Chennai’s Chocolatier Recreates Local Flavours with an International Twist

“Chakra Pongal, Mishti Doi, Paan and Panchamridham,” lists Janani Kannan announcing another order. These are not just popular flavours from around India. They are the best-sellers from Zitter’s bonbon collection. 

The studio opens up into an air-conditioned hall with glass refrigerators at sixteen degrees stacked with decadent chocolates and pastries. A gust of cool air escapes from an opened door providing a brief moment of relief in the peak Chennai summer. Janani is spotted beside an oven near a stack of chocolate moulds. “You’ve just caught me in my favourite pastime,” she says looking up from her phone and turning her screen to reveal a robot-shaped mould. “I am usually found obsessively scrolling through online baking stores—not just from India but all over the world,” she laughs pointing at one of the counters that display the chocolate-making paraphernalia that she has collected over time.

Janani’s journey with chocolate started like the rest of us—the nostalgic rich purple silhouette of Cadbury’s drinking chocolate. “There was a cake recipe at the back,” she remembers as she talks about her earliest memories of baking cake as a child. OTG ovens weren’t popular. Red Velvet and Tiramisu were considered exotic. That did not stop…