#KetchupTalks: Pragya Piparsania of Yum Curry shares her cooking journey and more

In a candid chat with Pragya Piparsania aka Yum Curry shared her life's journey of finding her passion for cooking and turning her food exploration into her livelihood.

If you want to find a reason to understand what is holding the world together, there is only one reason that will stand out. This has to be food. People around the world are united and somehow find each other connected because of food. There are many food bloggers and enthusiasts who are trying and bring all the wonderful flavours from around the world. Indian food blogger Pragya Piparsania aka Yum Curry is one of them.

Pragya had a candid chat with us. She talked about her love and life as a food blogger. She talked about how she explored different cuisines from around the world while she was abroad with her husband. Casually scrolling online and learning new cooking techniques she began experimenting with food and soon found herself blogging about the same. She had a lot to share about her experience so far and various tips to improve one's cooking.

Here's all Pragya had to share:

When did you realise your love for food and how did the journey of Yum Curry begin?

I got married quite early and due to the nature of my husband’s overseas job, I couldn’t keep a regular office job. While Abroad, I explored many different cuisines and found my passion in cooking. I learnt many cooking techniques from YouTube and also followed many YouTube creators and food channels. I am really amazed by the fact that these days we can learn almost anything from Internet and this led me to also want to do something which people can learn from. In 2018, I decided to take my passion in cooking forward and uploaded my first video of Yum Curry on Facebook.

What according to you makes your food content standout?

I always strive to improve on recipes to ensure that outcome tastes fantastic. Apart from the technical aspects of well-structured videos, I believe the quality of my recipes really make me stand out. It pleasures me greatly when my subscribers use my advised proportions and techniques in cooking and later let me know how well their dishes taste. This takes a lot of effort on my end to ensure that I excel at all the new recipes and they really work.

What kind of cuisines do you like to prepare? Do you have any favourites?

I love to prepare all kinds of food whether it is Indian, Thai, Mexican or Italian. Also I love to prepare an Indianised version of western cuisines.

One instance/experience that made it all worthwhile?

It might sound cliche, but every single day when I read positive comments or receive pictures in DM, saying that - “I prepared your recipe and everybody loved it” or “you are my inspiration and we love you”, makes all of it worthwhile. I love social media and the impact it creates on people, in a way it provides instant gratification for all the toil and effort that goes in the everyday running an online food channel. I remember the time when Yum Curry reached 1 million followers, I was super happy and humbled by the fact that I am able to contribute in some fashion in lives of so many.

Where do you find the inspiration for your food content from?

I love to explore regional food. Indian food is so versatile that every region has its own speciality and many different ways of cooking. So I research and try to make Indian authentic foods from different states at home. If I like the taste, I shoot the recipe video. Sometimes my mom and friends suggest something new they tried at home so I try to incorporate that too.

Have you ever received a weird or funny brief from any brand for collaboration? Please share, if any.

Oh yes! Remembering the instance itself makes me smile. Last year, I received a brief from a utensil brand, that they were launching a new kadai and they wanted me to do an act in which I receive a product from a friend as a gift and I open it with excitement which then turns into disappointment on discovering that its a kadai. I remember the exact words he used, to describe the act - “ohho ye kya kadai de di, par arey ismein to likha hai Ki iska bottom aluminium hai, OMG such a wonderful product” and the script went on and on. I mean he wanted to make it like an overdramatic saas-bahu show.

Indian dishes are a blast of spices and flavours. Is there a specific ingredient that you love to cook with?

I love to use whole spices as they give an intense flavour to any dish, especially Star Anise and Bay leaf. I also learnt from experience, that Kasturi methi is a very powerful ingredient. I just love using it whenever I can. If you use it wisely the result will be surprisingly good.

One recipe that you created and are the proudest of?

I remember the first video which hit 1 million within 8 hours was a simple sandwich called chilli cheese sandwich. I created it using very simple ingredients and people loved it and many channels recreated it with the same name.

What would your alternate career be if not this?

Before starting Yum Curry, I explored many different fields like gaming, oil painting and app designing. I used to play call of duty in Xbox for several hours and was very good at it. I tried my hands on oil painting and painted around 20 paintings and sold a few. I also designed an iPhone app for toddlers to teach them colours and it was downloaded 10k times. So if not Yum Curry I would have been any one of these.

Any message/tips for upcoming food bloggers and influencers?

Trust your content and your followers. Consistency is the key to success in this field, it makes your followers keep coming for something new. Also never be afraid to try something new.

Check out how she replied to our Quick Five:

One Chef you look up to?

Saransh Goila, he is so humble and down to earth in person and he has achieved a lot from running a show to opening a restaurant. Quite an inspiration.

Your guilty food pleasure?

Hands down Biryani, it makes me happy.

Favourite meal of the day?

Dinner 

Savoury or Sweet?

Savoury

One common food myth?

Blanching the veggies, loses it’s nutrients.

Follow Pragya @YumCurry to know more about food from around the world.

Also Read: Recipes from the top Chefs of 2020 will have you drooling