We know what it feels like to miss home.
For us, it starts with biryani. Not just any biryani — Hyderabadi biryani, the kind that needs the right whole spices to be itself. We spent years visiting store after store in Berlin, describing what we were looking for, and hearing the same thing: "this is the same." It wasn't. We knew it, our kitchens knew it, and eventually we stopped pretending otherwise. What we couldn't find, we'd carry back in our luggage from India.
Who we are
We're Sandeep Bajjuri and Anwesh Kotta — both from Hyderabad, both living in Berlin for over a decade. Anwesh arrived in 2011, moving from Chemnitz for an internship and never quite leaving. Sandeep followed in 2013 for a Master's degree and stayed for the same reasons most of us do: the city gets under your skin. We met here, became friends over shared meals, shared cravings, and eventually a shared idea.
Sandeep grew up in a family of grocers. His father opened one of the first stores in their neighbourhood in Hyderabad over 40 years ago — what began as a small retail shop grew into a wholesale and retail business, and eventually helped his brothers open stores across the city. Sandeep started helping out at age 10. By 23, he was running the store on his own. He knows this business in a way that can't be taught: the smell of a warehouse, the feel of good stock, what a customer will accept and what they will quietly walk away from.
Anwesh is a software architect. Before Aahaar, he was co-founder and CTO of Emoree, an edtech startup helping students improve their reading. He also makes the best biryani in Berlin — ask anyone who's eaten it. When Sandeep moved here, he switched the grocery part of himself off — a new city, a new chapter. That changed last year when he and Anwesh started talking about building something together. Slowly it became obvious: everything Sandeep had spent 13 years setting aside was exactly what was missing. And Sandeep's years building tech communities in climate, startups, and blockchain gave them the rest.
Why we started Aahaar
The Indian grocery options in Berlin have always been limited — narrow range, unfamiliar brands, and prices that sometimes run five to ten times what the same product costs back home. Not a small markup. Sometimes ten times the price for something your grandmother buys for nothing at the local kirana. In Berlin, Preisleistungsverhältnis — value for money — is non-negotiable. We take that seriously.
Aahaar is our answer to that. Before anything goes online, we test it. Sandeep's father taught him to check quality before price — to know what a customer will silently reject even if they never say why. We apply that same standard here, especially with newer brands. If it doesn't pass our kitchen, it doesn't reach yours.
But Aahaar doesn't stop at delivery. The kirana store owner always remembered his regulars — what they bought, when they ran out, what new product they might enjoy. We're building that memory in digital form: an assistant that becomes your Indian grocery companion. It takes your shopping notes, suggests recipes from the community, helps you reorder without thinking about it. The store part is just where it starts.
What we stand for
Honest pricing
We know what these products cost. We know what fair looks like. Our prices reflect that — no inflated import margins, no surprises at checkout.
Quality you recognise
We only stock what we use ourselves and what we'd confidently hand to a family member. If it doesn't pass our kitchen test, it doesn't reach yours.
Community, not just customers
Aahaar is for everyone who misses home food — wherever home is. We're not building this from the outside looking in. We live it too. That's why it's our community, not just yours.
"Nourishing your home and our community."
We say "our" deliberately. This isn't a service we're providing from a distance — we shop here, we cook here, we miss the same things you miss. Aahaar is as much for us as it is for you.
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