Where’s the Dabbawalla’s Kitchen?

Mumbai's Dabbawallas are known world over for the phenomenal tiffin delivery service that they provide. They are the epitome of six sigma, meaning that they commit less than 3 mistakes in a million deliveries. All this they manage without any technological backup.

But they only carry out tiffin deliveries, the food which goes into their dabbas is cooked elsewhere and not in one particular kitchen. The food is cooked in numerous kitchens of numerous home and then the Dabbawallas collect the fresh home cooked food tiffin from them and deliver them to their exact destinations everyday. Some tiffin service providers in Mumbai also handover their tiffin's to these Dabbawallas who then take them further to those who have prescribed to their services. Chadaro, a tiffin service brand which offers Veg tiffin and Jain Veg tiffin also have a tie-up with them. The Dabbawallas deliver Chadaro tiffins along the Western line.

It is beyond my imagination that how do they manage to do it with such an accuracy. They have a special colour coding system on each tiffin they carry. The code is said to have colours which stand for the destination and recipient's location. Around 5000 dabbawallas carry out 1,75,000-2,00,000 lunch boxes delivery, each of them earning around Rs 8000 per month.

As far as promise delivery is concerned, they are true to their words- "On time, every time". Hats off to them for the exemplary and flawless service that they provide. 

I would like to know what's your take on their service? So, do drop your views about them in the comment box below.

 

Memories of My Granny's Kitchen

The aroma would fill up her entire kitchen whenever she would prepare mango pickle. All the heavenly dishes that she would cook would change course with every other festival. Diwali, Holi, Navratri, Ganesh Chaturthi any many other festivals like these would mean tempting aromas of ladoos, puran polis and modaks in her kitchen. The mouth-watering delicacies that she would prepare were as luscious as their aromas were.

Getting nostalgic of those day of my childhood when all my school friends would envy me because of the yummy food that she would prepare for my school tiffin, makes me badly crave for it today.
I remember all the neighbouring aunties telling her to start her own tiffin service because of the tasty and healthy food that she could prepare. My mother would also encourage her for the same by saying, "You are a perfect chef for a tiffin service in Mumbai. Nobody can ever beat you in that!" I would also try my bit by saying, "I can help you in tiffin delivery." But she would just laugh it off and say, "I don't know about Mumbai but I am happy and content in being the perfect chef for my family."

Every time I order a tiffin, these memories come gushing back to my mind. I simply wonder that her business would have flourished had she taken up something like pure veg tiffin's services and later expanded it into a corporate catering business. I would have given a helping hand to her and we could have made it a success. But she had some other plans in her mind, plans that were limited to her family and friends, plans which did not involve money in return for her food but priceless things like smiles of contentment and happiness on our faces on having her food.

I miss her, miss that aroma, I miss that taste of the yummy food that she would cook. I wish I should have learnt some of her best recipes so as to pass them on to my kids and the next generations to come. Although my mom did manage to learn a few, there were many other which she didn't, which would have helped me prepare the kind of food I long for today, the one which brings a smile of contentment on my face.

If you have any such memories of you and your Granny then share them with me in the comment box below. I would love to hear them!

What's Cooking In Their Kitchen?

In my first post I blogged about a visit to Chadaro which offers tiffin service in Mumbai. A lot of my friends, after having read that post are eager to know what's on their menu and the details about Chadaro's tiffin service. This prompt me to write this follow-up post which would talk about what cooks in Chadaro's Kitchen in detail.

As I told you earlier that they have a vegetarian menu which offers meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Their delightful breakfast menu for regular veg tiffins and jain veg tiffins consists of Alu Wada, Cutlets, Bread Roll, Pyaj Kachori, Dahi Kachori, Channa Dal Wada, Sprouted Salad, Samosa, Fruit Chat, Sprouted Chat and Corn Chat. For those who love South Indian food, they have Idli-Sambhar, Fried Idli, Rawa Idli, Set Dosa, Medu Wada, Uttappam etc. Apart from this they also have Pasta, Spinach Paratha, Mix Veg Paratha, Methi Paratha, Kanda Poha, Upma, Fruit Salad and Frankie.

If your looking forward to order a tiffin for lunch or dinner then they have Chadaro Basic, Deluxe, Executive, Regular and Premium Thali. Each costing Rs 45, Rs 100, Rs 65, Rs 80 and Rs 145 respectively for one time. They have 30 days packages for each of these in case if you want a monthly service of Chadaro tiffin's. If you are a Mumbaikar then Chadaro has a Mumbaikar special package as well which is priced at Rs 2,451 for 30 days.

