• Admin
• Jan 26, 2026
• Local Business Success Stories

Idlib: Women Launch Home Cooking Projects to Earn a Living

From her rented home in Dana city, northern Idlib, Fadila Mohammed Al-Halou, 33 years old, decided to launch her own project for preparing meals and providing basic food supplies, aiming to generate an additional source of income for her family, who were displaced from northern Aleppo countryside in 2016.

Three months ago, the beginning was difficult, as she did not have enough tools to meet the needs of what she considered a “dream project,” driven by difficult living conditions accompanied by a wave of inflation in rent, electricity, food, and other expenses.

Al-Halou named her project “Passion Kitchen” in an attempt to support her family. She is a mother of four children (three of whom have special needs) and cannot leave them to work outside the home.

Prices in Turkish Lira
Al-Halou told Enab Baladi that she is passionate about cooking and enjoys preparing meals, which inspired the name of her kitchen, “Passion.” She began promoting her Eastern dishes and some basic food items such as makdous and pomegranate molasses on social media platforms.

She created several accounts for her project and gained wide popularity among home-cooking enthusiasts, despite facing difficulties including financial hardship, lack of kitchen tools, cookware, and other essential equipment.

Regarding the prices of her dishes, she mentioned that a “Mandi Mansaf” meal, consisting of one and a half kilograms of chicken thighs, one kilogram of rice before cooking, nuts, and two servings of duqus sauce, costs 350 Turkish Lira (approximately 11 USD).

The price of fried kibbeh (one kilogram of lamb, one kilogram of bulgur, and grilled skewers) is 800 Turkish Lira, while the price of the “Yalanji” meal, which is the most requested, is 100 Turkish Lira.

These meals are considered suitable options for both events and individual orders, with prices reasonable compared to restaurants, taking into account the quality and quantity of ingredients used. Prices vary depending on the availability of vegetables and meat, as they are not fixed, according to her.

From Cooking to Training
The lady stated that working “with love,” while maintaining quality, hygiene, and proper presentation of the dishes, increased demand for her orders and earned her a good reputation in the field of food preparation. This enabled her to become a certified trainer with an international organization in the food business sector.

She added that she conducted a series of training courses for women on how to prepare most Eastern dishes and kitchen essentials, which opened the door for them to secure a stable source of income after learning key points for successful work, such as organization, sourcing raw materials, receiving orders at least a day in advance, promoting their products in an attractive way, and setting prices that match the economic reality, with a small profit margin to attract a larger number of customers.