Ksira Gelato is opening up their first shop in Ajax this summer. This gelato company has been serving the GTA through their online business for a few years and felt it was time they opened up a storefront.
Ksira Gelato focuses closely on blending classic South Asian flavours into a creamy gelato consistency. Kitchen Guerrilla, or Roshan Kanagarajah, is a chef from Toronto well known for his marinades, hot sauces and dry rubs and is also the gelato connoisseur behind Ksira Gelato.
Ksira Gelato initially started when Roshan would go out for dinner with his wife before they got married. Whenever they went out for dates, they always made sure to leave some space for gelato and explored different spots in the city. During that time, Roshan also worked as a cook and constantly wondered how he could utilize Tamil and Indian flavours. He partnered with one of his favourite gelato makers in the city and started to experiment with different ingredients. Eventually, he realized, lots of South Asian desserts fuse perfectly with gelato since these traditional desserts tend to be milk-forward and creamy.
Ksira Gelato uses a traditional Italian-style gelato base and incorporates spices like cardamom and jaggery. In their watalappan gelato, their signature flavour, they use kithul palm syrup (a native palm tree in Sri Lanka with a distinct taste, known as the maple syrup of South Asia) to sweeten that specific flavour. Watalappan is one of Ksira Gelato's popular flavours based on a classic Sri Lankan pudding made with coconut milk or condensed milk, jaggery, cashew nuts, eggs, cardamom, cloves and nutmeg.
Ksira also makes flavours like rose sherbet, another traditional flavour close to rose faluda -- a popular Indian drink. You can also find a pistachio saffron gelato flavour that is inspired by North Indian cuisine. They offer sorbets like mango and guava, all flavours familiar to the South Asian palate.
As for the upcoming stores, they have three openings, one in Ajax, Markham and Scarborough. Ajax and Markham should be open by August and the Scarborough location is planned to open up towards Fall 2021. They plan to have a rotating menu with new flavours every week. Specifically, the Ajax location will also operate as a cafe with grilled cheese sandwiches and classic Italian beverages. Roshan felt it would be great to start in Ajax first since it is a growing diverse community.
For now, keep a lookout for the first Ksira Gelato location to open up in Ajax at 1901 Harwood Ave, Unit #25, slated for this August.
