Wake up to a Kehwa pill: Making saffron Kehwa now as easy as dispersing a tablet

Srinagar: Now your favourite Kashmir saffron Kehwa blend has been reduced to a pill. Scientists at SKUAST-Kashmir after rigorous efforts have succeeded in making the blend available in a small dispersible tablet of a few grams.
Years of efforts by experts at the division of Food Science and Technology at the university have found a way to reduce the drudgery of finding the vital ingredients that go into the making of Kehwa and processing them to find a perfect balance, with the replacement being a small blister-size tablet that only needs boiling water and sugar to make to cup of saffron Kehwa.
Dr Imtiyaz Ahmad Zargar, who has been working on saffron for years at the division, always noticed that a lot of saffron would get broken in the processing of achieving top-grade saffron and that would not fetch the grower a good price.
He said that though at the laboratory level they had achieved breakthrough in developing technology of a vacuum drying that prevents this costly spice from getting broken while processing, but even then a portion of saffron would always get reduced to powdery form during processing.
Head of the Division, Abdul Hamid Rather, told Kashmir Reader that scientists at the division are always in pursuit of technology for the end user, particularly growers and farmers, so that they get the best remuneration for their produce while maintaining quality of the product or adding value to the product.
The problem of the broken saffron was taken up by Dr Imtiyaz, who solved it by coming up with a ready-to-use dispersible pill.
Dr Imtiyaz said that while the market for saffron Kehwa is a global one, but to reach a niche market “we have to be innovative as well.”
“Today in the food sector we find more and more hassle-free products, so to offer this brewage in a ready-to-use tablet format would eventually lead to more market outreach,” he said.
The product is not only meant to ease preparation of this beverage, but also has been prepared in such a manner that it would be the most hygienic, given that the contents would not get contaminated because of being protected by an aluminium packaging, he added.
“We have the traditional way of making Kehwa but some of the saffron comes in a powdered form. The ingredients are also susceptible to contamination if not consumed within time, and many of the volatile components, particularly in saffron, are depleted after opening. However, the combination that goes into making this product keeps all the contents well away from any decline and what is more, the product can easily fit into one’s pocket,” Dr Imtiyaz said.
A person using the dispersible saffron Kehwa tablet has only to get hold of boiling water and not even bother to look for cardamom and almonds, which are included in this small tablet.
About the prospects for success of this tablet in the market, the HoD, Abdul Rather, said that the product could work wonders in the market as people are very fond of this beverage.
He said that a patent for the tablet has been applied for, and an entrepreneur is working to launch it in the market soon. “We are highly optimistic of its success,” Rather said.

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