The Mom who serves Punjabi Food at ‘MomNom’

It was somewhere in 2018 that Mrs. Hardeep Kaur- Singh started feeling a void when her two kids were set to go abroad for higher education. All her life as a homemaker, she had a passion of preparing great food and serving it to family, friends and relatives. But as kids were leaving abroad for higher studies, she felt a vacuum in her life. Mrs Kaur at that time was discussing taking her passion of food ahead into may be opening up a small Restaurant. But it was at this time that her industrialist Husband Mr.Jagmohan Singh asked her to evaluate the option of starting a take away or delivery kitchen . Mrs Kaur says ‘ I felt the suggestion was a logical step as getting into an overall restaurant business would be much more demanding and complicated. What I like is serving people with great food and delivery kitchen would fulfill that aspiration in me.’

And then started our search for a proper locality and place and eventually we zeroed in on Baner – Pashan Link Road where our cloud kitchen is currently located says Jagmohan Singh. We started the operations in June 2019 under the company name ‘Dippy’s Kitchen’ , Dippy is actually what I affectionately call my wife . Our children used to describe her food as ‘Nom Nom’ and therefore the name ‘MomNom’ was given to the delivery kitchen. Before that for almost two months we were doing trials. But this is not mine he proudly says, I am just supporting her. Being himself is in the business of manufacturing transformers with a Unit at Bhosari, his experience in handling business helped set the kitchen, standardize and streamline the work process.

Graduate from BSc in Home Science from SNDT Pune , Hardeep kaur has maintained a fine balance with taste , flavor , spice making sure the food remains homely . Barring a few items on the menu which are normally available everywhere, most of the menu seems to be well thought of and handpicked to suit audience who order food at home. Take for example one of their signature item ‘ Sweet Potato Chips’ with hung curd dip , a basket full of these crunchy chips are the most suited to enjoy with family and friends especially when the sporting season is set to start. The same is the case with other dishes including beetroot tikki , Chicken Harisa , Chicken Sheekh Podi , White Butter Chicken , Maa Di Daal , Rice Kheer etc . The items on offer are not just meant to fill up the menu card , but offer customers a one stop solution to home cooked style Punjabi dishes. Mrs Hardeep Kaur says I have been preparing all these dishes for my children. I want all my guests to feel the same warmth and taste when they order food from our kitchen. The cooking area is not just a room filled with utensils , but a structured kitchen with well sourced utensils of brass,tandoor , cold room , washing area . Once you come here to take away your order , you can see through the kitchen, it’s almost an open kitchen . In line with the way customers order today , MomNom’s food is available through multiple food aggregators and online platforms. Whether is the menu , standardization of raw materials and ingredients , choice of kitchen utensils or eco friendly packaging , there is a lot of thought process to everything.

At a time when pandemic has gripped the entire world and more so the Hotel Industry , Jagmohan Singh as a businessman himself knows how many restaurants are struggling to survive. And so he is satisfied with the fact that they went ahead with a cloud kitchen which is much more feasible in today’s times . Now with standardization , optimum efficiency in work , a proper structure , they want to scale up the operations . Jagmohan Singh says , it began as a passion alright , but has to scale up to generate some decent revenue. We will look to expand in the coming days , may be first in the west part of the city.

There are some ventures which are specifically conceptualized and operated to make money while delivering quality service and products , but there are some which start with passion and end up being a business. MomNom is one perfect example of this. With business experience of the husband and more importantly coupled with passion of his wife & soulfulness and authenticity of the food ,there is a reason to believe that MomNom will only get bigger and better from here on