We love to have our favourite iftar items when we break the fast, delicacies like piyaju, alur chop and chhola add that satisfying feeling to satiate our cravings. For the iftar items to taste even better, we need condiments that boast quality along with the taste. Fortunately for us we have sauces, which in addition to elevating our foods delicious factor, have become a staple, be it on our dining tables or in the kitchen, to go with the food.

Foods that go with sauces

Apart from the iftar favourite piyajus and chops, the staple of Bangladeshi snacks like shingara, samosa and pakora can't be imagined without sauces! Often a food that can be quite bland, its taste is enhanced by just dipping into the sauce. Sauces not only go with our local foods, but also Asian delicacies like dumplings, tempura, sushi's and more.

Ramadan also sees huge demands for kababs and chaaps, perfect food to use sauce with. And the best thing about sauces is that not only it can be used as a condiment, but for also as key cooking ingredients for items like chicken chilli, chowmein, pastas and more. 

Not too long ago, the sauce scene in Bangladesh was full of foreign brands. While there was no question about their quality, the price was quite high so it was out of reach for many people. In recent years, our local companies have stepped up their efforts and introduced sauces that match those by foreign brands.

We now have sauces that are of international standard made in Bangladesh. Because of the local production factor, sauce prices have become more affordable, allowing any food lover to get their preferred sauces easily. Out of all the sauce companies, PRAN has become a household name thanks to its wide range of sauces and emphasis on putting food security and hygiene at the forefront.

Sauce sourcing and pulping process

It's natural to be curious about how our favourite sauces are made and the steps they take to ensure quality. One such factory that takes these issues very seriously is PRAN Agro, the factory that's situated in Natore, where production of sauces takes place. The process starts from getting tomatoes from the contractual farmers, who are also provided with guidelines and training to get the best corps. From there on the tomatoes go to the pulping section, the process is similar for other kinds of sauces like chilli, tamarind and so on.

PRAN uses their state of the art machineries to sort and wash tomatoes for the pulping process. Levels of brisk and acidity are checked along with vacuum evaporation, from there it goes for sterilisation with heat treatment. Pulps are filled automatically in aseptic bags. With the pulping done, they are transported to cold storage for preserving and can be accessed any time.

The production process begins by receiving and keeping the necessary ingredients, where they are mixed as per PRAN's own recipe and are sucked into suction pumps and sent to mixing tanks. From there on the sauces are transferred to the storage silo, homogenising sauce and ketchup to make sauce uniform and transferring them to the vaccum evaporator.

To ensure food security and hygiene, sauces are pasteurised in the tubular pasteuriser. The sauce is then filled into single bottle or jar with auto filling machines after they have been automatically washed by hot water. Metal detectors are used to look for any kind of metal substances in the sauce, while automatic machines are used for capping the bottle and jars to maintain the cleanliness. Following the labelling, the sauce bottles and jars are taped and wrapped and sent to the production floor and transported to the warehouse.

Ramadan is that time of the year when we get to break our fast with our family members together, and make delicious foods, keeping dinner and sehri in mind. So let's hope we all have a Ramadan full of healthy foods, all made better with sauces that do not compromise on food safety and security.