Today we’d like to introduce you to Mish Sen. She and her team share their story with us below:
Mish Sen of Chaska, Minnesota, has vivid memories of the time she spent at her grandmother’s home in Kolkata, India as she was growing up. “I remember the smells of her kitchen. I remember her cooking up these gourmet dishes from scratch and mostly manually, as she didn’t have modern kitchen tools. I remember how at three o’clock in the afternoon we would hear a ‘ting, ting.’”
The noise she refers to was the stirring of teacups, which when served would be accompanied by some delicious treats. “When mealtime came there would be all this wonderful, delicious food on the table. I really miss it!”
Sen moved to the United States at the age of 21, leaving her grandmother behind in India; but she has never forgotten the influence authentic Indian cooking has had on her. “I have always loved food because of my grandmother,” says Sen, “There was food all the time- during regular visits to grandma’s, during birthdays, during holidays and festive times- food was my grandma’s love language”. Sen knows that if her beloved relative was alive today, she would be pleased to learn about the career Sen is building for herself in America around Indian cuisine. And she would like to thank her for being the source of her inspiration!
Mish Sen is active on Instagram where her handle, @eatswithmish, has more than 30,000 followers. The majority of the more than 600 posts she has put up over the past two years have hundreds if not thousands of likes, shares and saves. She started her Instagram blog right before the global pandemic in 2020 and hasn’t looked back.
Sen posts recipes for breakfasts, main courses, appetizers, and desserts. Not to mention recipes for drinks and salads. Many, but not all of the recipes are accompanied by short videos that illustrate how to prepare them. “Thanks to the experience I got in my job as a teacher and later as a digital marketer, I know how to provide information that is easily digestible and how to produce great content online,” she says.
The Instagram blog also offers opportunities for guests to interact with Mish through polls and questions where they are asked questions such as, “Want to learn how to make oatmeal bowls ?” and “Want to learn how to make carrot chutney?” “What type of recipes are you looking for?” “What are your current cooking challenges?” Sen says the answers she receives influence what she makes next. She also gathers valuable info about her audience via live streaming, paying attention to comments and Direct Messages. She’s built many close relationships with her followers and fellow creators.
Her followers also influenced the decision she made to release her first cookbook. Indian Kitchen Secrets: 52 Easy-to-Make Indian Recipes for Beginners has been available for purchase on Amazon since early 2022. Throughout 2020 when her blog launched and got traction, she received many compliments on how the step-by-step instructions that she provides in the captions and also in her video tutorials are helping people cook confidently. People wrote that they were finding success in the kitchen, getting compliments and that how easy her recipes were. Additionally, her students in Community Education classes also gave her great reviews and told her that they always thought Indian cooking was hard till they actually did these cooking lessons. That got her thinking that there must be a ton of people out there that love Indian food but are intimidated to cook it at home. She searched Amazon and although found many great Indian cookbooks she didn’t think any of them were truly beginner-level. She then decided upon creating this book for lovers of Indian food who are beginners and would therefore need a true beginner-level cookbook. Sen’s main goal is to reduce the overwhelm and her mission is to lower the barriers to cooking Indian food at home.
Sen’s debut cookbook begins by informing readers about the basic core spices they’ll need in their pantries to create authentic-tasting Indian cuisine. It’s not a long list. In keeping with her objective of lowering the overwhelm when cooking Indian food, she wanted to structure the recipes in a way that when people saw the ingredients list they would be able to identify the core spices (that they would have been encouraged to stock up on), and then discover that the rest of the ingredients are manageable and mostly maybe already in their pantries.
“My goal is to show my readers that you can cook many Indian dishes with really simple ingredients that you can buy in your regular grocery store,” says Sen, whose cookbook includes dozens of easy-to-prepare Indian food recipes for breakfast, the main course, not to mention recipes for chutneys, drinks, appetizers, desserts, rice, and an easy flatbread.
Among Sen’s favorite recipes shared in Indian Kitchen Secrets: 52 Easy-to-Make Indian Recipes for Beginners, are Chicken Butter Masala, Chana Masala, Aloo Gobi, and Mango Lassi. She is happy she has been able to simplify these restaurant faves and made them very easy to make at home.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Building something from the ground up is never easy but it was very satisfying. Learning a new platform (Instagram) took some time not to mention food photography, creating food videos, and learning how to edit videos. The struggles were that I had to wear many hats in the beginning and also work very long days. I started in 2020 and in a way that was good because all outside activities were halted and I totally immersed myself in my Instagram blog. Also, there’s always that pitfall all social media personas fall into which is comparing yourself to others- I stopped that pretty fast as that was becoming a source of stress.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in easy, tasty, and healthy Indian food. My motto is Balance. Eat wholesome food and indulge in treats occasionally. I teach people how to cook Indian food without feeling overwhelmed and stressed out I provide full instructions in the caption and include a step-by-step video or an image of the finished product. I am always available to answer questions.
I’m most proud of the fact that when the world shut down and turned online, I was there to provide help and guidance to those who were either new to the kitchen or didn’t like to cook. I have received many messages from my community as to how I’ve been a source of kitchen solace to them and helped them succeed and feel good about their cooking. Many received first-time compliments and others discovered that they actually enjoy cooking after all.
What sets me apart is that I have a teaching background I taught 7th grade English in MA for many years. I know how to break down a task into manageable steps and also how to cater to a variety of learners.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I think having the courage to ask someone for help and guidance is the first step. Most people I feel are hesitant to approach someone for guidance. You have to reach out and ask but you also have to find ways to give back to the same person because it’s a give and take. Get to know your mentor and see where they could use your help.
I’ve found mentors on Instagram and also through various fundraising events. I have offered my cooking classes and dinners for a small group as a fundraising item and met many wonderful people. Some have become friends and I have also found some amazing mentors that way.
Pricing:
- {Paperback Book: $29.99
- Kindle: $5.99
- Cooking classes: $55 in person including all raw materials and the dish that’s cooked to bring home.
- Online cooking classes: $40
- Home catering: prices vary
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatswithmish/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eatswithmish
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/Indian-Kitchen-Secrets-Easy-Make-ebook/
Image Credits
Mish Sen
