For Priya Lakshminarayan, a move to the US eventually brought her closer to the food she grew up with in Mumbai. After relocating to Orlando, she began documenting the Indian recipes she had grown up eating. What started as a way to preserve those recipes grew into Cookilicious, the vegetarian and vegan digital food platform she launched in 2014. Alongside building Cookilicious, Priya has authored the book, The Essential Vegan Indian Cookbook, and won the Sunday Breakfast Challenge with her ven pongal and coconut chutney on Food Network’s 2026 cooking competition 100 Cooks.
“I grew up in a wonderfully cosmopolitan neighbourhood where food was always at the centre of life,” she shares with The Global Indian. “We celebrated festivals together, shared food across homes, and most conversations somehow found their way back to what everyone was cooking.”
Growing up with stories, flavours, and memory
Raised in a Tamil Brahmin household in Chembur, Priya grew up with South Indian food traditions at home, while the Maharashtrian food of her neighbours also became part of her culinary memory. “Some of my favourite dishes today come from Maharashtrian cuisine simply because those flavours were part of my childhood,” she says.
Food, for Priya, was never just about recipes. It was about people. Her parents both cooked, each with their own signature dishes, while her grandmother and neighbours added to her growing archive of tastes and techniques.
Some of my strongest memories aren’t from written recipes. They’re from watching someone cook, asking an aunt how she made something, or eating a dish and wanting to know the story behind it.
Priya Lakshminarayan
That interest stayed with her even as her career took a different direction. She studied Home Science, where food and nutrition formed a strong academic base, but went on to build a career in Human Resources. Cooking remained a constant part of her life.
Building Cookilicious far from home
The turning point came after she moved to the United States. Being away from India made her more aware of how much she missed its food, from regional cuisines and street food to dishes associated with festivals. “Moving away from India made me realise just how much I missed its food,” she says. “The regional cuisines, the street food, the dishes connected to festivals, everything.”
In the early days, she found the Indian food available around her limited compared with what she had grown up eating. Instead of looking for every familiar dish outside, she began making them herself.
“If I was craving something specific, I thought, why not make it myself?” At the time, visa restrictions meant she was unable to work initially. She began documenting recipes, particularly those of her parents. Having lost them early, recreating their food became a way to stay connected to them. “Those recipes meant much more than instructions. They were memories. They were a connection.”
Cookilicious began without a formal business plan. “Honestly, it started on a whim,” she says. “I just wanted a place to document my parents’ recipes.” As she continued sharing recipes, however, readers began responding. What started as a personal collection gradually developed into a food platform featuring vegetarian and vegan recipes, with Indian cuisine at its core.
View this post on Instagram
Making traditional food relevant to today’s kitchen
Cookilicious reflects Priya’s interest in Indian food as well as her curiosity about cuisines beyond India. Travel has become an important part of that process.
“My husband and I love travelling, and food is always a big part of how we experience a place,” she says. “I naturally bring those experiences back into my kitchen.” Her process often starts with research. She looks into traditional recipes and, where possible, speaks to older generations to understand techniques that may not always be documented.
From there, she experiments with ways to make recipes practical for contemporary home cooks. “Can I simplify it? Can I make it more accessible? Can it work in an Instant Pot or Air Fryer without losing what makes it special?” she asks.
That approach allows her to retain the character of a dish while considering the way people cook today.
Her focus on vegetarian and vegan cooking is also rooted in her upbringing. “Being vegetarian since birth, it was always natural for me,” she says. As plant-based eating gained wider attention, she saw an opportunity to introduce more people to the variety within Indian vegetarian cuisine.
Many Indian dishes are already vegan or can be adapted easily. I wanted to show how vibrant and diverse Indian vegetarian food really is.
Priya Lakshminarayan
From recipes to a cookbook
Her work eventually led to The Essential Vegan Indian Cookbook, bringing together many of the recipes and ideas that had shaped her food journey.
“Having my own cookbook was always a dream,” she says. “It felt like a full-circle moment.” The book gave her another way to present Indian food to readers who may be unfamiliar with its regional variety, while staying within the vegetarian and vegan focus that has long been part of her cooking.
For Priya, writing recipes is only one part of maintaining a food platform. Food photography, recipe testing and writing sit alongside the practical demands of running a digital business.
Learning the business behind the recipes
As Cookilicious grew, Priya found herself having to learn areas beyond cooking and recipe development. “SEO, analytics, social media strategy, all of it is essential,” she admits. “I don’t love that part as much, but it’s necessary.”
The changing nature of digital platforms has been another challenge. “Just when you think you’ve figured something out, it changes,” she says with a laugh. Self-promotion was another adjustment. “I would rather let my work speak for itself, but I’ve learned that you also have to tell your story.”
Her Food Network appearance provided a different kind of experience. In 2026, she was among the 100 home cooks competing on 100 Cooks, a Food Network cooking competition. She won the Sunday Breakfast Challenge with ven pongal and coconut chutney.
“It was surreal,” she recalls. “But what stood out most was the sense of community. Even though we were competing, everyone was supportive.” The experience also reinforced something she had learned through her own cooking journey. “You have to trust your instincts. You don’t have to cook like everyone else. Your perspective is what makes you stand out.”
Carrying culture forward
For Priya, one of the most rewarding parts of sharing Indian food is seeing people discover dishes they may not have encountered before.
I love introducing someone to a regional dish they’ve never heard of and seeing them recreate it in their own kitchen. It feels special to know that something from our culture is now part of someone else’s home.
Priya Laxminarayan
Living in Orlando with her husband Kartik and their dog Joey, she continues to cook, travel and explore new cuisines while staying connected to the food she grew up eating. “Food has always been about connection for me,” she says. “Whether it’s through a screen or around a table.”
Looking back, she also sees how skills acquired early in life have found their way into her work. Her father introduced her to photography when she was young, something she did not initially expect to become important to her career.
“No skill you learn ever goes to waste,” she says. “My dad introduced me to photography when I was young. I had no idea it would become such an important part of what I do today.”
For Priya, the journey from a Mumbai childhood to a food platform in Orlando has been shaped by a simple idea: stay connected to the food that formed you while remaining open to learning and adapting. “Be yourself,” she says simply. “Stay connected to your roots, honour where you come from, and trust your own journey.”