Welcome to Ooty, home to the art of chocolate making, the very English way. Gourmets and cuisine enthusiasts will find a lot to enjoy and purchase in Ooty. Its temperate environment makes it perfect for growing tea, spices, and oil, as well as for making cheese. Now you are prepared to shop in Ooty! Don’t forget to pick up on these organic,
fresh goods while you’re there. Ooty is one of the most picturesque places in the country’s south, drawing a large number of tourists each year. Apart from its stunning natural surroundings, Ooty is also well-known for its shopping, which contributes to its popularity as a tourist destination. Surprisingly, the items that make shopping in Ooty a fun
experience are typically delicious items made from the fresh local produce that makes them so special and worthwhile buying. Perhaps Ooty’s specialty is the locally grown fresh food.
The city and municipality of Ooty, officially known as Udhagamandalam (sometimes spelled Ootacamund; listen (help)), is located in the Nilgiris district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative centre for the Nilgiris district and is situated 128 kilometres (80 miles) south of Mysore and 86 kilometres (53 miles) north of Coimbatore. In the Nilgiri Hills, there is a well-known hill resort. It is affectionately referred to as the Queen of Western Ghats and Hill Stations. It served as the Madras presidency’s summertime capital.
Nearly as famous as the region’s unique wildlife and trees are the “homemade” chocolates. The origins of the dessert, however, are far more recent than one might think, with the 1990s tourism boom significantly contributing to the surge in popularity of “Ooty chocolates.”
The “homemade chocolates” are thought to be a holdover from the time of the British colonists, according to heritage enthusiasts researching the cultural roots of the Ooty’s famous cuisines.
Chocolate preparation started in British times and has continued to this day. Ooty chocolates are simply impossible to resist because of their wonderful nuts and rich cocoa. You should absolutely give it a try if you truly adore chocolate. The original flavours are alive in every bite because they are made with the best ingredients.
Although the origins of Ooty’s chocolates are much more recent than the district’s other famous flavours, such as varkey and tea, the colonial legacy of the British played a huge part in the popularity of chocolate among locals and visitors, according to the district’s chocolate makers. According to Muralidhar Rao, proprietor of Modern Stores and
managing director of Moddy’s, a renowned bakery and confectionary in the Nilgiris, the Nilgiris is culturally very similar to a traditional British town, where eating cakes and chocolates was always highly popular. According to Mr. Rao, Modern Stores has been selling its handcrafted chocolates since 1951. The butlers who served the British families
shared their recipes with them and as time went on, the store’s selection of chocolates, truffles, ganaches, and fudges increased to about 150 different sorts, he added.
He said that the cool climate of the Nilgiris was also ideal for producing chocolate. He urged that the original chocolate-makers in the Nilgiris, of which only a small number are still in operation today, including Moddy’s, continue to create chocolate using the same traditional formulas that were employed when they first began.

They still follow the old British way of like tempering the chocolate manually and using over 40% cocoa. Their chocolate is hand tempered at a specific temperature to produce a finer quality and then blended with untempered chocolate. They are mostly known for their use of rich dark chocolate.
After Cadbury was founded in 1947, the Indian chocolate market appears to have taken off. The market for chocolate in India was expected to be 300,000 tonnes in 2008, and Cadbury accounted for about 70% of that market. The southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka—the latter of which is home to Ooty—are where
the majority of India’s cocoa farming is conducted. In order to lessen reliance on imported cocoa beans, Indian Mirror claims that Cadbury pioneered cocoa planting in India in 1962.
A sizable handmade chocolate business exists in Ooty. Enjoy the truffles, fudges, and marshmallows at King Star Confectioners on Commercial Road or The Modern Store on Botanical Gardens Road to satisfy your sweet taste.