Billing for your sweet and bakery shop in Meghalaya
A batch of pukhlein counted by the piece, school-time pennies added up, and a counter open past midnight.
Tools for a morning batch, a December sack of flour and a carol night
Low stock warnings
A warning when the jaggery or the ground rice for the next batch of pukhlein is down to the last kilo. The warning comes the evening before, not the morning of the frying.
Daily reports
The school hour's pieces and the carol night's slices shown beside an ordinary day, so next year's trays are baked to that.
Orders to suppliers
The December order for dried fruit, flour and sugar sent to the wholesaler in Shillong's market, and ticked off sack by sack as it arrives.
The batch counted by evening, the school lane's pieces added up, and yesterday's pukhlein at a lower rate
The third batch at four o'clock, decided from a number
A third batch takes more jaggery and grated coconut from the shelf. At four o'clock you read how many pukhlein are left from the two batches already sold down, and decide whether the extra pan is worth lighting.
The school lane's pieces, added up without a pause
Make a single piece and a small bun each an item with its own rate. In the rush a sale is two taps, and the day's report adds the dozens of tiny sales up for you. At night the money in the box matches the pieces that went, and you know the school hour was worth the extra tray.
Yesterday's pukhlein on its own line at a lower rate
Pukhlein left over from yesterday is still good for tea, but not at today's rate. Make yesterday's pieces a separate item with a lower rate. Each sale takes one off, and at night the report shows how many old pieces went, apart from today's fresh batch.
A snack gone by evening, a lane of children at four, and a cash box counted at midnight
Pukhlein is made in the morning and gone by evening
Pukhlein is fried fresh and sold with tea. You make a batch, and a second one if the first goes quickly. It is not easy to say at four o'clock how many pieces went, how many are left and whether a third batch is worth lighting the fire for. The jaggery and the coconut for that batch are not cheap, and a batch left over is a loss you only notice at night.
School closes, and the lane fills with children who want one piece each
At closing time the children come out of school in a rush. Each wants a single piece or a small bun and holds out a few rupees. It is dozens of tiny sales in ten minutes, nobody writes them down, and at night the money in the box is higher or lower than you expected and you cannot tell why. By the time the lane is quiet, the trays are almost empty and the counting is the last thing you have the energy for.
Carol groups stop at the shop in December, and the counter stays open late
In December the shop stays open late into the night. Carol groups come by after singing and buy cake by the slice, shop owners from the neighbouring lanes stop to buy bread, and the queue never really goes. By the time the shutter comes down the cash box, the trays and your head give three different totals. A cold December night makes everyone slow, and a slice sold in the dark is the easiest one to forget.
What the people of Ri Bhoi and South Garo Hills bring to a bakery counter
What a bakery counter sells depends on what the district grows, and these two give it grain and fruit.
- In Ri Bhoi's Umling block the main occupation is cultivation, and Byrnihat has an industrial estate whose workers stop by for tea and a snack.
- A jackfruit processing unit opened at Rongara in South Garo Hills in February 2024 and can process over 700 tonnes a year.
Questions Meghalaya bakeries and sweet shops ask
Can I sell a plate of pukhlein with tea as one item?
Yes. The plate with tea has one rate of its own, apart from the single piece, and each shows in the day's sales.
A child's coin buys one piece. Does that bill need a name?
No. Leave the name empty. The bill is a line in the day's count, and no child is asked who he is.
On market day a woman from the village takes a tray of pukhlein to sell at her own stall and pays in the evening. Can she have a page?
Yes. Open a page in her name and put the tray on it with the day. In the evening you write what she pays, and the page shows what is still left to pay, so the next market day starts clean.
The carol group's leader pays the next day, but each singer wants to see what she ate. Can she get a copy?
Yes. After the leader's bill is made, send a copy of it on WhatsApp to each singer who asks. Everyone sees the slices on it, and the leader pays one amount the next day.
Pukhlein and the Christmas crowds of Shillong
Pukhlein is a traditional sugary snack of Shillong, made with grated coconut, jaggery and ground rice and deep fried.
In December, Shillong's markets are crowded and shopkeepers keep open late into the night. Christmas cakes and bakery treats fill the counters, so a bakery's December is the month its counter is longest.