How two English professors started a home bakery in Delhi

“Life without sweets is not sweet," says author and professor Madhavi Menon as she introduces me to the many delicacies of her brain child, Jaggery Desserts—a Delhi-based home kitchen service that she started with partner and colleague, Jonathan Gil Harris in 2021. In the last one year since they started Jaggery Desserts, both Gil Harris and Menon have met with a similar mix of respite and joy among their buyers, “Customers order thinking, 'well, I should do this, because it's the right thing. Talking about the deliveries, home kitchen preparation and the challenges of running a small business, Gil Harris adds, “That's something that people often forget about food in an age of online ordering or going to restaurants where the food is always given to you by a relative stranger, that food culture always involved exchanging recipes and stories. We're plugging into conversations, not just with our friends, but in various parts of India, with people who are delighted to exchange recipes or stories about good food experiences they've had.” Madhavi Menon and Jonathan Gil Harris are both Professors of English at Ashoka University and run their home bakery, Jaggery Desserts