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 are beer-battered pakora and chicken pakora strips.
But a firm favourite remains trusty old vegetable pakora.
Dhruv said: “With the chicken strips, we didn’t expect them to do this much volume.
“Our most popular product is the vegetable and onion pakora - that’s a large seller and one of our best.
“It’s consistent and always well favoured by every supermarket we work with.
“Since Covid we noticed a trend change. It used to be chicken pakora but after Covid it flipped to vegetable.
“We’re trying to develop our vegan range, so that’s a huge market we’re wanted to tap into, as well as frozen.”
Tapping into frozen goods now sees the firm setting their sights on a new premises - one they can build from the ground up - and doubling their workforce.
“We’re looking for a bigger site and land,” said Vinita.
“There’s going to be more staff, more facilities.
“That’ll be our third move - I don’t want another move after that!
“The new premises will be in Ayr as we don’t want to leave South Ayrshire Council - they always help us.”
Dhruv added: “If we expand we’re looking at possibly a double workforce. We’re working towards 80 - 100 workers.
“It’s a site we’d have to build from scratch, including putting electricity wires in. It’s starting from nothing but it’s ours and built the way we want it.
“It’ll account for future growth and having a frozen section.”
Punjab Pakora - who are set to mark their tenth anniversary in business this November - have scooped an award every year since starting in 2013; the latest seeing them receive a Highly Commended for Outstanding Business of the Year at Oceanic’s Scottish Asian & Business Awards 2022.
Don't miss the latest Ayrshire headlines – sign up to our free daily newsletter here
