Unlocking Diaries: Kanpur ladies’ earn quick bucks with their yummy dishes

Something that started with a time pass during lockdown seems to be taking a commercial shape to earn some moolah. Ladies in Kanpur, who impressed their family members with sumptuous dishes during that time, are now using their

culinary skills

to make some fast bucks by preparing food on order.

Take for example the case of homemaker Riya Kharbanda, who brushed up her cookery skills during lockdown. She is now preparing food for city folk on orders. “Almost every day during the lockdown I was making some new dish for my family, who loved whatever I cooked. It was my husband Abhishek who suggested that I should start taking orders for food. The idea appealed to me and we both prepared a menu card and posted it online,” says Riya, who adds, “I was surprised with the response. I am doing a decent business these days. Be it Indian or continental, I get orders for every sort of dish.”

Same is the case with homemaker

Sanjana Bajaj

who’s making utmost use of her cooking expertise. “I have always been fond of cooking. Before lockdown, I used to often host lunch and dinner parties. It was during the lockdown that I thought of starting delivery of food made by me. I put a menu online and started getting orders almost immediately. People are still wary of going and eating in restaurants, so they prefer to have food cooked by people like us, which is safe and hygienic as well as tasty!”

Another

home cook

gaining ground is Tazeen Saif who too is treating city folk to some mouth-watering non-veg dishes. “People are still not sure about ordering food from restaurants. So, it is a good time to cash in on this. My menu for online orders comprises an array of non-vegetarian dishes. What brings magic to our recipes is the experience and all these age-old recipes that I am trying out these days,” shares Tazeen.
Lockdown came as a golden opportunity for

Jhalak Verma

too to earn some quick bucks. “I have pursued a professional baking course and with the unlock beginning, I decided to start online bookings for cakes, cookies and other bakery items. Now, I am flooded with orders. I ensure proper cleanliness and sanitization even while cooking at home,” she says.

Having ample time at hand, primary class teacher

Sanchita Sarkar

, also fond of cooking, decided to utilise her time constructively. And that led to her taking orders for home cooked food. “People would rather have ghar ka khana nowadays that at an restaurant. So seeing this as an opportunity, I decided to cook food on order. First I started with the delivery of food in my society and after getting good reviews, I then started taking online orders,” shares Sanchita.