The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, but for We The Chefs, every day of the year is dedicated to women. The overwhelming majority of our band of 350 (and counting!) home chefs are women and it is their empowerment that gives We The Chefs its reach and influence.
It is not only the number of women associated with We The Chefs who give us our strength, but as Shelly Tripathi, our home chef based out of Bengaluru points out, by employing economically disadvantaged women in her kitchen, she has “empowered the marginalised”.
“I have created opportunities for the youth to manage and deliver food, and run their own WhatsApp groups; I have trained them with soft skills and customer centricity,” Shelly said.
“What can be more empowering than this. Money will eventually come. Creating health, taste, a culture of seasonality, promoting small-scale women entrepreneurs and creating job opportunities for destitute women, it has been a tremendous journey,” the home chef added.
For Namrata Kohli, our star baker whose boozy brownies are a hit at every party curated by We The Chefs, moving away from her comfortable HR job has been “incredibly empowering because it has constantly pushed me to expand my horizons and take on challenges I never thought possible”.
Speaking about her collaboration with We The Chefs, Namrata said: “I have found myself tackling increasingly complex projects, from creating elaborate three-tier cakes to exploring entirely new territories like vegan baking. Each new challenge has built my confidence and shown me that I’m capable of far more than I initially believed.”
The acquisition of this capability has made Namrata decide on getting better at her second career. “It has been perfect for me because this career path combines creativity with continuous growth,” Namrata said. “There’s an incredible sense of achievement in successfully executing a challenging recipe or mastering a new technique. It is this sense of accomplishment that drives me to keep pushing my boundaries.”
Have you ordered Namrata’s brownies and other chocolate treats? Click here to do it now.
Namrata spoke about collaboration and empowerment, which are at the core of everything that We The Chefs does. We constantly collaborate with our home chefs and connect them, via our website and the daily events we curate, with a market that is much bigger than their housing societies or WhatsApp groups.
We invest in marketing them on our WhatsApp and YouTube channels and also on our Instagram handle and Facebook pages. We aggregate orders for their preparations from users of our website and organise home deliveries. And some of our home chefs have tied up with us to put together our Z’Appetite party packs, which are designed to make the job of hosting a party at home that much easier.
We are also tying up with our home chefs to get them to coach our team at the Biryani Talks kitchen so that we get to include more regional biryanis on our menu. We have Jayita Sen teaching us how to get the nuances of the Kolkata biryani right (just the way Nawab Wajid Ali Shah intended it to be!) and Rekha Raghavan has already trained our team to dish up a Thalaserry biryani like they do it in northern Kerala.
Click here to check out what’s cooking at Biryani Talks
Talking about her experience with We The Chefs, Jayita said: “I feel I am in the right place. From my humble kitchen at home, I churn out 30 kilos of just various kinds of mutton dishes, working only on weekends. And then I have other things to do. I am also into catering and last year I got my biggest assignment at the India International Centre, courtesy of We The Chefs.”
Little surprise then that Jayita has a sense of satisfaction about making a career change after spending 22 years in the media and retail sectors. “It is a great career if one is honest, not compromise on ingredients and, most importantly, keeps one’s ego aside,” Jayita said. “I have learnt never to argue with my clients. If someone’s not happy with my food, I either return the money, or, better still, compensate with a complimentary meal.”
We at We The Chefs have a vested interest in keeping our home chefs connected and content. We are committed to making their career switch worth their while. Take Rekha Rigo, for instance.
An award-winning home chef who made the switch after a long stint in the garment industry, Rekha Rigo turned “a passion into a profession”. Well-known now for her interpretations of Andhra and Tamil coastal fare, Rekha said: “There is immense satisfaction and a feeling of fulfilment in doing what I love, which is cooking. It has given me an opportunity to showcase a talent that was in the backburner.”
On a more personal note, Rekha said being a home chef had also “helped me in finding a purpose in life, a sense of self-worth, especially now, when my children are all grown up and have careers of their own”. She then went on to underline what she had achieved for herself as a home chef. “It is a journey of self-discovery all over again and I am thoroughly enjoying it,” Rekha said. “Emotional and financial empowerment along with interpersonal relationships with clients are what I treasure the most about being a home chef.”
For Prima Kurien, whose lavish Onam Sadhya at the We The Chefs Experiential Centre in Gurugram last year drew praise from all guests, the sense of feeling empowered – or “the junoon”, as she put it – comes from “being the flag-bearer of my native (Kerala) cuisine”.
She said it is the “adrenaline” that has helped her “stay the course” over the past three decades she has been cooking for others out of her base kitchen. Looking back, Prima said, “I stumbled into cooking by default. Let me say nostalgia and my first request to cook dinner for a corporate house started me down the rabbit hole.”
Click here to get details of what Prima has on her menu today
Elaborating on the theme of empowerment, Rekha Raghavan, who has been associated with the We The Chefs since the platform was launched, said: “Being a home chef has given me creative freedom, financial independence, and a platform to share my culinary heritage. It allows me to curate menus, host events, and bring people together through food. Cooking isn’t just a profession for me – it is my passion and identity.”
It was Rekha, incidentally, who wowed more than 200 guests each on two nights, first with a Kashmiri Wazwan spread and subsequently with a toddy shop-inspired dinner, at the India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi last October. We The Chefs curated these dinners exclusively for IIC members, who represent the crème de la crème of Delhi’s elite, at the end of each day of the Centre’s annual Festival of the Arts.
Click here and discover for yourself what’s keeping Rekha Raghavan busy today
Such achievements almost daily make life special for our band of home chefs. As the other Rekha – Rekha Rigo – said with conviction: “If cooking is your passion, go ahead and discover the magic you can create. Originality and customisation are the key ingredients that make a home chef special and keep her customers happy. Start small, work hard, keep it consistent, feel the pulse of your clients, accept constructive criticism and take it forward.”
Rekha Rigo’s parting thought is something you’ll keep hearing from the We The Chefs family. “Good work and honest efforts never fail you,” she said – and she should know this, just like our other home chefs – better than most. Get set for International Women’s Day. Make it special with We The Chefs.
Click here to book a Z’Appetite pack for your next home party. Give us at least 12 hours’ notice and your minimum order should not be less than Rs 2,999/-
Tags: International Women’s Day; Home Chef; Home Chef in Gurgaon; We The Chefs; We The Chefs Experiential Centre; Biryani Talks; Namrata Kohli; Jayita Sen; Rekha Rigo; Prima Kurien; Rekha Raghavan; Kolkata Biryani; Thalassery Biryani