WHEN WE VISITED both Munnar (5200 feet above sea) and Kodaikanal (7300 feet above sea level), both on the Western Ghats in southern India, we noticed many shops selling teas, herbs, spices, oils, and chocolate. All of the shops claimed to be selling homemade chocolate, and what I sampled of it was on the whole both tasty and good quality. The variety of different types of chocolate was remarkable. One could buy plain dark and milk chocolate, with or without nuts, as well as different coloured chocolates flavoured with fruit essences. The flavours of the fruit chocolates tasted as if real fruit had been used rather than synthetic flavourings.

Both Munnar and Kodaikanal have good climates for both cocoa growing and especially for processing it into chocolate. However, cocoa grows better at altitudes lower than those of Munnar and Kodaikanal. Much of this crop is grown in the southern Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.   One shopkeeper told us that despite this, much of the cocoa used comes from a warehouse in Pune (Maharashtra).

According to  a website (www.sterlingholidays.com/blog/kodaikanal-indias-chocolate-factory/), when American missionaries arrived in the Kodaikanal district in 1845, they discovered a number of interesting plant species. Amongst these, growing wild, was a plant that Europeans had previously not known to exist in India: the cocoa plant. As a result, Kodaikanal became the first place in India to produce chocolate. Growth in the popularity of chocolate in India only began to take off when Cadbury, a British company, began importing the confection in 1948. Now, it also manufactures its chocolate products in India.

Although large companies such as Amul and Cadbury produce excellent chocolates, what can be bought in the many small shops in Munnar and Kodaikanal is also very acceptable and more interesting in taste than the industrial products.