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Black Pepper

From the high ranges oIdukki 

The high ranges of Idukki, a small part of this world, has always been the hub of top quality spices and its pepper has remained a personal favourite to the many traders and travellers for centuries now. Pepper cultivated in these higher elevations accounts for stronger flavour, aroma and higher oil content than its counterparts in the low ranges and our indigenous varieties are no exception.

  Uniqueness of our peppers  

Hand drawn illustrations of a farmer harvesting black pepper climbing on a ladder

Processed from only matured and ripened berries

Naturally Grown

Indigenous Variety

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Meet our two indigenous varieties,
Karimunda & Perumkodi

Karimunda

Perumkodi 

Rare and Indigenous Perumkodi Black pepper corns kept in a ceramic bowl

Literally meaning Bigger Pepper Vine in Malayalam, the bigger peppercorns of Perumkodi, one of the oldest indigenous varieties cultivated, stays true to its name. The contributor to the size factor in many new hybrid pepper varieties, Perumkodi, now a rarity  in the farms of Idukki awakens your taste buds with its milder yet delicate piquant flavours. Its subtle citrusy and fruity notes provides a balanced taste profile to your dishes especially soups salads and milder preparations. 

Rare and Indigenous Karimunda Black pepper corns kept in a ceramic bowl

The indigenous variety believed to be the most flavourful of all, the pepper that gives an array of flavours and aroma that makes your taste buds dance, Karimunda and the high ranges of Idukki is a match made in heaven. The intense heat, the strong peppery flavours and the exceptional aroma, gives a rich and complex yet refined touch to your recipes. 

How do they taste?

Karimunda

Pungency

Heat

Citrusy/
Fruity notes

Perumkodi 

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Who grows our pepper?

Our partner pepper farmers from high ranges of Idukki

Both our peppers are grown by Sunny and Rosamma, in the Nedumkandam Panchayat of Idukki District, Kerala.Their farm, located at an elevation of 1000m, at the core of the Cardamom Hills, hosts various indigenous varieties of pepper and all of it are grown using natural farming methods. Being farmers for generations now, and pepper growers for more than 40 years they harvest the right peppercorns with great expertise, care and precision to give us the best of peppers. We have been associated with them for the past 7 years.

Sunny and Rosamma 

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How it reaches you?

Farmer    Us       You

Our farmers cultivate pepper using Zero Budget Natural Farming also known as Spiritual Farming. This farming method focuses on rejuvenating the soil to maintain a forest like condition to grow your crops naturally. And for this rejuvenation process, our farmers use Jiwamrita, a mixture of cow dung and urine of indigenous cows, pulses, seasonal fruits or jaggery/sugarcane juice and a handful of soil, a main component in natural farming.

 

The pepper harvest and post harvest process also require precision, care and expertise and is just as important as the cultivation. Only the ripe and matured berries (at least one of the berries in the spike has turned red from green) are hand-picked to make black pepper. And so, the harvest is done in multiple rounds and the harvest season spans from January to April. The hand plucked spikes are threshed in a mechanized thresher to separate the berries and is sun-dried for 3-4 days. It is then sorted and graded in accordance to density and stored in air-tight, opaque containers. All the post harvest activities are undertaken by Graamya at our facility, thus maintaining precision in all stages of processing. 

Pepper harvest calendar

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July
Berries begins to appear
Post flowering stage, in the months of July pepper berries start growing
September - October
Berries starts turning to dark green
Around the months of September and October, pepper berries start turning dark green in colour and grow bigger in size
December - January
Last stages of Maturing
Red berries indicate ripening  of pepper after crossing full maturity stage. Most flavour is developed in this stage
May - June
Flowering begins
Flowering in pepper spike around the month of May - June
August
Spraying Jiwamrita
Making bio-fertiliser called Jeewamruta using locally available natural ingredients in the farm
November
Spraying Jiwamrita
Farmer harvesting pepper from a pepper vine
February - April
Harvesting and Processing
Manually Separating ripened berries from matured berries to make white and black pepper
Our partner pepper farmers from high ranges of Idukki

Rosamma and Sunny Joseph

Both our peppers are grown by Sunny and Rosamma, in the Nedumkandam Panchayat of Idukki District, Kerala at the core of the Cardamom Hills.  Their farm, located at an elevation of 1000m, hosts various indigenous varieties of pepper and all of it are grown using natural farming methods. Being farmers for generation now, and pepper growers for more than 40 years they harvest the right peppercorns with great expertise, care and precision to give us the best of peppers. We have been associated with them for the past 7 years.

Our farmers cultivate pepper using Zero Budget Natural Farming also known as Spiritual Farming. This farming method focuses on rejuvenating the soil to maintain a forest like condition to grow your crops naturally. And for this rejuvenation process, our farmers use Jiwamrita, a mixture of cow dung and urine of indigenous cows, pulses, seasonal fruits or jaggery/sugarcane juice and a handful of soil, a main component in natural farming.

 

The pepper harvest and post harvest process also requires precision, care and expertise and is just as important as the cultivation. Only the ripe and matured berries (at least one of the berries in the spike has turned red from green) are hand-picked to make black pepper. And so, the harvest is done in multiple rounds and the harvest season spans from January to April. The hand plucked spikes are threshed in a thresher to separate the berries and is sun-dried for 3-4 days. It is then sorted and graded in accordance to density and stored in air-tight, opaque containers. All the post harvest activities are undertaken by Graamya at our facility, thus maintaining precision in all stages of processing. 

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