The meat maker
Don't want to step out but craving that Thalappakatti mutton biryani for lunch? Pick up the phone and call Pappasree Baburaj, who along with her mother started cooking and catering food to bachelors and families in the city. Her speciality? Entirely non-vegetarian food.
Pappasree's first order came through a few months back, earlier this year. After receiving an overwhelming feedback, the 25-year-old was motivated to pursue this new-found venture with greater enthusiasm. “Initially, my mother used to run a women’s hostel, where she used to cook for the girls there. All of them loved her cooking, this too was a big motivation for us to start this business,” she shares.
Pappasree straddles two worlds — being a working professional, and engaging herself in cooking and catering. “I leave for work at 8 am and return by 7 pm. I complete my orders either before or after work. When you are a home chef, you can be flexible about cooking timings. I can accept and reject orders based on my preferences, but my ultimate goal is to enjoy what I do and ensure my customers are happy,” she shares.
Her Facebook page played a big role in building a client base. “I am a part of a few food groups on Facebook, and these groups helped me get hold of customers I can cater to. There are so many families who have settled down in Chennai from my native (Madurai) and I am sure they’d be missing the non-vegetarian food that Madurai is known for. I can guarantee that I can cook all the Madurai non-veg specialities," she says.
Pappasree’s duties don’t stop at handling the kitchen; she also delivers what she cooks. “A lot of hard work has gone into building my own kitchen with the motive of opening my own restaurant. This business has fewer investments and that is exactly why I started off with this,” she explains. While Pappasree has no standard menu, orders are customisable and range from `100 to `200 per person.
pappasree's Bestsellers
The green cook
Ever heard of couple goals? If not, here is a classic example. Meet Jayalakshmi Vaidhyanathan (61) and her husband Vaidhyanathan (68), who form a great team, only to make sure the lady of the house pursues what she loves — cooking.
It is often said that a woman is behind every man’s success, but not in the case of this 61-year-old ‘Iyer aathu maami’. Jayalakshmi is an independent woman, who runs her own small kitchen and supplies home-cooked food.
“It all started when I was a young girl, and assisted my mother in the kitchen. My love and passion for cooking began many years ago. After my marriage, I had two daughters and now I have lovely grandchildren. My love for the art has not died down,” she shares and goes on to introduce her husband, who has been her pillar
of support.
Sixty eight-year-old Vaidhyanathan works in a private company and helps his wife before and after his work hours. “My office timings are usually 11 am to 5 pm. Once I am done with work I help her with delivering the food, and also shop for veggies,” he says.
Jayalakshmi started off this business three years ago. What keeps her going is the feedback from her customers. She caters food to customers who live in and around Valasaravakkam, including Anna Nagar, KK Nagar, Vadapalani, Koyambedu, Mogappair and Virugambakkam.
“I don’t cook anything that is extraordinary for my customers. It is just the usual sambhar, rasam, porial, kutty, chapathi and subji. When I cook for myself and my husband, I prepare some more of the same food based on my orders. But I do it with a lot of passion. I think that is why my customers like my food,” she shares.
“Even before I started to cook and sell, for about 10 years I used to make pickles, ready-to-eat powders and vadams (fries).” Pointing at her daughter Srividya, she says, “Srividya helped me expand my business, by posting about my services on social media.”
But, what’s so special about Jayalakshmi’s kitchen? All the ingredients for her dishes are handcrafted and made by her from scratch. “Right from sambhar podi to idli podi and chapathi maavu, I make it all at home. The vegetables are freshly bought from Koyambedu. We also take up festival orders and make special dishes, including poli. Also for one meal, which easily serves two people I charge `120 plus `20 for as delivery charges. Each meal pack has rice, two kinds of gravy and one porial,” she explains.
Jayalakshmi and Vaidhyanathan are also green crusaders. They deliver food in stainless steel tiffin boxes and hot packs.
Best of Jayalakshmi’s kitchen
The bread winner
Bored of having the same idli, sambhar, dosai, upma for breakfast every day? 'The Food Saga’ can fill your plate with fresh home-baked vegan-eggless breads. Vegan and eggless, that does sound different? This is what makes Manisha Kumbhat a unique home-based chef.
As we enter Manisha's kitchen, the aroma of freshly baked-bread fills up our senses. The Food Saga is the brainchild of this 53-year-old homemaker, who now bakes her own bread and delivers it to many of her customers across the city. Married in 1989, Manisha is a mother of two kids. She started cooking and selling food in 1997, and for three years she continued to do so. She took a long break to focus on her kids, but she did not stop cooking. "Even then I used to try new recipes and serve my kids, and they always enjoyed my food. My son has always been a big critic,” she says.
The cuisines she cooks include Mexican, Lebanese, Chinese, Italian and Indian. “It took three years for me to reach where I am today. I got many customers through word of mouth, and later my daughter persuaded me to make Food Saga popular, and started an Instagram and Facebook page,” she says.
While she bakes different kinds of bread, pita-hummus tops Manisha's menu.
Recalling one of the best feedbacks from her customers, an overwhelmed Manisha says, “It was only recently that my customer's little daughter tasted my food and said that she wanted to adopt me.”
“The customer must place the order with me at least three days in advance. I outsource my deliveries and the customer has to bear the delivery cost as well. However, I pay for delivery charges if the order is more than `2,500.” Calling herself a workaholic, Manisha shares, “There have been days when I have not slept throughout the night to complete orders." Everything from shopping, chopping, cooking, and cleaning is handled by Manisha.
Manisha loves to travel. “My travel has helped me learn about food. Any place I go to, I try out the food there and understand its preparation so that I get the taste right in my kitchen,” she says. Most of her ingredients are home-made.
At the Food Saga, finger foods cost about `50 and based on the order, on an average, the costs go up to `125 per person (excluding delivery charges). “My long-time dream has been to open a food truck,” she says.
Must try from Manisha’s kitchen
The Mini twist
Having a lazy day and plan to eat some delicious north Indian food? Meet Mini, an enterprising home chef.
Cooking, for Mini, is synonymous with adventure. When Mini got married, she was clueless about cooking. So she decided to take the ladles, spoons...and other kitchen accoutrements in her own hands, and start cooking. "I used to watch a lot of food-based videos, read recipes and try it at home. But every dish had a Mini-twist. This slowly became my passion,” she says.
Mini's husband and her eight-year-old son have been silently supporting her. “I must say at eight, my son has been very understanding, he is aware that I love cooking and has adjusted a lot. My husband takes care of our son while I complete my orders.”
Malai methi, paneer butter masala, rajma chawal, aloo mutter… name it and Mini can cook it up in just 45 minutes. “I accept instant orders and take around 45 minutes to one hour to finish my cooking. I do not believe in saying no to my customers," says Mini.
Mini has been in the business for 10 years, “But my learning has not stopped, I continue to learn as I get new orders. I left my career in a corporate firm and took this up. And now my motive is to learn baking,” she says.
On weekends, Mini tries out different cuisines at various restaurants in the city. “I am a big-time foodie and I love to eat out. I make sure my Saturdays and Sundays are to eat out with my family,” she says.
“Onion and garlic are two ingredients that add a lot of flavour to any dish. I once got an order from a Jain customer, who did not want onion or garlic in their food. I took that up as a challenge and gave my best. And my customers were more than just happy.”
Although Mini does not offer door delivery, in exceptional cases she does accept one or two delivery orders. Her package ranges from about `120 to `150 that serves one 250 ml of subji.