How Shareefa Kalathingal Became a Crorepati Hotelier from Just Rs 100 and Selling Unniyappams

When Shareefa Kalathingal walked four kilometres in the late 2000s carrying her one-year-old daughter to sell unniyappam (a sweet made of rice flour and jaggery) at local shops in Kerala’s Hajiyarpalli, Malappuram, she never imagined that one day she would own assets worth crores, including three hotels in Kottakkal.

From unniyappams to hotels, Shareefa’s journey defines courage and success (Photos: Special Arrangement)

In August 2025, Kottakkal witnessed the launch of Café Kudumbashree, a multi-cuisine restaurant that quickly became a sensation. Located behind the Kottakkal bus stand, it offers Arabian, Chinese and traditional Malappuram dishes, including a wide variety of seafood such as kallumkaya (mussel), karimeen (pearlspot), prawns and crab, along with the regular vegetarian oonu (meals).

Now 46, Shareefa owns three vehicles, employs more than 40 women, 17 of them on a permanent basis, and lives in a house worth over one crore. Her restaurants together earned Rs 50 lakh in revenue in the last fiscal year.


“I reinvest most of what I earn back into the business,” she says. “I personally monitor daily operations, ensure hygienic food preparation and focus on customer satisfaction. When a customer returns, I know we have met expectations.”

From being taunted by townsfolk as “the unniyappam ithatha” (a colloquial term for elder sister), Shareefa has risen to command immense respect across Kerala for her grit and determination.

Life was not always kind. Born into a poor family, she and her husband, Sakkeer, a house painter, often struggled to afford even rice gruel, especially during the monsoon months.

“I had only 50 paise in the money box and no food at home. We went to bed hungry most nights,” she recalls. Instead of lamenting her fate, she decided to act. “I was good at cooking, so I thought, why not make sweets or savouries and sell them? I approached a local store to see if they would stock my unniyappams.”

Once taunted as the unniyappam 'ithatha', Shareefa has now emerged as a role model for many women

The shopkeeper was initially hesitant, but one finally agreed to keep them on the condition that she would take back any unsold packs. With no money to buy even basic ingredients like rice flour, jaggery and oil, she borrowed Rs 100 from her neighbour.

She prepared a small batch of unniyappams, packed them neatly and rushed to the shop, hoping for a bit of luck. Each ten-piece pack was priced at Rs 12. To her delight, by evening, all ten packs were sold out.

Encouraged by this small success, she began making them regularly, and soon other shopkeepers started stocking her products. Her growing confidence led her to expand into pathiri (rice roti) and chapathi, which she supplied to small eateries in town. Word spread quickly about her culinary skills.

Shareefa ensures every guest is served with warmth and care.

“I approached several banks for a loan to start a small catering business, but all of them turned me down. I had no collateral and no bank wanted to take that risk,” she says.

Undeterred, Shareefa registered with Kudumbashree, a women’s empowerment programme launched by the Kerala government in 1998 that supports women through self-help groups, microcredit and entrepreneurship.

With a Rs 2 lakh loan from Kudumbashree, she launched Muthu’s Catering in 2018, named after her son Muthu. She expanded her menu to include 10 to 20 kilograms of biryani daily, in addition to pathiri and chapathi.

“I invested most of my earnings back into the business to buy ingredients and pay the women who helped me,” she recalls.

Hemalatha, then Kudumbashree Mission District Coordinator at the Malappuram Collectorate, suggested that Shareefa start a dabbawalla service to deliver lunch to government employees. “By God’s grace, that too worked well,” says Shareefa. “Soon, I was delivering meals to 50 to 60 officials every day.”

As her operations grew, her one-room rented home proved inadequate. “I was sanctioned a five-cent plot of land, where I built a small house and began operating from a shed attached to it. Gradually, I started getting catering orders for weddings too.”

Just when things seemed to be going well, COVID-19 struck in 2020, shattering her hopes. “Hotels shut down, people stayed indoors, and all orders stopped,” she says. “That’s when Kudumbashree approached me to supply food to COVID patients at Manjeri Medical College. I grabbed the opportunity.”

She began delivering breakfast and rice gruel for lunch to about 2,000 patients, enrolling 10 to 15 women to help her. “Until then, just five ladies were working with me,” she recalls. “Even now, I continue to supply breakfast there, though the number of patients has reduced to around 350.”

During the pandemic, Shareefa's team fed thousands of COVID patients

As the pandemic waned, new opportunities followed. The Kottakkal Ayurveda College invited her to run their canteen.

“I agreed immediately and appointed seven women there,” she says. Later, when a hotel in Kottakkal was put up for sale, she decided to buy it. “When I opened another hotel called Palace in the town, Kudumbashree suggested launching a premium restaurant. They offered Rs 16 lakh, and I put in Rs 38 lakh.”

Her husband, Sakkeer, no longer goes for painting work. He now manages one of the restaurants. Their 27-year-old son is a postdoctoral researcher at a university in the United Kingdom, while their daughter, studying in Class 12, dreams of becoming a researcher like her brother.

“I will support her wholeheartedly,” says Shareefa. “All my hard work is to ensure a better future for my children. I studied only up to Class 10 and was married off soon after. I want my children to pursue their higher studies,” she says.

“As a single parent, my mother encountered a lot of difficulties raising me and my siblings. She always wished to perform Umrah, but financial troubles held her back. I feel blessed that I could fulfil her dream to undertake the Hajj pilgrimage. She passed away in the holy city of Mecca. It is her blessings that brought me this far.”

Embodying the spirit of Kudumbashree, Shareefa has received awards at both district and state levels and is hailed as a role model for women. Her never-say-die attitude continues to inspire those from poor economic backgrounds as she scales greater heights as a food entrepreneur.

Shareefa with her all-women team at Café Kudumbashree, Kottakkal

“I will never forget being ridiculed while going from store to store selling unniyappams,” she laughs. “Today, the same banks that rejected my loan requests are eager to lend me money.”

In an age when influencers make waves on social media, Shareefa, with little exposure to Facebook or Instagram, has built her success purely on grit and determination. “I owe everything to Kudumbashree,” she says, her heart filled with gratitude.- ©TWL