Home food with a twist by Cauldron Sisters

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Looking for fresh, hygienic and utterly delicious home cooked food? We present to you the “witches” of modern day home cooking – Ratika Bhargava (35) and Richa Khetan (29), popularly known as the ‘Cauldron Sisters’. This sister duo is slowly but surely popularizing in Jaipur the trend of ordering home cooked food rather than from a hotel or restaurant. And by home cooked food we do not mean just daal and roti but vegetarian relishes of multiple cuisines like Chinese, Thai, Burmese, Japanese, Spanish, you name it and they have it.

The Cauldron Sisters -- Richa and Ratika — The Cauldron Sisters — Richa and Ratika

“I lived in a joint family and had always seen food being cooked in large quantities. After my class 10 board exams, I joined a cooking class in the summer vacation. I used to come home and cook something new every day. My sister, Richa, was the “guinea pig” on whom I tried and tested all the experiments I did with cooking”, recalls Ratika while talking about her interest in cooking. And the little sister didn’t seem to mind it a bit. “For me those summer vacations were like a feast. Every day I got to try a new dish without putting in any effort at all”, says Richa.

While Ratika did a professional course in bartending, Richa had a keen interest in the hotel industry. However, she did not enjoy pursuing hotel management as it did not involve any real practical cooking experience. Since a long time the two sisters wanted to start their own endeavour in the arena of cooking. But nothing really seemed to work out.

Around one and a half years ago, Ratika and Richa finally got a break when one of their friends asked them to do a giveaway for the guests for her baby shower. Ditching the conventional ladoos and rasgullas, the duo decided to make jar cakes for the occasion which turned out to be a great hit. And then the two enthusiastic chefs decided to start home based food providing service. This option also seemed to work out as Ratika could also tend to her three year old toddler at home. For the ones that want to do business and deliver their food, can learn how to become a food delivery driver and more.

Eventually, through word of mouth publicity and social media networking sites, the ‘Cauldron Sisters’ became well known in the city for their home cooked yet sumptuous eats and drinks. Customized menus according to one’s taste and budget are their USP. Not only are they known for their tasteful delights but also the way they tweak dishes like sushi and popcorn in an innovative manner. Richa loves experimenting with Sushi especially giving it a sweet twist. Her Sushi desserts like Doughnuts and balls are indeed out of the box. Similarly, on Lohri they made peri peri popcorn and Italian sesame cookies. ‘Kulhad Chola Chawal’ and ‘Khow Suey’ are also some of their signature dishes.

While the taste and presentation of food is pivotal to sustain oneself in this industry, it is also equally important to build a relationship with the client. To stay in regular touch with their clients and to introduce them to their new food inventions, the Cauldron Sisters make it a point to send regular food samples to their clients.

Recounting their most memorable experience as a food provider, Richa says that when they collaborated with a caterer and took an order for around 200 people, it was a great learning experience for them. They realized their strengths and shortcomings and diligently worked towards overcoming them.

These cooking maestros also take on hands on cookery classes. “These classes can be customized according to the requirements of the client like which cuisines they want to learn and according to the time and days that suit them”, says Richa. “We also have a special five day pre bridal workshop in which we teach over 40 basic dishes. These include white, brown and red gravies; koftas; Dal and Chole; rice dishes like biryani and pulao; salads and raitas and various types of rotis”, she adds. Apart from this our break making, sushi as well as baking and fondant classes are also quite popular. What sets the cookery classes of Cauldron Sisters apart from the others is that they do not believe in sticking to any mundane demos or recipes, apart from the baking class where it is necessary to follow a certain method and measurement of ingredients. The elder cauldron sister, Ratika is all in for experimenting and innovating as you go along – ‘jugaad’ cooking as she likes to call it. It is not convenient to visit a big grocery store every other day and so we focus on cooking with regular ingredients that are easily available in every household.

Talking about their future plans, Ratika and Richa say: “We are planning to experiment with the technique of spherification. This is essentially a culinary process by which one can solidify liquids using certain chemicals. We are also planning to go entirely eco friendly with our packaging. Currently we use glass jars, foil paper and plastic. But we want to do away with plastic and explore paper packaging options.”

You can reach out to the Cauldron Sisters for multi cuisine cooked and semi cooked food items for occasions like birthday parties, kitty parties, baby showers, engagements, wedding invitation gifts, among others. Home delivery facility is also available.

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