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In March 2023 I spent one week at Varanashi Farms, an organic farm about an hour from Mangalore that grows a vast assortment of things, including, most notably for my purposes, cacao. We came here to do a tree to bar chocolate making course with Ketaki Churi, who co-founded The Indian Cacao & Craft Chocolate Festival and teaches courses and hosts chocolate related events around the country. The course, which I believe happens twice a year, was an amazing experience that I highly recommend, but the farm is also a great place to stay regardless of whether you’re taking the course or not!
Quick thoughts on the course: Being able to see the entire process of how chocolate is made, starting with plucking cacao pods from the tree to cutting them open, eating the pulp of the cacao fruit, and drinking the juice to seeing how it is fermented and dried, was something very special, whereas if I were to do a chocolate course in the city it would at the very earliest start with beans that have already been fermented. Doing all of that and then going through the roasting and sorting, separating the quality beans from the ones that need to be discarded, made me understand what goes into quality chocolate from the very beginning of the process rather than just the mechanics of turning cocoa mass into a bar.
I don’t intend to ever actually make chocolate, but as someone with an interest in learning more about chocolate I couldn’t have asked for a better crash course. Highly recommended for people who want to make chocolate or are just kind of curious and think it would be fun. I also really enjoyed getting to know the other people taking the course.
Also, if you want my Indian chocolate recommendations, see here.
The farm has various other events, and even when nothing is going on you can stay in the cottages (there are various budget levels, I’m not sure what everything costs) or do a day visit. They also have people staying for extended periods to volunteer on the farm. If you’re interested in any of this, you can reach out to them for more info.
Beyond the course, I had a fabulous stay there. Though it’s just a turn off the main highway road, as soon as you enter you feel like you’re in another world, and after a few days I really felt like I left the outside world behind. It’s a large forest area that you get to explore, a quiet and peaceful place to relax while still getting a sense of adventure. The early mornings were my favorite part, a magical time of the day with lots of birds chirping. There’s a pool built into the mud for people who like to swim, and lots of nice walks you can do.
There were a few things we did that I’m not sure everyone would get the chance to do, but I think if you ask in advance can be arranged. I really enjoyed getting a tour of the farm and learning about regenerative farming. A highlight of the week was meeting a farmer nearby named Mahalinga Naik who was given a huge plot of barren land and for decades chiseled through the mountain searching for water. He eventually found it and built a system to store it and pipe it throughout the area, which is now green and abundant. The story is amazing (you can google his name for more) but reading about it doesn’t do it justice. It was mind blowing going to his house and seeing the tunnels he built into the mountain in his search for water.
The food at the farm, almost entirely homegrown, was delicious. What really stands out as worth mentioning is the different daily variety of a coconut rich sambar. We ate all of our meals there and went for evening snacks a few times at Hotel Shree Ganesh right outside the gate of the farm which had better Mangalore buns than any we got in Mangalore (though the first time we got it they were sensational, the second time just pretty good, they serve it with chutney but it’s best eaten dunked in filter coffee if you ask me).
Please note that staying at the farm isn’t for everyone, and I’d say you have to be a bit “adventurous” to stay here. They have a few room options, we stayed in one of the cottages with a private bathroom which is the nicest option, and though the cottage is very nice, you are still sort of open to the elements. There will be many bugs in the room, notably pretty large spiders. There’s also a lot of walking required. They were building a new dining area but when we were there it was a 10-15 minute walk, partly uphill, from the rooms to the dining area. I was fine with all of this, but it’s not for people who need their creature comforts and aren’t used to the farm life.
The weather was decent when we were there in early March. It was cool in the mornings and evenings and hot in the afternoons, but there’s a ton of shade at the farm and the rooms stay cool because of the mud. Mosquitos are brutal around sunset but otherwise I hardly saw/felt them.
It’s not great for working from home if you need good, consistent network, but you can manage if you don’t have to make calls or have urgent deadlines. Jio network was decent, Airtel didn’t work at all, and there’s only wifi in a few sections of the property and it’s a bit spotty.
The farm also sells plants, seeds, and other gardening/farming products, as well as some prepared food products you can take home, just ask them what they have. We got delicious cacao barfi which is made with the husks and dates stuffed with cacao nibs. I don’t believe they sell chocolate as of now, but that is in the works, and while you’re there ask if you can taste some chocolate in case they have some sitting around. The one we made in our course was very delicious, with a strong fruity tang to it that I loved, though I assume this changes from batch to batch. They sell their beans to some of the top Indian chocolate brands, but I look forward to buying their own brand when it launches.
If you’re coming from Mangalore and you take the same route we took, I recommend stopping on the way at Natural’s Bonda Factory, in a village around 20 minutes from Mangalore (see my Mangalore post for more info, it was awesome). Also on the way to the farm is Lakshmi Nivas KT Hotel, famous for its special layered tea and coffee. If you order it without sugar (as we did) the effect doesn’t work, but still great coffee nonetheless!
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