Mohit Arora from Delhi is a chemical engineer and his wife Mehak is a cosmologist. They got married in the year 2018 and both were earning around Rs 1,25,000 a month. Walked home easily. There was no hesitation or any other tension regarding money.
But there was something which was making both of them restless. In fact, the job was not getting them the happiness they wanted. His dream was to set up a business of his own. Both of them started thinking about starting a good business with less investment according to their pocket. Mehak said, “We had two options before us. Either we open a saloon or a street food stall. I had no experience in running a salon. There was a little doubt in my mind about this. The experience was not even that of a food stall, but Mohit knew how to cook very well.
On the other hand, they had to invest more money on the salon, whereas the food stall did not require a huge budget. After much deliberation, he made up his mind to start a food store. “The risk was low and there was no scope for much loss in case of failure,” she says.
And then both of them quit their jobs. But he had told the company that if his business was not successful, he would return to work after six months.
people used to make bad comments
In the year 2019, the couple started a weekend kiosk named ‘The Boss Cafe’ at a place in Ayodhya Chowk near Rohini Sector-7. Initially, he kept only two items at his food stall – soya chaap and momos. Mehak said, “We had invested only Rs 50,000 on the food stall. My brother in law also joined us to help.”
The challenge was not just raising money for the business and setting it up. There were many other problems which both of them were facing. Says Mehak, “We started our stall in a small shed in the scooter garage. We had neither a place to sit nor a shed to protect us from the heat and rain. Just somehow managing. No girl was associated with this type of business in the surrounding area, so sometimes some lewd comments were also heard from people.
She adds, “We often thought that business would not work and stalls would have to be closed. But then we started focusing all our attention on the stall. I started ignoring all the negative thoughts and comments of people. Mehak said, “Mohit loves to cook. He keeps experimenting with food. Sometimes making Tasty Noodles with Tandoori Masala and sometimes Baked Pasta. Then thought, if you want to do something different, then you have to put these special diseases in your menu.
Amazing Tandoori Flavor in Chowmein
Thus began the most liked Tandoori Chowmein at his stall. Sharing the recipe, Mohit says, “Homemade tandoori masala is our specialty. After frying the vegetable, boiled noodles and other ingredients are added to it and after the noodles are ready, coal is smoked for tandoori flavor. Chef Mohit said, “Place burnt coal in a small bowl between the noodles, pour butter on it and leave it covered for some time. Butter, masala and smoke add amazing tandoori flavor to the noodles.”
A plate of tandoori noodles costing Rs 100 has gone viral on social media. Talking about his business, he says, “The cafe was not doing well in the beginning. Not many people used to come to the stall. The reason for this was probably two things in the menu. We gradually increased the variety and came up with food items like Baked Cheese Pasta, Chili Potato, Spring Rolls and more.”
not too greedy
As soon as his business started growing, the lockdown was imposed due to Covid. Mohit says, “With great difficulty saved himself. Today a hundred customers visit our stall every day. We earn around three lakh rupees a month. Not too greedy. Food should not be heavy on people’s pockets, just take care of it. Although the prices of things are increasing continuously, but still the rates were not kept high.
In the near future, the couple plans to start a restaurant of their own. Finally, Mehak says, “If we had kept our dreams in our hearts, we would not have reached where we are today. We thought that even if we had failed, there would be no one, at least the satisfaction that we had made some effort. It is important to have the passion to make your dreams come true.”
Original article: Himanshu Nitnaware
Editing: Archana Dubey
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