First of all, I really hope you don't take the sub-caption seriously. I'm the farthest thing from a businesswoman, but a girl can dream, right?

I always like to pretend that I share my life with people and that I do so in a healthy and normal amount. However, as I get older, I realize that a lot of people in my life don't know a lot about me. Part of that is I sometimes think they don't really care to know more. That's not a jab at anyone-just something I've noticed as a pre-adult. Folks are busy and not everyone will want to hear about your day or your family or your childhood. It's not seeking validation- it's hoping someone's is listening. Another part of that is I don't go out of my way to share myself with the world, at least not as much as I'd like to.

But this part of my life is something I do deeply connect with, and wish I shared more often. In honor of National Farmers Market Week, here's my story:

My family and I are farmers market vendors at the Athens Farmers Market, held on Saturdays at Bishop Park (and Wednesdays at Creature Comforts). We cook and sell Indian food, ranging from snacks to more filling pastry puffs to completely satisfying dishes. We've been involved with the Athens Farmers Market since 2012, so I've grown up respecting the importance of locally grown produce, organic-made food, and healthy initiatives that promote green living.

My fam. Andre J. Gallant

The market has been around since 2010, so we were first introduced to it as consumers/customers. After moving to Athens in 2002 for my dad's post-doctorate fellowship, we found themselves without much of social life. I think it's a pretty common thing for immigrant families to cook a lot when they're together, so we went mainly for the fresh and organic produce. At that time, the market vendors would set up their tents on the basketball courts. I remember that there was a music performer in the corner of the court, a granola vendor, a cold-pressed juice vendor, a goat cheese vendor, and Luna Bread. Those were my favorite vendors at the time, alone with a pesto vendor, a wood-working vendor, an empanada vendor, Harry's Pig Shop (even though I wouldn't eat anything from them), a honey vendor, and Donderos' Kitchen. I honestly miss those days.

Seeing the variety of vendors made us excited for the weekend, and we got to know the vendors well, even as customers. And it's always been a dream of my parents to open a restaurant or something just to feed people. Athens does a good job at trying to promote diversity, and definitely has a range of restaurant types. But (and this may be controversial), I don't think there are any good Indian cuisine restaurants in town. Yeah, I said it. We thought it was high time that there was more South Asian cuisine available to the people of Athens to experience.

So our business name is "Sanvi's Sweets & Savories", or "Sanvi's" for short- pronounced san-vees. Not saan-vees. It's really just a play on our family's name. I'm Suvi, my mom is Anna, and my dad is Visu. S-An-Vis. I might have spent a little too much time just explaining that. Either way, that's our name. The sweets & savories part is more of a homage to a lot of Indian bakeries and restaurants back home in the motherland. It's just a common catchphrase to say "sweets and savories" and an even more common tradition to always serve house guests with sweet and savory snacks when they visit.

Amma. Me

Appa. Me

Moi. Me

I hate my glasses and their transition lenses. Me

Our products are all organic, hand-made, and authentic-fused foods. We knew that Athens is an incredibly accepting audience, so we decided to introduce new foods that were still integrated into the familiar ingredients that people know. Originally, we started with full Indian meals and snacks, with features like butter naan, chicken curry, chakli (murukuu rice snacks), chickpea salad, and tender coconuts. We would have to use chafing trays to keep the food hot, and while it was a bit complicated, it wasn't too overwhelming because all three of us would sell together and spend Saturday mornings together. We would drive to Decatur every week to get the best pick of coconuts, so that people would have a refreshing drink option on Saturdays; Decatur, by the way, is our go to grocery store "from home" in Georgia. There are several Indian markets that sell the key ingredients to any South Asian dishes, so I would definitely recommend exploring the area if you're an aspiring cook.

As we got a little more experience, we started to change our menu a little by little to incorporate more Western ingredients and themes. While the Indian meals were welcomed and loved by market-goers, we weren't really making much profit for the amount of effort we were putting into this hobby. Additionally, the spice level was a little too high for some of our customers. Some of our newer items included: chickpea salad with cucumber and mango, ginger lemonade, and mango lassi ice cream. I would say that two years into our market time, the management changed around so that heated foods/chafing trays weren't allowed anymore. So we embarked on a food journey that gave us one of our market favorites: the pastry puff.

If you ever find yourself visiting South India, or India just in general, you'll find that bakeries are super common. And not all of them necessarily sell only sweet treats. A lot of the other delectable choices they offer include more savory items, such as samosas, bondas, mixture (a combination of different rice-and-lentil snack morsels), and the pastry puff. It's known for it's incredibly flakiness and the layers visuals of the actual dough make it that much more satisfying to eat.

We decided to use pastry puffs as our main vehicle of introducing Tamil flavors to Athens, and changed the filling within the pastry puffs up to cater to different tastes as well. We've got a selection of savory puffs/items, which include: spinach & ricotta, vegetable (with carrots, cabbage, green beans, and onions- typically Indian food vegetables), and the bonda (I'll bring this up again later). For your own delight, I've included a picture of our vegetable puffs and of a cross-section of the market favorite: the spinach and ricotta.

Eat your veggies, kids. Me

Spinach & Ricotta. Athens Farmers Market Instagram

For our customers with more of a sweet tooth, we've got the following selections: strawberry + apple + cream cheese, classic chocolate ganache, and my mom's favorite: almond + coconut + honey. It's probably obvious that the strawberry + apple + cream cheese and the classic chocolate ganache are more mainstream bakery fillings. But the almond + coconut + honey has a tie to Indian sweets. I would bet that you probably can't find a lot of food in India that doesn't contain some version of coconut, whether it be coconut milk for creaminess, coconut powder (as a coconut milk substitute), or grated coconut (like for chutneys and fried rice). In desserts, coconut flakes make a frequent appearance, so this puff is sort of an tribute to that. Again, I've included a mouth-watering picture of my favorite sweet puff, the strawberry + apple + cream cheese. I'm proud to say that while my mom makes the other puffs, which is usually a lot of work, I completely make these ones on my own. So definitely grab one if you're ever at the market.

