Home is where the hearth is

Cooking from the comfort of their kitchen, these women in Coimbatore whip up lavish feasts, rich in taste and tradition

April 29, 2014 06:17 pm | Updated May 21, 2016 01:54 pm IST - coimbatore:

Sheela Jaganath (centre), Anusha and Anvitha of Seventh Heaven pride themselves on cooking food from scratch.

Sheela Jaganath (centre), Anusha and Anvitha of Seventh Heaven pride themselves on cooking food from scratch.

Seventh Heaven

Sheela Jaganath, Anusha and Anvitha, Edayarpalayam

A mother and two daughters bonding over food. That is the story of Sheela Jaganath and her daughters Anusha and Anvitha. As children, engineers Anusha and Anvitha remember their kitchen goddess-mother whipping up delicacy after delicacy. That laid the foundation for their passion.

Today, the three of them bake under the name of Seventh Heaven (since 2013). Anusha, 27, lived in the U.S. for a while before she moved back here. Anvitha, 23, quit her job in an IT major to don the apron.

They pride themselves on cooking food from scratch. The cheese is home-made as are most sauces. Which is why they need prior notice.

In the kitchen, peace reigns, despite the generation gap. Each one shares a responsibility.

Anitha says working as a family is a dream come true. And, the sisters are raring to put their engineering knowledge to good use in the kitchen, so that they can standardise recipes.

USP: Speciality desserts such as pavlova, biscotti, baked Alaska, linzer cookies, matka cakes and fusion cupcakes.

Contact: 98942-53356

Fyroj Begum & Alisha Basin

Bhai Biryani, Avanashi

This saas-bahu combo works well in the kitchen. Fyroj, 54, dips into her family’s heirloom recipes to come up with lip-smacking biryanis. Alisha, 23, handles their Facebook page and cooks the side dishes. They use halal meat, unrefined groundnut oil and ghee, and home-ground spices. Their biryani travels to Gobi, Poondi, Coimbatore and Tirupur. A kg of mutton biryani (four kg after cooking) costs Rs. 1,400; the chicken version costs Rs. 1,100. Accompanying this is half a kg of cool cucumber-onion-pomegranate raita.

USP: Side dishes such as mutton sukka and kaadai fry.

Contact: 88709-60004

Sri Neelu Catering

Paapampatti Pirivu

Nine years ago, Kalpana Parthiban’s husband opted for voluntary retirement from a mill and the couple had to look out for another income source.

That was when Kalpana, 36, thought of starting a catering business from home. Today, she sends out 1,700 lunches and 500 dinners every day to nearby factories and caters for functions.

A team of 17 people help cut, clean and cook the huge quantity of food. She serves only vegetarian fare.

Work starts at 4 every morning and the last batch of lunch leaves her house at 12.30 p.m. Dinner preparations start at 3 p.m. and go on till 7.30 p.m.

Kalpana’s meals cater to the mid-level segment, and cost anywhere between Rs. 35 and Rs. 60 a plate

USP: Poondu kozhambu and ennai kathirikai.

Contact: 98946-94694

Tajinder Kaur

R.S. Puram

Tajinder, 44, grew up in Karol Bagh, that lovely locality in Delhi where streets teem with namkeen. She moved here 15 years ago. Her guests swore by her butter-laced parathas; kadhi-chawal, rajma-chawal and shahi paneer. That was when she decided to cater meals.

Her packed meals (Rs. 100 each) for breakfast, lunch and dinner are popular among outstation IT professionals and doctors. Each pack contains three parathas, or a roti/rice-subzi-raita-salad and dal combination.

USP: Home-cooked taste

Contact: 98947-20119

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