This 25-YO Bengaluru woman works at her marketing job on weekdays and sells Kurkure & Lay's chaat on weekends - clocks Rs 10k revenue

If you grew up eating Kurkure, you might remember the back of the pack.

It used to have a fun recipe to make homemade chaat by adding veggies, squeezing a dash of lemon juice, and mixing everything up.

Mahak Gaud, a young working professional in Bengaluru, decided to do exactly that…but with sauce, structure, and a desire to start a small food business of her own.

“Like every other corporate employee, I've always wanted to do something entrepreneurial. Something that gives me a chance to meet new people and expand on the creative energy inside me. My small business venture is helping me do just that,” Mahak Gaud, founder of Crazy Chakhna, tells Startup Pedia in an exclusive interview.

Founded in June 2025, Crazy Chakhna is a Bengaluru-based small business venture that sells spicy, delicious chaat with Kurkure and Lay’s as its hero ingredient.

THE BACKGROUND

Hailing from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, Mahak Gaud moved to Delhi for her undergraduate degree.

She pursued a BCom degree from the Bharti College in Delhi University, graduated in 2022, and then took a drop year to prepare for a career in the RBI.

“Unfortunately, I wasn't able to clear the Mains exam. I had already given one year of my life to this, so I decided to move forward in 2024. I moved to Bengaluru and started interning in a marketing role at a study abroad consultancy firm. This was in April 2024,” Mahak Gaud tells Startup Pedia.

After working as an intern for three months, she secured a full-time position as a content producer. Currently, she works as a social media manager in an in-office role.

In 2024, when Mahak came to Bengaluru, she would often take long walks to discover new places.

One day, she decided to visit NIFT Bengaluru with her friends, and saw something that changed her definition of a side hustle: white-collar people from the corporate world had set up small stalls and tables to showcase and sell a variety of art, desserts, clothes, etc.

“I went up to them and asked them if it was their full-time job to sell stuff from a thela. And they said no. They worked at their jobs from Monday to Friday, and engaged in their side hustles during the weekends,” young entrepreneur Mahak says.

“They also told me that setting up a stall is one of the best ways to test product-market-fit and garner customer feedback without too much investment or risk. I thought it was really smart,” she adds.

Motivated by this line of thought, Mahak decided she should do something of her own as well.

For many years, she had been mixing up a delicious Kurkure chaat at home: the Masala Munch Kurkure, fresh veggies, and some lemon juice to go with. Her friends loved every bit of it.

During Diwali 2024, Mahak Gaud made up her mind to test this idea at her office.

“Diwali at our office is very grand. Every year, employees get to set up stalls and show their creativity. It's a very small but substantial entrepreneurial setup. I decided to set up a stall for my Kurkure-style chaat,” she smiles.

The result? Insane.

Mahak’s stall kept getting sold out, and her team members loved the flavours.

This was her moment of real, market validation.

Eventually, she decided to take this forward in a more structured and formal manner.

The idea was simple: do something that involved less cooking and preparation time. The chaat and bhel concept was perfect for someone who wanted to do it alongside their regular corporate job.

“I also wanted to elevate the chaat. So I started experimenting with Lay's as well. After multiple iterations, I was able to zero down on the exact veggies and sauces needed to make the perfect Kurkure and Lay's-style chaat and bhel,” small business founder Mahak Gaud shares.

However, she met with a decision paralysis. For months, she thought about starting the stall but simply couldn't.

“That was me falling into overthinking. I wasn't able to make up my mind. I knew I wanted to do it, but the first step that is needed in that direction was missing,” she explains.

It was in June 2025 that Mahak Gaud finally started Crazy Chakhna.

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JOURNEY AND CHALLENGES: LOCATION, LONELINESS, AND UNCERTAINTY

For her small business, Mahak Gaud wanted a name that resonated with the younger crowd, something that they could relate to.

She zeroed in on “Crazy Chakhna.” For the tagline, she came up with “just CC it.

“Everything on my menu has a C in it,” she beams.

To bootstrap her food venture, she put in Rs 5,000 from her savings. She revealed the breakdown:

• Rs 4,000 went into purchasing a small table, some containers, print-outs of the menu, and the bags. All of this came from Meesho, a relatively affordable option. 

• Rs 1,000 was spent on getting packets of Kurkure, Lay's, vegetables, and sauces.

In June 2025, she went outside the lane in front of NIFT Bengaluru and decided to set up her Crazy Chakhna stall.