Strawberry + Apple + Cream cheese. Me lol

Look at those layers... Me again lol

The puff making process is very tedious, and the amount of work my mom dedicates to it is truly remarkable. Market is on Saturday morning, but the actual process starts on Sunday the week before. We purchase organic all-purpose flour, usually either in bulk from the Dekalb Farmers Market or from Independent Bakery. We also get organic butter, organic milk, and the other things you need to bake stuff. She gets to work on the dough, and over the past few years, she's perfected her technique. The end result is a buttery, layered croissant dough. I've learned how to essentially make the dough, but the most important part comes when it's time to fold. The folding is what gives you those layers, that fluffiness of the dough, and the perfect rise of the golden puff. And it's not just one fold. It's multiple folds and packing of the fillings, done over the course of the week so that when Friday comes along, the puffs are ready to bake late that night and fresh for market in the morning. I've included some pictures of the dough making and folding process, all of which is done throughout the week at a rented commercial kitchen.

Ingredients of the dough. Me

Laying out butter. Me

Amma. Me

Now onto another one of the market traditional favorites: the bonda. It's a battered and fried ball of potato masala, onion, cilantro, and spicy seasonings, covered in chick pea flour. When my dad still lived in Athens (he moved to NJ for his job), he handled bonda production. My mom often refers to him as a natural cook, but it reality, he didn't know how to cook until she taught him when they first got married. He learned out of necessity to keep our home fed while my mom was pursuing her second Masters in Chemistry at UGA.

My dad (now my mom) boils the potatoes and prepares the other parts of the masala, including red onion, cilantro, turmeric, and red chilli powder- all of which is mixed at the end into a fragrant and flavorful mash. The batter is prepared using chickpea flour (or besan), water and asafoetida powder, which some consider unpleasant, but it adds to the aroma of the rest of the masala and aids in digestion. The masala is then rolled into balls, dipped in the batter, and fried to the universally known standard of "golden-brown". It's truly a comfort food that you can't stop eating. And it's an absolute plus that it's also vegan and gluten-free!

Bonda. Andre J. Gallant

Apart from the bonda, we also make lemon rice: this is one of the few meal type foods that we decided to keep around after we shifted our menu. Made with basmati rice, ginger, curry leaves, cilantro, turmeric, lemon juice, and mustard seeds, the bright yellow rice is definitely an eye-catcher that also absolutely delights the tastebuds. It's one of my favorite foods as well, thanks to its simplicity and ease of preparation.

Lemon rice. Andre J. Gallant

Our relatively newer market addition has been the dosa. Dosa is a flat thin crepe-like food, made from fermented lentil-and-rice batter. Paired with a spicy tomato red-chilli chutney, it's absolutely scrumptious. It's one of the staples of a South Indian household, since it's incredibly convenient to prepare the batter in bulk and keep it for about a week. It's a perfect "tiffin" item, typically enjoyed at breakfast or dinner. If you order these at restaurants, the huge dosa tawas they are made on lead to an end product of a nearly 1.5 foot long dish.

Since these are best tasting when fresh and hot, we make them on the spot at the market. I say we, but again, it's my mother who is the dosa master. We use a portable griddle, and she prepares the batter early in the week so it's perfect by Saturday. The batter is cooked by heat and steam, to give that perfect paper-like crunch but the filling feeling as well. Once the griddle is hot enough, she pours a scoop and a half of the batter on, then taking the care to circle it out to make the familiar dosa shape. Once the top is fairly cooked through, she adds a scoop of the potato masala (mentioned earlier in the bonda) for a delightful surprise in the middle. Here are some action shots of the dosa master at work :)

Dosai corner. Me

Dosa. Me

Dosa. Me

Despite our busy lives, my mom working a full time research professional job at UGA, my dad working at a pharmaceutical company in NJ, and me being a student, we still cook together every chance we get. Fridays are the busiest, with the last minute prep going until about 11pm. Saturday morning, my mom and I are up bright and early at 4am to take our ready-to-bake puffs and cooked potato masala to the kitchen and make our products fresh. I usually take control of the selling and customer interaction while my mom's woman-ing the griddle. Our day ends after market does, usually around 12pm, but neither of these time estimates factor in the loading, unloading, and setup of our market stand. Apart from the market, we also donate our food to the annual Autumn Harvest Feast at the Hill and cater for individual requests. You can contact my mom at annaramiah@gmail.com or me on Instagram at @suvistar17 if that's something you're interested in.

What a smile. Me

Autumn Harvest Feast 2018. Me

Autumn Harvest Feast 2018. Me

We've definitely found our place at the Athens Farmers Market, despite a few hiccups along the way. As an immigrant family serving ethnic food, we have experienced the occasional wariness and overtly discriminational questions of our authenticity and professional food preparation. But we know that with each other, and with the support of our customers, we are able to overcome those barriers and continue incorporating our culture in Athens. The accepting audience that has welcomed us has added an element of belonging to our lives, and I know that despite how tired I am by the weekend, I'm always ready for the market. I see a lot of familiar faces, and the market has served as sort of a reunion place for me and people I haven't seen in a long time.

Working ladies. Me

If you're ever in need of something fun to explore on a Saturday morning, I seriously recommend dropping by the market. You might find that you've been missing out.

http://athensfarmersmarket.net/sanvis-sweets-and-savories

https://www.onlineathens.com/article/20140812/LIFESTYLE/308129987