Dhankuta. Dhankuta, a city carrying the administrative legacy of the Rana regime, is introduced by many myths, stories and facts. As the administrative center, Dhankuta, which was called Gulzar at that time, is becoming a dilapidated house like a house where a bride is being groomed, as the system changes in the country.
Although the past heritage and proud history of Dhankuta are no longer visible, the biscuit industry that opened seven decades ago on one side of the Dhankuta market has not stopped reminding the old days.
Mohan Biscuit Industry, which is a living history of Dhankuta, has been continuously providing local flavors to consumers for 73 years. The Dhankuta coconut biscuits here have not only established the identity of the district, but have also made many mouths water with their original taste.
Many government employees and service recipients who come to Dhankuta for administrative work choose Dhankuta coconut biscuits as a snack to take home with them, whether they are drinking tea or taking home. Since they are a traditional food, any visitor to Dhankuta market does not forget to buy Dhankuta coconut biscuits as a snack on their way home.
A young woman who had reached Dhankuta for the Public Service Commission exam was found buying biscuits at the bus park. Putting the biscuits in her bag, she said, ‘Every time I have come to Dhankuta, I have taken Dhankuta coconut biscuits as a snack. Its taste is different from other biscuits. Since it is a local product, my family and friends also like it very much. Since everyone likes it, I buy it when I come here.’
The Koshi Highway, which starts from Jogbani in India, passes through Dhankuta Bazaar and reaches Kimathanka in Sankhuwasabha. Thousands of vehicles ply on this highway daily. One of the stations of those vehicles is Dhankuta Bus Park. Dhankuta coconut biscuits are also the choice of passengers traveling in those vehicles. Various types of Dhankuta biscuits are kept in almost all the shops in Dhankuta Bus Park. Even when the vehicle is stopped for a moment at the bus park, the eyes of the passengers fall on Dhankuta biscuits.
Durga Rai, the operator of Pathibhara Hotel in Dhankuta Bus Park, said that since it is the easiest Koseli to buy, passengers buy it while meeting relatives. He has also placed Dhankute biscuits in a display case outside the hotel to serve to customers who eat biscuits with tea and to sell to outside customers.
Dhankute coconut biscuits are placed for sale in hotels, grocery stores and convenience stores. This shows how much demand there is for Dhankute coconut biscuits in the local market. Dhankute coconut biscuits made using home-made techniques are a favorite of everyone to take away or as a snack.
This biscuit has become a local ‘brand’ not only in the big markets of Dhankuta headquarters but also in small tea shops in the villages. According to Gorakh Katuwal, the owner of Kanchanjungha Hotel in Madanchowk, the headquarters, visitors to the hotel inevitably look for Dhankute coconut biscuits along with tea. They eat them as a regular snack while staying at the hotel.
And when they return home, they buy them as a snack. That is why the hotel keeps Dhankute coconut biscuits along with other food and beverage items. ‘The packaging does not look very good and tempting. They really like it. They eat it with respect for the taste,’ said Katuwal.
The late Bishweshworman Shrestha, a resident of Dhankuta-4, started making Dhankute biscuits in 2008 BS. After a long experience, the late Shrestha registered Mohan Biscuit Industry as a cottage industry in 2030 BS. This industry is still operating. His son Mohan Shrestha has been continuing the legacy of Dhankuta Coconut Biscuit started by his father.
Earlier, there was only one Mohan Biscuit Industry in Dhankuta, so there was little production in the beginning. The market was also small. But now the industries have grown as workers who learned to work in the biscuit industry started opening their own industries. Production has increased and the market for Dhankuta Coconut Biscuit is also expanding. Dhankuta Coconut Biscuit can be easily purchased in Dhankuta markets including Bhedetar, Mulghat, Hile, Sidhuwa, Pakhribas and other markets in Dhankuta.