But here's the thing: it wasn't as easy as it had initially sounded.

“For starters, you need a dedicated space to set up your stall. There are shops all around, so setting it up in front of a shop is the only option. And for that, you need the shop owner's consent. I went around to many shops and asked for permission. Many of them said a big no,” Mahak Gaud tells Startup Pedia.

Eventually, the manager of a popular food and drinks outlet gave her permission to set her stall in front of their property.

“That manager ran a small business themselves and wanted to support me. I am very grateful for them even today,” she says.

But months later, when the manager was shifted to another outlet, Mahak also lost the permission to run Crazy Chakhna from outside the property.

This was in October 2025. Suddenly, the small business founder was left without a space to run her stall.

Clueless on what to do next, she decided to use a footpath to set up her stall.

“But it had no street lights and I lost visibility after 6 PM. Very less footfall too,” Mahak shares with Startup Pedia.

That's when Mahak Gaud knew that the business couldn't function like this. The daily turmoil of scouting for a space wasn't working at all.

She made up her mind to apply for licenses, which are currently in the process.

“Meanwhile, a flea market organizer once came to my stall and gave me the idea to set up my stall in flea markets and events in residential societies. Since then, I've been doing the same,” the young entrepreneur shares.

On the personal front, loneliness has been another challenge.

The mere act of packing up bags, carrying a table, and setting up a Crazy Chakhna stall in a random society looked daunting and scary at first. Mahak did everything herself, with no external help.

“With time, the intimidation began easing and I kind of became unstoppable,” she laughs.

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CRAZY CHAKHNA: CHAAT AND BHEL WITH THE KURKURE AND LAY'S TWIST

Today, Crazy Chakhna works as a small food business venture that sells three items:

• Crazy Chips Chaat - in small and large quantities 

• Crazy Kurkure Chaat - in small and large quantities 

• Crazy Chips Kurkure Chaat - in one size 

While small quantities sell for Rs 69, the large ones sell for Rs 99. The Crazy Chips Kurkure Chaat sells for Rs 119.

After multiple permutations and combinations, Mahak Gaud has zeroed in on a recipe: a mixture of Kurkure Masala Munch and Lay's Magic Masala with onion, tomato, cucumber, coriander, spices, lemon juice, and white mayonnaise and tandoori mayonnaise.

It is fresh, it is tasty, and it is fast. 

Mahak Gaud believes that her social media game is the reason why she's receiving significant footfall at her stall.

“The way I am marketing Crazy Chakhna is very relatable in nature. I resonate with a lot of young professionals who do not want to take the risk of quitting their job but also want to do something of their own on the side. The fact that I pulled it off inspired a lot of people to think about it and take action,” the small business founder mentions.

Currently, Mahak has more than 12,000 followers on Instagram and regularly posts her behind-the-scenes journey of building and running Crazy Chakhna from scratch. A lot of virtual viewers have converted into real-life customers who come to Mahak’s stall to try her chaats and bhels.

“Right now, I am getting a lot of DMs on how to set up a stall. I'll probably make a video on that soon,” she adds. 

From June to September 2025, Mahak Gaud set up the Crazy Chakhna stall in front of NIFT Bengaluru at the 27th Main Road.

Since October, she has switched to residential societies and flea markets.

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THE UNIT ECONOMICS 

Mahak Gaud revealed the unit economics breakdown for a Crazy Chakhna chaat that costs Rs 99:

• Rs 20 goes into the Lay's and Kurkure packs

• Rs 15 goes into the vegetables, sauces, spices, and spoons

• The remainder is the take-home amount

“Also, to set up a stall at a flea market, there is a charge. The ballpark figure is Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000, but I try to negotiate and bring it down to Rs 1,200 every time," the small business founder says.

GROWTH OF CRAZY CHAKHNA

Currently operating from 5 PM to 9 PM on the weekends, Mahak Gaud’s Crazy Chakhna now serves 150+ customers every month.

When the small business founder had just started in June 2025, she would serve just 30 customers every weekend.

“With time, the number has increased,”she says.

Crazy Chakhna’s monthly revenue comes to approximately Rs 10,000.

“It's a side hustle at the moment, but I do want to set up my permanent kiosk very soon. I might even hire a worker or two. This Crazy Chakhna stall would be open 7 days a week, not just on the weekends. Honestly, this entire journey has taught me so much about myself. I am grateful I took this step,” Mahak Gaud signs off.

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