A tool for the lazy home cook

There are two kinds of people in this world - one who would like to cook and the other who wish they could. The latter comprises people who are either too busy in their hectic lives or too lazy to go through the arduous task of prepping for a meal.

I often wonder why the Master Chef series on TV is so popular; most of us can't even imagine cooking dishes of that complexity and finesse. The obvious conclusion: there is a dormant feeling that calls out to us, in some way or the other, to indulge in the act of cooking; to embrace that overwhelming feeling of power and joy that come from making something so tasty out of things that individually are not.

Most of us rarely, if ever, dare to take on the challenge of cooking. Questions like who will go out to buy the ingredients; who will prepare, chop and dice the vegetables; who will find the time to prepare for a dish that might turn into a disaster without the proper recipe et al, arise.

Setting out to find the answers, I came across just what I was looking for: CookFresh.in, an online site that provides ready-to-cook prepped meals with high quality ingredients along with a recipe right at your doorstep.

This is the perfect tool for the lazy kind or for those short on time as it caters to all the predicament of preparing for a cooking session. You can prepare a wide variety of dishes ranging from classics like cheesecake and chilly chicken to gourmet meals like chicken chettinad or Burmese chicken khow suey.

To learn more about CookFresh and the response to it, I interacted with the owner and co-founder, Aayush Narang.

Q: Tell us a little about yourself.

A: We're a group of three foodies from different backgrounds. Me, Anshul and Raghav have one common thing between us: we are all food lovers and love to cook gourmet meals at home.

Q: What is the idea behind Cook Fresh?

A: As foodies, we loved cooking. But the idea of doing all the legwork for the veggies, condiments and the meat, and then spending time preparing the dishes after digging out a recipe often deterred us from cooking. So we thought why not help people buy dishes instead of groceries and deliver a ready-to-cook, healthy and hygienically packed food box to enable them cook at home. It's basically what we'd have wished for and we decided to provide it to others.

What has the response been so far?

The response has been amazing as the customers have loved what we put up for them.

At the same time, we're looking to get the Indian market used to "buying dishes to get the groceries" instead of "groceries to think of the dishes to make".

Q: What is in store for Cook Fresh in the future?

A; We plan to add subscription plans in the future to provide people with the freedom to plan their meals a week ahead instead of worrying about what to make and how to make every meal. We also want to provide the people the liberty to just request what they would like and have it delivered in 30 minutes at their doorstep.

So, the next time you find yourself in a fix when you have overestimated your ability to prepare the perfect meal from scratch, count on Cookfresh.in.

Learn to cook, love to cook and don't be afraid of making those elusive gourmet meals we all shy away from attempting.

(Nitish Rampal can be contacted at nitishrampal2005@yahoo.co.in)