Today we’d like to introduce you to Megha Bodawala.
Hi Megha, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I was always an aspiring housewife who was unfortunately homebound due to American policy for H4 visa. The non-immigrant H4 visa did not grant the permission to work prior to 2016. Hence, I spent most of my early married life around my husband and kids, mostly feeding them nice home-cooked meals of all types. I would rather say that they were spoiled to the point where my husband would come to home for lunch every day and I would also drop a tiffin to kids just before the lunchtime at school. We finally moved to DFW area in mid-2017 and I started growing my kitchen skills. Then COVID-19 came, and my life turned upside down. My husband and kids were always at home, and I felt a lot busier, boring, and more occupied, and homebound with constant cooking and trying several new recipes inspired by different cuisines and giving the touches based on my family’s diet and lifestyle preferences.
My family follows the Hindu vegetarian diet and sattvic lifestyle. It means that we avoid the consumption of onions and garlic in all cooking done at home. Hence, it sets apart the recipes created by me. If you search for recipes that are healthy and sattvic vegetarian diet, you will find very few which would taste good and healthy. I was recording or live-streaming videos to my friends, family, and some moms who wanted some recipes. One day I thought why not create a channel that is focused on cooking content based on vegetarian “Rasoi” (means Kitchen and mostly Indian dishes created in Kitchen) and sattvic Lifestyle. This is how an idea of Rasoi Lifestyle was born.
Rasoi Lifestyle came into existence on a public platform (“YouTube Channel”) in Aug 2021 to set me free from this COVID boredom and set my sattvic recipes free from my home kitchen to outside world. It also provided me the new identity rather than just being a housewife. Since living in Texas, I often try Tex-Mex recipes and my very first recipe video was Mexican Chopped Salad with Homemade Avocado Dressing. I used Hindi as a language for viewers since I thought my audience would be mostly Indian diaspora in United States, but online content has no boundaries. Over the time, I started getting viewers from around the world, even the countries unheard of and I would sometimes go to map to locate those. My 2nd recipe video Semolina Toast got 13K views and this is my favorite go-to recipe for kid’s lunch. They just love it.
Since the start, I have produced around 200 videos, mostly recipes with 300K views just on YouTube. Some recipes have performed well, and some did not. But I keep doing what I love to do – Cook and Create exciting cooking content. There was a period between March to August this year where I took a break and it hurt the channel growth. But I recovered and now I am publishing regularly at least 2 videos a week.
Lately, I am also pivoting into broader lifestyle with some videos featuring vacations, nature, religious and volunteering activities, etc. I have expanded on Instagram platform as well. There is still a lot to be done. We are working to relaunch the website and mobile app. And I also want to write a cookbook and publish it in next few years. This journey is exciting, and I had a lot of ups and downs along the way.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I sincerely believe that all ventures have their fair share of struggles. Smooth roads rarely exist if they do at all. The chaos creates the perfect storm that teach essential lessons and build skills that ultimately allow us to sustain and grow. I had never stood in front of the camera and spoke anything before so cooking while facing camera and explaining recipe in detail was extremely challenging in the beginning. It was like you are doing three things at the same time – cooking, filming video, and recording audio and there was no room for error. Also, I used to get up early along with my husband to record early before kids wake up so that theirs and surrounding voices did not enter the video. It was a very difficult start initially.
Food photography and videography is whole different subject. Especially when you are filming in home environment with basic equipment, positioning of camera, lights, shadows, background – everything matters in what makes the content professional versus amateur looking. Hence, my husband and I took some courses on Udemy for learning photography, videography and film editing, etc. We had to buy some camera equipment, utensils, new dishes, and backdrop pattern for photography. It ensured that the content was more professional looking and presentable.
Sometimes, the recording film was so long that editing used to took hours and I was publishing 3 to 4 videos a week. It created tremendous pressure on me and my husband – to the point that we both were up for whole night to launch the fresh content. Then, we started writing loose script of what to film and what to avoid. We started recording opening and closing scenes separately from the core cooking content, Also, I started the voice-over for core cooking recipes. It made the whole filming and editing more streamlined and efficient. I also had to learn the photo editing and used paid version of Befunky application. For 1 min long videos (also known as Shorts or Reels), I used Free version of VN editor app. For making long videos, I used the paid version of Director Suite product. So, it was a lot of learning and doing it fast and efficiently. My husband and I took some courses on Udemy for learning all aspects of media creation and directorship.
We also found that some ingredients were so special that you could not find is easily and had to order those ahead of schedule. In a nutshell, it was extremely challenging process, but I am very glad that I did it and learned some new skills along the way. Embracing difficulties make the whole journey a fun-filled and satisfactory adventure.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I love to create dishes that are loved by people around me. People who have seen my recipe videos on Rasoi Lifestyle channel can quickly tell that I specialize in the Indian Street Food. I also make some great desserts.
In the Indian Street Food category, I have made some remarkable items like Hariyali Pav Bhaji, Stuffed Roti Cone, Khaman with Chutney, Kutchi Dabeli, Cheesy Veg Paneer Frankie, Samosa Chaat, Pink Dhokla, Bhel Kachori, Lilva Kachori, Aloo Cutlet, Chinese Puff, Papdi Khichu, Papd Cone, Khakhra Chat and Katori Chat.
I have made Metha Paan Ice Cream, Rose and Paan Fudge, Ghughra, Kesar Ladoo, Mango Bread, Custard Sharbat, Kesar Badam Kulfi, Eggless Mango Mousse, Mango Mastani, and Chocolate Paan Shake in the Indian desserts category.
I am sure that many of these interesting and exciting items are unknown to you and other readers, but they are so easy to make, and all ingredients are commonly available at several stores in DFW area. Another interesting fact is that most of these items are not available in menu at any DFW area Indian restaurant. So, you have now all the reason to take a leap of faith with me and try these recipes in your kitchen. My videos on Rasoi Lifestyle channel explain those in detail with all ingredients and measurements. The content can be viewed freely.
If it’s just too much, I have some recipes for more familiar names like Grilled Stuffed Tacos, Grilled Vegetable Pesto Sandwich, Caprese Panini, Mexican Chopped Salad, Veggie Toast, Pesto Spaghetti, Bruschetta, etc.
Sattvic lifestyle-focused vegetarian recipes are what sets my work apart from others which I mentioned in detail earlier.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
Dallas is an excellent place for creative people like me. Dallas area has some excellent public parks like Klyde Warren Park, Hope Park (Frisco), White Rock Park, Lakeside Park to name a few. We also have great nature areas like Dallas Arboretum. Dallas area is home to several public school districts in Texas.
Dallas is very remote from the good vacation spots meaning like if you must go to mountain or good beach, you have to basically fly or drive for at least 7 to 8 hours or more. Our weather in Dallas is sometimes unpredictable with rapid swings in temperature.
Well, you cannot ask for everything. It’s a best compromise for good day-to-day life.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rasoi.lifestyle/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rasoi.lifestyle/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/RasoiLifestyle
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RasoiLifestyle
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/rasoilifestyle/
Image Credits
Jignashu Bodawala
Megha Bodawala
