What began as a simple effort to provide homemade meals to students has turned into a thriving food business for 65-year-old Devni Devi, affectionately known as “Amma” in Patna, with her venture Amma’s Kitchen now recording an annual turnover of around ₹2.5 crore.
Starting with ₹20 plates of home-style food served to medical students, Devni Devi built her enterprise against social scepticism, domestic opposition and the disruptions of a global pandemic. Today, Amma’s Kitchen employs over 30 people, paying a minimum monthly salary of ₹15,000 and runs two dine-in outlets alongside a thriving cloud kitchen, a story that is rapidly capturing national attention across digital platforms this month.
A Moment of Conscience That Sparked a Business
Married at the age of 16, Devni Devi spent years cooking for a joint family of 25 members, gaining extensive experience in preparing large quantities of food every day. She had never imagined working for a living born into an affluent household and married into another, such a path simply did not feature in her world. That changed in 2002.
When she moved to Patna for her children’s education, she one day glanced into a medical student’s lunch box at the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) and the poor quality of the food shocked her. She realised she could do something about it.
“Saurabh, a medical student, became my first customer and he was the one who guided me on how a mess worked. Soon, other PMCH students began flocking to have meals at her kitchen,” recalls Devni Devi. Within a few days, her simplicity and warmth earned her the name “Amma.”
Ridicule, Resistance and a Pandemic
The road ahead was anything but smooth. Devni Devi had no business experience and many people questioned her decision to start a food service. Even her husband reportedly stopped speaking to her for six months, unhappy with the idea of her working outside the home. Social stigma ran deeper still. “Whenever my father-in-law visited Patna, he would feel bad seeing me in the kitchen.
He would ask why a woman from such a well-to-do family would suffer like this,” she recalls. But Devni Devi refused to yield. “I never even thought of giving up. Because feeding people brings virtue, and this work was born out of my passion. So it gives me happiness,” she says.
She saved ₹80,000 and bought eight rickshaws, opening new income channels. In 2009, she opened the Samriddhi Girls Hostel, named after her granddaughter, with her tiffin customers becoming her first residents. Then came COVID-19. When the pandemic disrupted small businesses everywhere, Amma continued cooking and delivering meals, particularly to doctors’ hostels, ensuring healthcare workers had access to nutritious food during the crisis. In a remarkable turn, when she herself contracted COVID-19, it was those very students she had nurtured for years who admitted her to PMCH and cared for her.
Going Digital and Going Big
A major turning point came in 2022, when her son helped take the business online by launching the digital version of Amma’s Kitchen. Online orders soared, and two dine-in outlets opened, offering meals priced between ₹100 and ₹300. Her elder son Jaishankar, once a critic of her work, eventually quit his own job when Devni Devi called on him to take up management.
“I am proud of my mother, who has become an inspiration for many. Amma’s Kitchen now employs over 30 people. The minimum salary is ₹15,000,” he says proudly. For regular customers like Uttar Pradesh native Nilesh Pandey, the appeal is elemental. “No extra oil or spices, it tastes like home. I walk one-and-a-half kilometres every day just to eat here,” he says. The dine-in outlet is located in Happy High School Building, Sri Krishna Puri, Patna, and is widely known for its affordable, home-cooked meals.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
Devni Devi’s story forces us to confront a quiet but persistent prejudice, the notion that domestic skill is not “real” work and that a woman who monetises it is somehow diminishing herself. Her journey dismantles that idea entirely. She did not just build a business; she built trust, community and an ecosystem of livelihoods, one ₹20 plate at a time. At a moment when India celebrates women entrepreneurs on stages and in policy speeches, Amma’s Kitchen reminds us that the most transformative ventures often begin not with venture capital, but with conscience.
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