Nita Mehta

Mehta began giving cooking lessons from her home kitchen in the 1980s, starting with classes in making ice cream.^[1][2] Nirula's 21, an ice cream parlor offering 21 flavours, had recently become popular, and Mehta believed women would want to learn to make ice cream at home.^[1][2] She recreated Nirula's flavours and developed home recipes she could teach.^[2] She expanded class offerings in response to student requests, eventually developing teaching recipes for Chinese, Mughlai and European dishes.^[2]

Mehta wrote her first cookbook, Vegetarian Wonders, in 1992, but couldn't find a publisher, so she self-published it.^[1] It had limited success, and she switched to a single-topic booklet format, which was more successful; since then she has published on multiple subjects,^[3] including 101 Recipes for Children^[4] and The Best of Chicken and Paneer.^[5] She formed a publishing house in 1994, SNAB publishers.^[1] By 2001 she opened a culinary academy with a professional kitchen.^[1][6][7][2]

In 2010, Mehta and Hamdard Laboratories created mocktail and dessert recipes for Rooh Afza which were used in a new marketing campaign.^[8] Also in 2010, a school in Panchsheel Colony, New Delhi consulted Mehta who provided a menu which was handed over to parents as a guide to food which should be packed for students going to the school.^[9] academy.^[6][7]

In 2012 she opened restaurant Kelong at Sarabha Nagar in Ludhiana.^[10]

Panasonic organised an event in Coimbatore in 2004 where Mehta was invited to share recipes for microwave cooking.^[11]

In 2007, Kurkure, a brand of ready-to-eat snacks owned by PepsiCo, ran a recipe contest which Mehta judged.^[12] Later in 2011, she appeared on the television cooking contest MasterChef India as a judge.^[13] In 2025 she judged Dainik Bhaskar's Super Chef 2025 contest.^[14]

• Official website