Rajma Is Called Kidney Beans but Rajma Is My Heartbeat - Aman Malhotra



1. Tell us about your background and journey.

I am from The City Of Temples - Jammu. My family is influenced by both Dogra(Culture of Jammu region) and Kashmiri culture. So we cook food from both cuisines(Dogra and Kashmiri) at home that's something really interesting about my family.

I am currently pursuing Bsc. In hotel management and catering technology from CIHM, Chandigarh. I completed my Industrial training from Shangri-La's Eros Hotel, New Delhi last year. Being part of this industry is a beautiful learning experience for me.

2. What led you to do food blogging?

I used to spend a lot of time in the kitchen ever since I was a kid. I used to help my mom and dad in the kitchen by pounding spices for them. I guess the attraction started there and I am here today creating food content on the Internet. 

Also, I always felt that the cuisine of Jammu region - Dogra cuisine is not that popular, so I decided to showcase this hidden treasure to the world via my handle.

3. What does your typical day look like?

Post corona days are pretty much simple. Sleep late, wake up late then create home food content like recipe videos, thali plating and all. I am missing street food a lot. Staying at home gave me a lot of time for creating more content and expanding my digital presence.

I recently started my YouTube channel and yesterday I crossed 1.5k subscribers mark there as well. Now also working on Twitter. Also, I am getting a lot of time for personal care and expanding my knowledge by reading books and consuming good online content like podcasts, etc. I am taking care of my body, mind and spirit.

4. When did you first decide that you wanted to create and write content about food i.e. for blogging?

I opted for PCB (Physics, chemistry and biology) in +2. Though I was averagely good in sciences it was really disturbing for me to study something I don't wanna make a career out of. So just a day before my final exams of +2 i.e. 3 march 2018.

I created this account and posted my first post and it's been more than 2 years now I am creating and experimenting here.

5. Is there a dish you particularly associate yourself with?

As the name of my page suggests it's Rajma. Rajma is fixed Sunday meal for almost everyone in Jammu. Bhaderwah region of Jammu is known to grow the best quality of Rajma in the world. So rajma is bae for not only me but for entire Jammu or I can say entire India as well. Rajma is called kidney beans but Rajma my heartbeat.

6. Which is your favourite book and why?

My favourite book is Bhagwat Geeta for sure. Keeping the religious associations apart, it's a life-changing book. It teaches us how to live life. I still haven't completed the book yet but till now the best teaching Geeta gave me is to be process-oriented rather than running behind the material cause/goal.

Our focus should always be on the process not of the ultimate goal. You are bound to achieve the goal if you are putting your 100%  efforts on your work and faith in god.

Interview By - Suhani Mangleek