Ayr firm behind Aldi's top 'Iron Brew' pakora reveal family secrets of recipe to success

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Irn Bru and pakora might sound like an unlikely combo but it’s a flavour pairing which has seen stocks fly off the shelves in supermarkets up and down the country.The brains behind the Scottish-inspired Indian dish is family-run firm Punjab Pakora, located in the heart of Ayr, who supply their selection of pakoras - including chicken, vegetable and haggis - in Aldi, Sainsburys and Iceland.The business, who operate with a 42-strong workforce, also produce delicious curries such as chicken tikka masala, kormas and chicken jalfrezi.Aldi Scotland sold over three million pieces of pakora in 2022 thanks to its partnership with the Duggal family.Director Vinita Duggal, who runs Punjab Pakora with husband Kushal and their three children, said: “We launched Iron Brew Pakora in September 2021, and we are the only company to have this product in the whole UK.“We redid it in September 2022 and January 2023 - all three runs have been successful.“This was my recipe and Kushal developed it with the help of my son.“It’s nice - it’s got a sweet, spicy and salty flavour.“It’s like a science - it was like being in a lab making it.”Son Dhruv, aged 22, said the Iron Brew infused pakora took “a couple of months to perfect” with dad Kushal, who previously worked as a chef to some of the wealthiest sheikhs in Dubai.Dhruv said: “Every week we were making new samples, so it was a lot of different recipes.“The problem with Irn Bru was because it’s got colouring itself, when you fry it it goes dark very quickly.“So we had to find the right consistency and right temperature.“This year we’re trying to work on something new for the end of the year.“Every year we aim for at least one to two new products.”Amongst those mouth-watering novelty products