Madhu Malhotra didn’t set out to build a food channel — she set out to feed her family well, the way her mother taught her. Vegetarian by upbringing and by conviction, she’s spent years turning that simple foundation into something bigger: a space where traditional Indian cooking meets modern reinvention, one recipe at a time. Today she creates alongside her daughter, and together they’re quietly building something that feels like a recipe book for grandchildren not yet born.
Today, she creates alongside her daughter — two generations, two instincts, occasionally at odds over how a dish should look or taste, but always united by the same love of food.
In her interview with Women Fitness, Madhu Malhotra opens up about family, tradition, and building a recipe legacy.
Mother-Daughter Duo Turning Vegetarian Indian Recipes Into a Family Legacy. Share more
Cooking with my daughter became a natural part of our journey. But I won’t pretend that creating content together is always smooth — we fight a lot! We have disagreements all the time, especially when it comes to how a recipe should be made, how it should be presented, or how a shoot should happen.
But that’s also what makes our content real. We may disagree, but we both love food and creating something together. I bring years of cooking experience and traditional knowledge, while my daughter brings a younger, more modern perspective and a lot of creativity. Somewhere between our arguments, laughter, and experiments, we create our recipes and our content.
You cook 100% vegetarian — personal choice, tradition, or audience demand
For me, becoming vegetarian was deeply influenced by my love for animals. I have always loved animals, and my mother was the person who inspired me to become vegetarian. She taught me compassion towards animals from a very young age, and that became an important part of the way I eat and cook.
Over the years, vegetarian cooking has also become a huge creative space for me. I love showing people that vegetarian food can be incredibly diverse, exciting, and indulgent without needing meat.
The most-requested vrat recipe: and why is fasting food so hard to get right?
My Vrat Wale Kofta with Sama Rice Pulao gets endless love. Fasting food is tricky because you’re working with a short list of permitted ingredients — no onion, no garlic — yet the food still needs to feel complete.
- Koftas: made with vrat-friendly ingredients, seasoned with sendha namak and permitted spices, shaped and cooked golden.
- Gravy: curd and tomato-based, balanced rather than heavy.
- Pulao: sama rice (barnyard millet) cooked with mild spices and vrat-friendly vegetables, finished with coriander.
Together, it’s a full festive fasting meal — rich koftas, wholesome rice.
Your festive sweet or snack that gets the most love every year
My Rasmalai Tres Leches Cake — it merges the softness of tres leches with the flavour of traditional rasmalai. I love fusion recipes like this because festivals call for familiar flavours, but people also enjoy seeing them reimagined. This is one that people remember and return to.
A quick tiffin recipe you swear by
For my daughter, one of my go-to quick tiffin recipes is a Paneer Tikka Roll.
I prepare paneer tikka with vegetables and spices, place it inside a roti or paratha, roll it up, and pack it for her. It’s quick, filling, and easy to eat on the go. It’s also one of those recipes where I know my daughter is actually going to finish her tiffin — which, as a mother, is an important test!
A traditional recipe you’ve simplified for modern kitchens
Sarson Ka Saag. I used to cook it on a chulha for that deep, smoky flavour, but for the last decade I’ve made it in a pressure cooker — modern life doesn’t always allow the old-fashioned pace. Purists might say the traditional method is the only authentic one, but I believe recipes should adapt to the kitchens we actually live in, as long as the essence survives.
A fusion dish that surprised even you
One recipe that genuinely surprised me was my Soya Manchurian Noodle Nest.
The original idea actually came from a pasta nest with chicken tossed into it. I thought, why not give the concept my own vegetarian twist and use soya instead?
I created a noodle nest and paired it with soya Manchurian, and honestly, I wasn’t sure how the combination would turn out. But it worked beautifully! It was one of those experiments where you take an
idea, give it your own identity, and suddenly discover something much better than you expected.
One mistake beginners always make with Indian vegetarian cooking?
Impatience. Everyone wants “done in 5 minutes,” but real flavour — the kind that makes someone say “Wah, maza aa gaya!” — needs time. Gravies need time to develop; marinades need time to penetrate. You can make cooking convenient, but you can’t rush flavour.
Five ingredients to keep a vegetarian Indian kitchen fully stocked
- Potatoes – one of the most versatile ingredients in an Indian kitchen.
- Salt – because almost every dish needs the right balance.
- Red chilli powder – for colour, heat and flavour.
- Good cooking oil – essential for everyday cooking.
- Green chillies – because they instantly add freshness and heat.
With just these, you can build an enormous range of everyday dishes.
A childhood recipe you’ve passed down to your daughter
Aam ka achar — mango pickle.
Homemade pickles are becoming a lost tradition; too many families now buy them ready-made. I wanted my daughter to learn not just the recipe but the whole ritual of making achar at home — because passing down a recipe is really passing down a piece of our family’s memory. And I hope she passes it on one day.
Madhu Malhotra reminds us that the best recipes aren’t just cooked — they’re carried forward, one generation at a time.