The founder of Purnabramha chain of all-veg restaurants specialising in authentic Marathi cuisine staunchly adheres to the advice she received from her ajji (grandmother) almost 30 years ago.
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Jayanti grew up in a family where each festival and special occasion saw the presence of a minimum of 30 people. Cooking, naturally, was like a carnival.
She credits her upbringing that helped her translate her passion for the Marathi cuisine into eleven restaurants across India and Australia.
From the spice-laced Misal Pav, Dal Ka Dulha, Sabudana Wada to the sweet Shrikhand Puri and Puran Poli, Jayanti’s restaurants offer a wide range of true Marathi flavour.
The Germination of a Seed of Thought
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Eating out was a rare event in Jayanti’s family for two reasons — their financial status and the belief in the fact that home-cooked food is the most nutritious.
As Jayanti grew up eating and learning how to cook from her mother and ajji, she became proficient at home-style Marathi gastronomy.
When she shifted to Australia in 2006 to take up a job in an IT firm, the dearth of Indian food was a sore point. For a gourmand like Jayanti, who could not eat desi food if it was not cooked at home, trusting food outside India was a struggle. Once she discussed this with her friends, they too echoed her vexations.
To help her friends and colleagues, Jayanti created an account on Orkut and put up a post asking for orders for home-made ‘Modaks’ (jaggery and coconut stuffed sweet dumplings prepared during Ganesh Chaturthi). The spur-of-the-moment whim garnered her an overwhelming response.
“That was my first stint at offering home-made food to people. Two years later, I moved to Bengaluru to join Infosys as a Project Manager. But my love for spreading happiness through food did not subside. I continued to take orders during festivals and occasions,” she shares.
One of the orders proved to be a turning point in her life. Despite a promise of home delivery, an old man showed up at Jayanti’s doorstep to take sweets.
To fund her dream, she continued her job and even took loans from her friends to set up a small food eatery in a garage.
For the next two years, Jayanti worked around the clock managing her family, job and her venture. “My days would begin at 3.30 am and end around midnight. Before leaving for office, I would cook dishes, work for nine hours, come home and prepare for the next day. Those days were a real struggle.”
Towards Entrepreneurship and Challenges it brought
Jayanti got her first restaurant in Bengaluru’s HSR layout after a suggestion from a customer at her eatery to use bank schemes for Women Entrepreneurs.
Initial days were rough and financial losses were many. Jayanti had to take a personal loan and her husband Pranav also pitched in. She even had to sell her jewellery, take money from friends and even delay salary payment of her employees.