Along with Dhankuta coconut biscuits, industries here are currently producing 17 types of biscuits such as cocoa, cookies, khasta, almonds, dunot, fullcake, cake. Currently, more than a dozen industries producing biscuits are operating in various places in Dhankuta. As the demand for it increases in the market, the number of industries has also increased. In the initial days, only Mohan Biscuit was in operation.
Currently, biscuit industries are operating in places including the Dhankuta district headquarters, Ankhisalla, Pakhribas, Hile, Maunawudhuk, Jeetpur, Patlekhola and others. It is estimated that these industries are producing biscuits worth more than Rs 10 million annually by producing coconut biscuits, cakes, bread rolls and other products. More than 100 people have been directly employed.
History of Dhankuta Coconut Biscuits
In 2008 BS, Mohan Shrestha’s father, the late Bishweshworman Shrestha, used to run a tea shop in Debrebas, Dhankuta-4. At that time, Dhankuta Bazaar was the main route for people coming down from the hills to Madhesh and going up from Madhesh to the hills. Debrebas of Dhankuta Bazaar was famous as a place for those people to stay. The tea shop that opened at that place was considered the first and best in the hilly region.
‘According to the demand of tea drinking customers, the late Shrestha used to sell biscuits brought from India. At that time, when he brought 20 biscuits worth Rs. 1 and sold them one by one, the tea business also increased. People who came to have tea would talk about the biscuits. Some even said they would make them themselves,’ said his son Mohan.
Hearing the talk of the people who came to have tea, his father also tried making biscuits. He started learning by making biscuits with one pava of flour every day in his own way. After making the biscuits, he himself tasted them to the people who came to drink tea. While tasting them himself, many people did not like these biscuits at first.
However, his father did not give up and one day, while making biscuits in different ways every day, he made biscuits made from kneaded flour by adding all the ingredients used in making biscuits. Mohan said that his father told him the story of how he started producing biscuits by continuing the same method after everyone who came to drink tea praised the deliciousness of the biscuits.
The late Bishweshwarman Shrestha was the first person to build a biscuit kiln and start biscuit production by utilizing local resources. Although the trial of biscuit production began in 2008 BS, Mohan Biscuit Industry was officially registered as a cottage industry in 2030 BS. At that time, Mohan said that the industry, which his father started with an investment of 33 thousand, now has an investment of more than 2 million.
Mohan Biscuit Industry, which started with five kilos of flour in 2011 BS, is now having difficulty delivering biscuits as per the order. Mohan himself was once an employee of a good non-governmental organization. But he said that he returned to Dhankuta in 2052 BS to take over the industry on his father’s advice to preserve the legacy of the industry started by his father and to commercialize local products.
He did not consider the job to be bigger than the business his father had worked hard to run. ‘I returned to Dhankuta thinking it would be better to create employment for others through my business than to have a job alone. After my father passed away in 2065 BS, I and my wife Nima Shrestha have been taking over the entire responsibility of the industry,’ he said.
How are coconut biscuits made?
Dhankuta coconut biscuits are made using home-made technology. The biscuits are prepared by baking them in a kiln made of raw bricks, clay, and firewood. According to the owner Shrestha, firewood is burned inside the clay kiln. The biscuits are heated on the coal made by burning the wood and baked. Coconut biscuits use locally available milk, ghee and flour. Since biscuits are produced using homemade technology, a lot of manpower is required.
‘No machines are used in biscuit production. From kneading flour to baking biscuits in the oven and packaging, everything is done by hand,’ said Mohan. This is also a kind of traditional technology. Mohan says that due to the lack of sufficient manpower to make biscuits, the biscuit industry has not been able to produce and expand the market as per demand. As young people have started migrating abroad in search of work, there has been a shortage of skilled manpower.
According to Tikaram Katuwal, the operator of Om Biscuit Industry in Patle, Dhankuta-6, apart from manpower, there is also a problem with firewood. He said that since biscuits are produced using home-made technology, firewood is a must. The price of biscuits has increased because firewood is not available everywhere and the cost increases when it is brought from far away.
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्