"In life when you pursue things that you dislike, you don't really enjoy doing it, and at the end of the day, we are all too scared to just take the risk."

Natasha Gandhi

After her attempts at CA (Chartered Accountancy), Natasha realised that her passion didn't actually lie in it and decided to invest her energy into cooking.

Having grown up watching Nigella Lawson's shows and Jamie Oliver, Natasha's interest in cooking bloomed at a very young age. In fact, one of the first dishes that she ever tried making was Nigella's chocolate lava cake and mousse. She vividly remembers making it in steel utensils since she didn't have the ceramic cookware at home. Her family's love for cooking was just the perfect addition in sprouting her interest in the culinary arts.

CA TO CA

She finds herself really lucky to have received immense support from her parents as well as the people around her which made it easy for her to take the plunge from CA to Culinary Arts. Initially, she juggled between her job and her small cake business. Once, she realised that her passion was indeed reaping results, she quit her job and gave it her all.

MasterChef India Season 6 (2019-20)

When asked about her being on MasterChef last year, Natasha tells us that it was just a random decision and she was absolutely taken aback when she cleared all the selection rounds and was even more shocked when she made it to the Top 5.

The four months on MasterChef , she says, has been  life changing for her. Despite all the hectic hours which go into making the glamorous show, the show has not only given her some really close friends but a tremendous amount of love and response from people. She went from having 1000 followers to 140K on Instagram!

The House of Millets

"Necessity is the mother of invention."

Being a family of Punjabis, sweets are a must but it was the concerns regarding her dad's health that made her look out for healthier options, only to realise that there actually exists a potential need for such items. Starting a very different approach to dessert-making was obviously not a trend in the Indian Market back then. There were only a few people who sold such desserts and were doing so at exorbitant prices. She felt that affordability was the need of the hour and started looking for ways to make cost effective desserts.

Natasha began the House of Millets back in 2017, making healthy, vegan and gluten-free desserts.

"I wanted to crack that formula.That is how I can make this more affordable."

Using local Indian grains and unprocessed ingredients like Ragi, Jowar, Jaggery, she aims at making food that is nutritionally beneficial, tasty, and is available at prices less than the usual cakes that we buy!

Today, she has a team of five and soon wishes to have a commercial space of her own. Due to this pandemic, she has avoided taking any big step and has converted a room at her own house into a workspace.

Natasha Gandhi is based in Mumbai. I had the chance to speak with her last Sunday and she was lovely enough to take some time out of her busy schedule for a quick call.







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