Within India’s rich tapestry of stories, countless women have turned against all odds to reach their highest potential, leaving behind extraordinary examples for others to follow.

Today, we share seven such exceptional stories of women who utilised their ancestral family recipes in profitable businesses.

1. Patil Kaki In 2016, when Geeta Patil’s husband lost his job, she decided to turn her love for making authentic Maharashtrian snacks and sweets, like modak, puranpoli, and chivda, into a full-time business.

With ‘Patil Kaki’, she now serves more than 3,000 customers annually, making over Rs 1 crore in revenue.

2. Kimmu’s Kitchen In 2020, Kamaljit Kaur from Punjab began ‘Kimmu’s Kitchen’ to sell pure bilona ghee — made using a wooden beater to churn butter from curd — without any additives or harmful chemicals.

She clocks a monthly revenue of Rs 20 lakh and ships out over 4,500 bottles of ghee each month.

3. The Chhaunk In 2021, Hiranyamayi Shivani and her daughter-in-law Manjari Singh decided to use food recipes passed down over generations and cook Bihar delicacies like tarkari, litti choka, and jhalmuri.

Their business has become a hit among food lovers in Delhi. The duo caters to more than 450 orders a day and earns around Rs 4 lakh per month.

4. Kokanraj Pune’s Lalita Khaire runs ‘Kokanraj’ to sell homemade kokum sharbat. With this, she clocks an annual revenue of Rs 2.5 crore.

But before starting her entrepreneurial journey, she faced many ups and downs — from having to sell her home to facing the ire of relatives for wanting to run her own business.

5. Khyen Khoardan In 2020, Kashmir’s Ruhab Lateef Mir started her business to revive an heirloom recipe of Shahi Sheera — a traditional Kashmiri beverage that is made by extracting the juice of different berries. This clocks her an annual revenue of Rs 3 lakh today.

6. Prem Eatacy Using her mother-in-law’s book collection, Sonam started a homemade food venture ‘Prem Eatecy’ in Chennai to sell 21 varieties of pickles, podi, and chutneys. She caters to more than 2,000 customers per month earning Rs 5 lakh annual revenue.

7. Namakwali In 2018, Sashi Bahuguna Raturi started ‘Namakwali’ to introduce the traditional recipe of the age-old pisyu loon salt to the world.

The salt prepared in various flavours, such as ginger, garlic, and hemp, has gained popularity among her consumers in Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai.

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