From a homemaker to a home chef – Urmil Jain’s journey has been an inspiring one. When she arrived in India in March 2020 from Singapore, her initial plan was to stay for about 20 days. Although she has been a resident of gk2 since 2007, she had been spending time with her younger son abroad. Knowing little this trip was to change things for times to come – she was unable to go back for the next couple of years as the Pandemic struck.
Urmil Jain has always loved cooking – be it for family, friends, and now unknown people. It was an art that she has passionately turned into a profession. Talking about her foray into the world of home chefs – she revealed that it happened by chance and one thing led to another. She made sweets to be sent over to a neighbour’s pregnant relative, which was hugely appreciated by one and all. This soon saw her inundated with requests to make more. The astrology and Vaastu expert turned into a new entrepreneur with her venture of traditional Indian sweets which was followed by snacks and savouries. The colony’s WhatsApp groups made her immensely popular in a short period.
Then the deadly second wave of covid happened and she started getting requests from many places to have home-cooked food delivered to their ailing family members in Delhi. Sensing an urgent need she conveniently made the shift from sweets and snacks to the daily dal, rotis, and sabjis sending out over a hundred meals per day. She would even cater to special requests of no oil or no masalas, never considering it a limiting factor. She would get calls from overseas, cities like Bengaluru, and Mumbai to have food delivered to their near and dear ones in Delhi. Delivery services like Dunzo and we fast helped reach out to even the most difficult of places. The neighbourhood grocery and vegetable stores kept the supplies flowing uninterrupted as also the unflinching support of her husband.
As the second wave of covid ebbed, the demand for simple home-cooked meals shrunk, giving way to small parties and celebrations which saw a new turn in her business – supplying fancy food for small and mid-size gatherings. Having embraced her love for cooking, Urmil Jain a thorough bred Delhiite has become one of the favourite and most sought-after home chefs. From Jor Bagh to Model Town, Chattarpur to GK2 – her journey has been a rewarding one.
