Hiring a cook is not like hiring a plumber. There is no job, no bill and no walking away when it is done; there is a person in your kitchen twice a day for, you hope, years. The arrangement has a shape that experienced households know and new ones learn the hard way. Here it is in order.
The sequence
- The call. You describe the house, the cook describes what they cook. Ten minutes.
- The trial day, paid at ₹700. One or two meals, in your kitchen, with your groceries.
- The first week, at the monthly rate pro rata. This is the real trial.
- The month, paid on a fixed date, with one weekly off.
- The year, with ten to fifteen days of festival and emergency leave, and a bonus.
- Notice, two weeks either side, a month for live-in.
Most households that are unhappy with a cook skipped step 2 or rushed step 3.
The trial day
A trial day is a paid day's cooking, not an interview. The cook arrives at the slot you would actually use, cooks the meal you would actually eat, and leaves the kitchen as they would leave it every day. You pay ₹700 whether or not you take them on.
What a trial day should cover:
- One everyday meal, not a feast. Dal, a sabzi, rice or rotis, something on the side. You are testing the ordinary Tuesday, because that is what you are buying.
- One dish from your region or your family. Rasam, undhiyu, a particular fish curry. The cook will not get it exactly right the first time; what you are watching is whether they ask how you make it.
- Hygiene without prompting. Hands washed at the sink before starting, hair tied, a separate tasting spoon, the board washed between vegetables and anything raw.
- Speed and order. A good cook has the cooker on before the first vegetable is cut. A cook who does one thing at a time will be in your kitchen for two hours.
- The state of the kitchen afterwards. Counter wiped, stove clean, used vessels at least rinsed and stacked, whatever the washing arrangement is.
Do not test for things the trial cannot show: consistency, punctuality, honesty. Those take a month.
The first week
The first week is where the arrangement is really decided, and you should treat it as a trial you are paying the monthly rate for. Three things to do in it.
Eat together once. Lunch on the first or second day with the cook at the table. Say what you liked and what you want changed: less oil, more chilli, the rotis thinner. Cooks adjust quickly when told early; by the third week they have decided how your house eats.
Watch the clock, not the cook. Note when they arrive and when the food is on the table. If the morning slot is drifting, say so on day three, not in week four.
Settle the grocery routine. By the end of week one the list should be arriving on a fixed day and the float, if there is one, should have been settled once. If you are still buying at 6 pm for a 7 pm dinner, the routine has not formed.
At the end of the week, say in plain words that you would like to continue, and agree the salary date. If you would not, pay the week and say so kindly; a cook would rather hear it now than in month three.
The month
A cook is paid monthly, on a fixed date, by cash or UPI. The rate card figures, ₹6,500 for one meal a day and ₹10,000 for two for a family of four, are the month; they do not change for a 30-day or a 31-day month, and they include the weekly off.
Weekly off. One day a week. Sunday is common but many cooks prefer a weekday because Sunday is when families want a bigger lunch. Let the cook pick.
Leave in the year. Ten to fifteen paid days is the usual range, covering festivals, a trip home and emergencies. A cook from another state will want a longer block at a festival, two or three weeks for Chhath or Onam or Pongal, and it is better to agree that in month one than to argue in October. Beyond the agreed days, pro rata.
Bonus. A Diwali or Pongal bonus of half to one month's salary is customary. It is the single thing that most predicts whether a cook stays a second year.
Increments. Expect to raise the salary roughly once a year. Cooks talk to each other in every apartment complex and know what the building pays.
Live-in: the same arrangement with a room
A live-in cook at ₹17,000 a month lives in your house. Beyond food and a room, three things are different.
- Hours are agreed, not unlimited. A morning shift, an afternoon rest of two to three hours, an evening shift. A live-in cook who is on their feet from 6 am to 10 pm will leave within six months.
- The weekly off is a full day away from the house. Not a day of being asked for "just tea".
- Notice is a month, because the cook has to find somewhere to live, and so should you give a month.
Live-in cook with housekeeping, at ₹20,000, adds sweeping, mopping and laundry. It is not two full-time jobs; agree what "light housekeeping" means on paper.
Agency or direct
Both work. They differ in who carries the risk.
| Direct, through TheHire | Through an agency | |
|---|---|---|
| Finding | Post the request; verified cooks call back | Agency sends one or two candidates |
| Fee | None beyond the trial day | A placement fee, usually a part of a month's salary, sometimes recurring |
| Replacement if it fails | You post again | Agency replaces within a period, if the contract says so |
| Verification | ID and phone verified, public reviews | Varies; ask what the agency actually checks |
| Who sets the salary | You and the cook | Often the agency, with a cut |
Direct hiring gives you the cook's actual rate and a direct relationship. An agency is worth it when you need someone next week and cannot run trials, or for live-in, where a replacement guarantee matters. If you use an agency, read the replacement clause before you pay, and ask whether the cook sees the whole salary or a share of it.
Notice and leaving
Two weeks' notice either side is the norm for a daily cook, a month for live-in. The cook who gives notice is doing you a favour; thank them and ask whether they know anyone. If you are the one ending it, pay to the end of the notice and say why in one sentence.
The thing that ends more arrangements than bad cooking is the undiscussed small grievance: the unpaid festival day, the extra guests every weekend, the "while you are here, could you also". Raise things in the week they happen.
What a cook can and cannot be asked to do
A cook is hired for cooking and the kitchen. Within that, it is reasonable to ask for:
- Planning the week's menu and the grocery list.
- Cooking for a few extra people on occasion, with notice.
- Washing what they used, if agreed.
- Cutting and storing vegetables for the next meal.
It is not reasonable, without a separate agreement and pay, to ask for:
- Sweeping and mopping, laundry, or minding children. That is housekeeping, and the live-in cook-plus-housekeeping rate at ₹20,000 exists for a reason.
- Cooking for a party of twenty at the daily rate. Party cooking is its own job at ₹1,800 a day.
- Following a strict medical diet without being told what it is. A diet cook at ₹12,000 is hired for exactly that.
The one habit that keeps a cook for years: pay on the date, every month, without being asked. Nothing else you do matters as much.
The hiring guide covers what to ask on the phone and what to check on the trial day; the problems guide covers what to do when the arrangement starts to go wrong.