Coupled to cook
CHENNAI: The hardships of life forced me and my husband to move to Chennai in 1985,” says Nandini Devi, a home cook, who along with her husband, Dhanik Lal have been cooking and delivering food for almost two decades.
Nandini’s life as a cook began after she was married to Lal, who was then based in Madhubani district of Bihar. “My mother-in-law used to look after the house and also work at farms. The most delectable delicacy at my in-laws’ home was the food cooked by my husband’s grandmother. Simple food like thick millet and ragi rotis with a cottage cheese dish was everyone’s favourite,” she says.
The couple decided to start delivering food to improve their financial status. “We have two kids and both of them are pursuing engineering. It was becoming hard to pay their college fees with just a single source of income,” she says. Nandini’s daughter handles the business on OLX, where she receives orders. Her daughter, Nandini says, is scared of her father and so most of her ideas are conveyed through Nandini.
“The idea to start delivering homecooked food to office-goers occurred when my husband told me that most of his colleagues were ordering poor quality food at a higher price from restaurants,” she shares. The couple then decided to cook simple food like roti-sabzi or dal-chawal at home and deliver it to those, who were in need of it. Currently, they cater lunch, evening snacks, and dinner to officegoers on a regular basis. They also take party orders on request.
Most of the spices used in their food are homemade. Dhanik buys the whole spices from Sowcarpet and she grinds them at home. “Homemade spices have their own flavours. If I need to grind masalas in huge quantity, I take them to the near-by flour mill,” says Nandini, who finds it hard to cook a dish without turmeric, garam masala and chillies. According to her, Indian food needs these three spices. Cumin powder is also a must in her kitchen.
The couple is often asked by their regular customers to cook chicken and mutton curry. “Though I get a lot of non-vegetarian orders, I love to cook vegetarian dishes only,” she says. A smile on her customer’s face after eating a fulfilling meal is what makes Nandini and Dhanik happy.
Parwal aur Aloo sabzi
Ingredients
Parwal: 2 nos, Aloo: 2no, chopped tomato, curry leaves, hing and haldi, bay leaves, cumin and coriander powder, ginger-chilli-garlic paste, garam masala, coriander leaves, cumin seeds, green chillies, and salt to taste.
Method
Peel and chop the parwal and potatoes. Heat some oil and fry them separately and set it aside. Now take another pan and heat some oil. Add bay leaves, curry leaves, hing, cumin seeds and sauté them. After this add the ginger chilli garlic paste and wait until the oil is released by the mixture. Now add salt, haldi, and the fried potatoes and parwals. Add water and slowly cook it on low flame till it becomes dark yellow in colour. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.
Sattu ka paratha
For the mixture: Sattu, chopped onion, green chilli, lemon juice, coriander powder, finely chopped chillies, chilli powder, salt to taste, ginger-chilli-garlic paste, oil For paratha: Flour, Water Oil to fry
Method
Add all the ingredients to the sattu and mix it well. Add water only to moist the mixture. Now knead the flour to the dough and make a small bowl-like shape to fill in the mixture. Cover the dough and roll it the rotis. Heat the pan and keep the roti on the pan until it is cooked lightly at the edges. Add oil to the edges and fry the rotis. Serve hot with mango pickle.