Chadaro is also into catering. They offer corporate catering services, catering for events, birthdays and anniversaries, get togethers etc. They also provide Thali on long distance trains.

If this sounds good to you and has already made you feel hungry then you can place your order here Chadaro.com or call on 74988 74988.

I have covered most of the details which you would have wanted to know but in case if you still have any queries you can message them to me or drop a comment below.

The Must Haves: Indian Vegan Kitchen

If one fine day you decide to go vegan, the first thing that would dawn on you would be to transform your kitchen into a vegan one. But then you would wonder how do you go about doing so? Hence, the next thing you would do is Google- ‘Vegan Kitchen Essentials’ and then the results that would show up would contain all sorts of item but the ones which you can actually find easily in your nearby markets.

So, I decided to compile a list of the must haves which you can easily find in your local markets. You can then stuff them into your all new Vegan Kitchen and kick start cooking vegan delicacies that can go into your breakfast tiffin’s or into your kid’s school tiffin box.

Make sure that your Kitchen never lacks any of the following:

1.       Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2.       Fresh Veggies like peas, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, carrots, leafy vegetables etc.

3.      Spices like sea salt, turmeric, black pepper, chillies, garam masala, cloves, ground coriander, cinnamon, cumin etc.

4.       Flour

5.       Ginger & garlic

6.       Lentils

7.       Fresh fruits like apples, bananas, oranges, grapes, strawberries etc.

8.       Lemons

9.       Non-dairy milk (Rice, coconut, soy, almond etc.)

10.   Nuts like walnuts, peanuts, almonds, etc.

Snoop into any regular vegan kitchen in India and you would definitely find this stuff around, especially in kitchens where food that goes into Jain Veg tiffin is cooked. You can cook your favorite salad or prepare tasty and healthy juices with the help of this list. I am sure all the vegan moms out there who every morning cook vegan dishes which go into the Veg tiffin’s of their vegan kids would give a testimony for how this list involves all the prerequisites for a vegan kitchen.

If you are a vegan mom and would like to add anything more to my list then please do drop a comment for the same. Till then keep coming back to my blog for there’s a lot more interesting stuff coming soon your way!

State of the Art Kitchen : Chadaro

The other day, I managed to visit Chadaro's kitchen with a friend of mine who works there. Knowing that a visit to this kitchen would interest the food lover in me, he asked me to come over assuring me that it would be worth all the time and efforts it would take to go all the way till Vasai from Thane.

Before I reveal whether I was bowled over or not, let me first tell you what Chadaro is all about. It is brand which offers packed food tiffin service. They provide Veg tiffin and Jain Veg tiffin across Mumbai. Be it breakfast, lunch or dinner, they have a variety of meals for these. If you are a busy professional or an outstation student with no time to cook your own food, if you are too bugged up eating out at restaurants and are craving for 'Ghar ka khana' then Chadaro is a saviour for you!

When I stepped into their kitchen, I wasn't much amazed initially as at my first glance it seemed to be a clean and tidy kitchen which I had expected it to be. But gradually as my friend began to take me around the kitchen showing various machines and explaining their functioning, giving me details about the capacity of food that can be produced by them, I was thrilled! It was astounding to see the potato peeling machine, the vegetable chopping machines, the huge RO water treatment plants and many other such technologically advanced machines which together made up the state of the art kitchen of Chadaro. Chadaro is very keen on delivering what it promises- "Fresh and hygienic high quality food". This clearly reflected from the way the cleanliness and hygiene factors are taken care of at every level, right from handpicking fresh ingredients, washing, chopping and cooking them to packaging and delivering.

The chefs and the other cooks are well skilled and trained to cook high quality tasty food in large quantities using those machines. Tasting their food was an altogether different experience in itself which reminded me of home made food cooked by my Granny. Out of curiosity I asked one of the chef that how did they manage to bring out that taste as most of the food today offered by restaurants or by other packed food services tastes almost the same. It was then that he told me that the secret of their recipe was their very own self-made unique specially ground spice mix that gave the food a home made taste.

The taste of their food lingered on my tongue all day long and I found myself placing an order for a lunch thali the very next day. To sum up the whole experience in three words I would say- Tasty, fresh and healthy!

In case if you too have happened to come across any restaurant or a dabba service in Mumbai which offers food that reminds you of 'Maa ke haath ka khana' then share your experience with me in the comment box. I would love to hear such experiences from you!