my favorite sweet treat discoveries of 2025 was Leona's Crisp Wich.

Doug 33:58

Oh.

Ana 33:58

Do you know what that is?

Doug 34:00

I don't even know. Let's let's first say it's Leona's ice cream.

Ana 34:03

Leona's ice cream.

Doug 34:04

And they just moved. They were, they had their first scoop shop in Lawrence Hall. Yes. But they've built an independent place up in Garfield right on Penn Avenue.

Ana 34:12

Correct.

Doug 34:12

And it's open.

Ana 34:13

It's open now.

Doug 34:14

And now, what is a crisp wich?

Ana 34:17

Okay, so we know Leona's typical ice cream sandwiches are made with their delicious cookies and their ice cream. So, so good. But a crisp witch is instead of cookies, it's rice crispy treats. Like but homemade rice crispy treats, you know? Yeah. Did you see those going viral? Like the actual rice crispy treat brand, like in 2025. That was like a viral treat. Leonas did it 100 times better.

Doug 34:46

Well, I'm already thinking like that crispiness, but if there's a little bit of bend to the rice crispy treatment, perfect will hold the ice cream.

Ana 34:54

Yes. Oh my goodness. They don't last forever in the freezer. That's what I've noticed with all of those treats. The rice crispy treat kind of like softens a tiny bit. So they're best eaten either on the spot or like the day after you get them. But it that blew my mind for sure. It's one of my new favorite sweet treats. I hope they keep them forever.

Doug 35:11

Are there any special flavor combinations that they've offered?

Ana 35:14

They had a couple when I was there. I only saw well vanilla and chocolate. And then I also got a plum one. Their plum ice cream was so like beautiful and tart and perfect. And you would never think, like, okay, I'm gonna put plum ice cream between two rice crispy treats, but it worked out really well.

Doug 35:32

Well, yeah, because you always need a little offset, something a little sour or a little bitter or something different.

Ana 35:37

Totally.

Doug 35:37

And the other thing I'm thinking, number one, I know that Leona's uses a lactose-free milk. I do. And then the rice crispy treat would be gluten-free.

Ana 35:46

Yes. Yeah, exactly. It's perfect for someone who has celiac or any, you know, allergy issues.

Doug 35:51

But it doesn't even matter. No, but it's just so darn good.

Ana 35:55

So good. I'm so happy that they opened up that place and they're doing their thing over there.

Doug 36:00

Well, I've been to their old location. I haven't been to the new spot, so I gotta go to stop.

Ana 36:04

Yeah, they're great people too. I love them.

Doug 36:06

And it's a great neighborhood. Yes. So Leona's on Penn Avenue in Garfield.

Ana 36:11

Perfect, yes. And what's it called again? A crisp wich.

Doug 36:14

If they've got it, get one.

Ana 36:16

Grab a couple.

Doug 36:17

Ana, thank you so much.

Ana 36:19

Thanks for having me.

Grandma's Meat Pies

Doug 36:21

You can follow Ana on Instagram at Ana eats PGH. Do you have a recipe that harkens pure nostalgia for Chris Beers of Grandpa Joe's candy shop? It's his grandmother's meat pies. Let's have a listen. Hey everybody, we're joined today with Christopher Beers, the owner and founder of Grandpa Joe's candy shop. Chris, when we were together last, we were talking about all of these candies that you guys find from people's nostalgia, from their past, from growing up. When you were growing up, was there a recipe from a family member or a loved one that still harkens nostalgia for you? My grandmother would make meat pies.

Chris 37:04

Meat pies. Like wrapped up, like in so dough? Yeah. Okay. So this large pan of bread with every type of meat chopped, minced, shredded pork. It could be like sausage or hamburger. All of this different type of meat inside. Oh wow. And to heat it, you you ate this for breakfast. Yes. So you steamed this bread slice with meat in the middle, and then you poured a chicken broth over it. Wow. And then ate it. And it was, I still have the recipe. I've never made it myself. Okay. But man, that's childhood memory. That's nostalgia. You loved it. Oh my gosh. My whole family loved it. Everybody would still to this day, like if we found out someone was making meat pies, like you have to distribute them. Right. We need to bring back the meat pies. I I I would pay someone to make me a meat pie with my grandmother's recipe.

Doug 38:08

Yeah. Well, now you've just thrown it out there. So if we can get grandma's recipe, we'll put it on the blog. Absolutely. And then you guys can send a meat pie dish over to Chris and his family. Stop into Grandpa Joe's with it.

Chris 38:18

Yes, I would love that.

Doug 38:20

Oh my goodness. All right. Grandma's meat pies. Yes. Chris Beers of Grandpa Joe's. Thank you so much. You bet. Do you have a recipe? Share it with us. Just go to our website at pittsburghdish.com and look for our share a recipe form. If you enjoyed the show, consider buying us a coffee for this episode or supporting the show monthly. You can find links to those options at the bottom of our show description. And if you want to follow my own food adventures, you can find me on social media at Doug Cooking. That's our show for this week. Thanks again to all of our guests and contributors, and to Kevin Solecki of Carnegie Accordion Company for providing the music to our show. We'll be back again next week with another fresh episode. Stay tuned.