THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For Delhi native Kuldeep Gaurav who shifted to Thiruvananthapuram two years ago, accessing homely North Indian food was always a challenge. Even more so was juggling cooking and his Infosys job. Until he met home-chef Deepika Kamnani who specialises in authentic North Indian cuisine.Fresh, customised and hygienic homely food has always been a luxury for city residents. But with a host of home chefs in the fray and an ever-growing list of home chefs, the unattainable is being achieved. One need not rely on hotel food anymore as you can get home-cooked food delivered at your office or home. You name the requirements and the 100-plus home chefs in the city offer you just that.
Kuldeep is now content knowing that the North Indian Thali he has for lunch is prepared exactly like how it is back home. “It is akin to having homemade food away from home. There are many hotels that serve North Indian food, but one can’t be sure about the quality. With her, I can customise my food also. I have been to her home and I know how the food is prepared. That matters,” says Kuldeep.
His sentiment is echoed by many in the city where homemade food is gaining popularity and the home chefs are increasing by the numbers. Deepika is just one among the chefs whose homely fare has found resonance with the city residents’ taste buds. “Once I cooked food for some doctors from North India practising at the Medical College here.
They persuaded me to continue cooking for them and that was how it all began,” says Deepika, a native of Kanpur who relocated to Thiruvananthapuram after marriage. That was four years back and there has not been any looking back. Deepika is a name that crops up in any foodies mind when it comes to homely North Indian fare. Deepika’s food goes under the label Leela’s Kitchen, named after her mother-in-law, and has even tiffin for school kids, food prepared for the Jains, apart from the usual North Indian dishes.
Customised food is the highlight of home chefs. It is one aspect that only home-based chefs can vouch for, unlike hotels where one doesn’t know what goes into the plate. For instance, there are some customers like Lekshmi Sreenivas who asked Deepika to cool the food before transferring to plastic containers. “I cannot put into words how comforting it is to have an option like this as it isn’t feasible for me to cook after work. I buy dinner on a daily basis and for me knowing that food is prepared hygienically and as per my requirements is a relief,” says Lekshmi working at the Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology.
It is the same in the kitchens of Sheeba R, Suchitra Reghuram or the many home chefs out there. “You can rest assured there will be no allergy breakouts. I ask customers whilst placing an order on any allergens that we have to be wary about. It was only recently I learned some people are allergic to green chilly,” says Suchitra.Sheeba R, who works as a teacher at a kindergarten, is another home-chef whose culinary prowess is getting rave reviews. Sheeba is a natural, someone who started cooking from a young age of ten and her homely delights are being sold like hot cakes. Her highlight is cakes, Arabian desserts, myriad varieties of biriyani and snacks apart from main course dishes.
Although she has been baking cakes from home for the past five years, the recent success of home-based food has emboldened her enough to embrace her passion for cooking. She is all geared up to quit her job and develop her label ‘La Fleur’.With an eclectic array of yummy pork dishes, Suchitra Reghuram of Nexus Kitchen has caught the attention of the city folks. A vast array of non-veg homely dishes dominate her fare. She keeps track of the orders via her WhatsApp groups and Facebook page where she posts her daily menu. An MBA graduate who took to cooking after her marriage, Suchitra ensures no meat product is stored for the next day and the customers get fresh, hygienic food.For many city residents, particularly office-goers, it is a relief their tribe is only growing, offering wider and safer options.
