Blending ingredients in Kent’s East Hill to create community | Harpreet Gill

There are many ingredients that blend together to create a community. One of the most important is to have a person with enduring belief and hope.

For East Hill in Kent, one of those special individuals is Harpreet Gill, owner of Panjab Sweets, at 23617 104th Ave. S.E., Building C.

Gill is the owner of the business, which was started by her parents, who are still involved. It is a family affair on both sides of the counter.

Gill is a successful business woman, and a strong advocate for the East Hill community and the city of Kent.

She began the International Festival in 2009 and works closely with  the community to promote good will of the diversity of East Hill.

The annual summer festival joins the diversity of the community in a day of celebration.

“It is a community showcasing its own musical and dance talents, pride in their culture and ethnic cuisine,” Gill wrote in an email. “I live and work in this beautifully diverse community, and it allows me to realize we actually have more similarities than differences.”

Gill earned a masters of business administration from Seattle University in 2006. She excels both in business and her sense of service.

Punjab Sweets features authentic vegetarian Indian cuisine. Gill said the sweets and snacks are “made from scratch. I think the appeal with our food is how fresh and tasty the food is. We don’t skimp out on the ingredients and many of the products are very labor intensive.”

People travel from across the state to come to the restaurant.

Many of the dishes and the sweets are used in festivals and holiday celebrations in the Indian culture

Gill said sweets are important part of many “wedding and births and people send sweets to loved ones. Sweets are one of the things that brings us together. At our houses everyone has sweets.”

The belief of coming together over food and celebration of culture is at the heart of much of Gill’s focus in the community.

The International Festival is a beginning for Gill.

“With the 130 or more languages we have in the Kent School District, it only makes sense we highlight this to the rest of the county and the state,” Gill said. “Not all communities can boast a vastly diverse community such as ours, and especially the location of my business where many of the businesses represent the overall population of this region.”

Food, culture and community combine for Gill into a larger vision of what makes a town a home for all.

“In these days as we live in such a global economy, engage in diverse activities and share each other’s languages and heritage, it is so important to recognize that ‘oneness’ in all of us,” Gill said. “This concept is what will allow us to dilute much of the hate and war that is so rampant in today’s society.”

A favorite sweet recipe of Harpreet Gill’s:

Rice Pudding

1 cup rice

12 cups milk

1 cup sugar

Boil the rice in water for about 3-5 min, just until they are a bit soaked in the water and tender. Drain the water. Boil the milk and then mix the rice into the milk. Simmer on low heat for about an hour. After the milk has thickened and the rice is completely cooked, add the sugar. Optional to add raisins, sliced nuts or pistachios. Serve hot or chilled.