It all started 12 years back when she wanted to make good use of her time. "I was tired of sitting at home and I wanted to be engaged in something. My husband told me to do something that I was good at and of course, I knew what that was going to be," she says. She first started working on takeaways that later grew into a catering business. "From taking orders for five dishes, I expanded my menu to 15 and then 20," she says. And it was only expected, as cooking is something that came very naturally to almost every member of her family.
"My mom is an excellent cook, and so are my mother in-law and husband. Now even my daughters cook really well," she says, adding that though she hasn't pushed them to take it up professionally, she is happy that at least they can whip up something on their own whenever they want.
Tasneem comes from a family that shares a deep love for cooking and enjoying their culinary ventures. She remembers when her mother used to experiment and improvise with the dishes they saw being cooked on TV or those that they tried at restaurants. "Almost immediately, we would get to taste it, and she would have added her own twist to it, too," she says. That was what instilled in her a love for cooking, though she was never forced to cook. "It was when I was studying in college that I really felt I should cook," she says, and she hasn't looked back since.
When she first started cooking at home, she did everything from cleaning and cutting to cooking on her own. "I had a maid who'd help when there would be big orders, but I could do my bit pretty well," she says. Even now, with five cooks at the restaurant and other helping hands, she says that she can prepare any dish on her own. "I think that it's good to have the confidence to make anything off the menu, so that we don't falter in case anything happens," she says.
She loves eating butter chicken, which is also a signature dish of the restaurant. Besides that, potatoes are her all time favorite. "They are my weakness, I can eat it in any form, whether that is French fries or chips," she says.
The transformation from being a home caterer to a restaurant owner is certainly an interesting one. "I had a lot of freedom when I was working from home, as I had the liberty of refusing or accepting an offer according to my conveniences. But when you are taking orders at a restaurant, you not only have to accept the order, but see that you attend to each and every detail as they requested," she says.
In that way, every day is a challenge as every customer comes with his/her own set of demands, which she's happy to fulfill, of course. "A customer might come for butter chicken looking for the same taste. But every time I make it, the taste changes," she shares. However, her customers have always loved her presentations and barely has she received any complaints yet.
Cooking for so many years has made her realize one very important thing. "Cooking takes a lot of patience and until and unless you love it and are passionate about it, it is almost impossible to carry on," she says. However, she adds that if you master the basics of cooking, you can cook almost anything. "Simple things like how to keep the food warm a little longer, or how to cook the mutton well can contribute to the taste," she says.
The restaurant has added more work on her already full plate as she has to look after the management too. She also personally tries to reach out to her customers by meeting them and getting their feedback. However, she attends to the personal requests by clients to make dishes of their choices every once in a while.
With her constant experiments with food and working with well-guarded family recipes, she mixes and plays with the taste until she stumbles upon the best possible one. With her husband as her moral support and two daughters who have inherited her love of cooking, there seems to be no stopping Tasneem as she continues her love affair with food.
As told to Sachi Mulmi
Related story
Clutter free cooking
