Noorjahan was 23 when she joined Zaika-e-Nizamuddin (ZeN), a women’s collective preserving and popularising old Delhi’s salivary cuisine started in 2015.
Then a mother of a 3-year-old, she would have to gather immense courage every time she stepped outside the house.
Her in-laws and husband slapped her with a question that millions of Indian women get asked, ‘What is the need to work?’ The question soon turned into taunts such as how will she take care of the child if she stays out so late, there is no point in cooking food, Delhi has numerous options, etc.
But a Class 6 pass Noorjahan never gave up. She found her strength and confidence in 10 other women who were ready and excited to take ZeN to newer heights.
These ladies living in Nizamuddin basti worked hard day after day to serve delicious food, prepared from 700-year-old recipes, to people across Delhi and in return found their identity and financial independence.
Homemakers From This Basti Bring 700-Year-Old Mughlai Recipes to 5-Star Hotels
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The collective was conceptualised and initiated under the Nizamuddin Urban Renewal Initiative of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC). The trust handheld the 11 women and helped them with strategizing, quality control, capacity enhancement, and direct financial support including the kitchen setup and assets.
“ZeN was initiated in 2012 in response to a study conducted under the initiative’s ECCD (Early Childhood Care and Development) component, which revealed that more than 50 per cent of the children under the age of six in the basti were malnourished. Further exploration highlighted junk food to be one of the major causes of malnourishment in children. ZeN came into existence when a group of mothers was brought together to make and supply healthy homemade alternatives to the junk snacking in the basti. The group started its catering wing in 2015 selling the authentic micro cuisine of Nizamuddin eventually growing into an independent women’s enterprise and there was no looking back after that,” Swati Batra, Programme Officer of Women’s Livelihood at AKTC tells The Better India.
To address malnourishment, the Trust conducted awareness sessions and gave them healthy recipes for their children. They made ladoos and healthy snacks under the initiative which helped them discover their culinary skills.
Homemakers From This Basti Bring 700-Year-Old Mughlai Recipes to 5-Star Hotels
The members began with monthly earnings of Rs 200 and their present earnings range anywhere between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000. They have catered for weddings, social gatherings, kitty parties and even at the Australian High Commission. The total turnover in 2015-16 was Rs 1,50,000 which grew to Rs 29,50,000 in the year 2019-20 despite the coronavirus crisis.
The Better India catches up with three of the 11 members on how their lives have changed, the difficulties they overcame and, of course, what makes their food special and authentic.
Homemakers From This Basti Bring 700-Year-Old Mughlai Recipes to 5-Star Hotels
But the road was not easy.
The patriarchal mindset became a major hurdle as families did not ‘give permission’ to the women to run a venture. Each member had their own battle to fight.
The small-time catering gigs and carts gave them the confidence and thus ZeN came into being. However, it was only after three years of hard work that they were able to make profits.
Homemakers From This Basti Bring 700-Year-Old Mughlai Recipes to 5-Star Hotels
