Everything people ask us.

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Yes, anywhere in India. Delivery is free on orders above Rs. 999. Below that a standard shipping charge applies at checkout.

No. Order a single jar of honey or a full box — both get packed the same way.

UPI or card at checkout, secured through our payment gateway. No account needed. If you would rather not use the website at all, you can order over WhatsApp and we will send you a payment link.

Yes. Message us on +91 82198 70604 with what you want and we will confirm the price, pack it and send a payment link. That is how Kothar ran before there was a website.

Not yet — only within India for now. Message us if you are outside India and we will let you know when that changes.

Yes. A tracking link goes out with your order confirmation once the parcel is handed to the courier.

Nothing is pre-weighed and left on a shelf. When your order comes in, that quantity is taken from the kothar, weighed, sealed and sent. It is the reason we ship in 2–3 days rather than same-day.

Most of what we sell is grown without chemical inputs simply because that is how these families have always farmed on small hill plots — but we do not hold organic certification, and we are not going to claim it. Certification is expensive and most smallholders here do not have it.

Dry goods like rajma, grains and dals keep for months in an airtight container somewhere cool and dark. Ghee keeps about a year at room temperature. Nuts — particularly walnuts and chilgoza — are high in oil and should be refrigerated.

It is grown on hand-worked terraces at 9,000 feet with low yields per acre, and the family that grew it is paid directly rather than through several layers of middlemen. Both of those push the price up. It is a genuine trade-off and worth deciding on with your eyes open.

Yes, we operate under an FSSAI licence. The number is displayed in the footer of every page.

Same family, two shops. Orchards Box sends fresh fruit — mainly apples — down from the orchards. Kothar sends what is stored inside the kothar itself: grain, rajma, ghee, dry fruit, honey and spices.

Two valleys in Himachal Pradesh. Upper Shimla at roughly 8,000–9,500 ft gives us rajma, rice, barley, ghee, honey and walnuts. Kinnaur at 9,000–12,000 ft gives us chilgoza, apricots, almonds and kala zeera.

Yes. We buy from around forty families across the two valleys at a price agreed with them, with no commission agent in between. That arrangement is the entire reason Kothar exists.

Each product page shows the village and season of the current batch. If you want more detail than that, message us and we will tell you.

A kothar is a traditional wooden storehouse built beside hill homes in Himachal, used to keep the year's grain, ghee and dry fruit safe from damp and pests. Ours stands in the orchard and is about eighty years old. They were once on every property here and are now becoming rare.

No. Some of it comes from our own land — the ghee partly from our own cows, the honey from bees that live in the kothar wall. Most of it comes from other families in the two valleys.

Almost always a short soak. Hill rajma has a denser skin than commercial rajma and needs a full overnight soak — eight hours minimum, twelve is better. Very old stock also gets progressively harder to cook.

Crystallisation is normal in raw unfiltered honey and usually a good sign. Stand the jar in warm water to loosen it. Do not microwave it — high heat destroys the aroma.

Also usually a good sign. Ghee made by the traditional bilona method commonly sets with visible granules, and the same jar can be grainy in winter and almost liquid in summer.

Probably rancid rather than a bad variety. Walnuts are very high in polyunsaturated fat and turn quickly in warmth and light. Keep them in the fridge or freezer.

Start with kodra. Rinse it, then cook 1 part grain to 2.5 parts water for about 20 minutes. It behaves much like rice, so it fits into food you already make.

Roughly a third of what you would use of ordinary cumin — it is considerably stronger. Temper it in ghee at the start of the dish.

Message us on WhatsApp with a photo and we will replace it or refund it. We would genuinely rather hear about it than not — the previous business taught us that the people who complain are the ones worth listening to.

Tell us. Food is subjective and we would rather know than have you quietly not order again.

Most of what we sell is seasonal. Chilgoza comes in autumn, buransh only during the few weeks the rhododendron flowers, apricots in summer. When a season's harvest is gone, the next one is a year away. Message us and we will tell you when to expect it.

Sometimes, depending on the product and the season. Message us and we will tell you honestly whether we have the quantity.