Ana: Cooking for a full-time picky eater

Ana is from Lucknow, but as a young child she did not live with her parents. They were in Mumbai, and she stayed with her nani in Uttar Pradesh. The food memory she returns to from those years is tahari, the yellow rice dish cooked with potatoes and peas, which turned up in her nani's home every second or third day. It came with chutney, a little onion on the side, and papad, and she says the children never once got tired of it.

She moved to Mumbai after finishing tenth grade, and that is where her working life began. Before Dubai, Ana was a preschool teacher, and when she and her husband relocated in 2021, she assumed she would keep teaching.

That plan did not survive the move. Working in a school in Dubai required certifications she did not have, and she was not able to continue in the profession. It left her with something she had not had much of before: free time.

Ana had always been the person in her family to ask for videos and photos. She liked filming and framing aesthetic shots, and relatives knew that if they wanted something captured well, she was the one to call. In Dubai she spent her free hours watching other creators cook on Instagram.

When the couple moved into a new home, the kitchen settled the question. It had good light, and she decided to start filming there. Her first recipes were the food her own household ate. Rather than adding another butter chicken or biryani to a feed already full of them, she wanted to share the home recipes she personally related to.

She put real work into those early videos. Each one was a full recipe, shot from several angles, with the background and the view behind the dish planned in advance. The response, she says, was not what she had hoped for.

Then Ana became pregnant, and with motherhood came a stretch where everything felt harder. She considered giving up the page. Her sisters talked her out of it, and one of them, Sana, suggested a different direction: instead of quitting, turn the page into mom content. Share what the baby eats, what he wears, what he plays with.

Ana thought it could work, partly for practical reasons. Baby recipes tend to be short, and they take far less time to film than the full-length cooking videos she had been making. She traded the multi-angle setups for a single fixed camera angle, which is how she still shoots today, moving the food and each step through that one frame.

One of those recipes went viral. That was the point, she says, when she realized the page could actually work, and she kept going.

Ask Ana what she likes cooking most and the answer comes back to her son, who is now about a year and a half old.

"My baby is a full-time picky eater, like he doesn't like to eat anything."

That struggle drives nearly every recipe on her page. Because he refuses so much, she is constantly trying something new: searching Instagram, then taking traditional recipes and adding ingredients that make them healthier for him. She says she would like to thank him for it, because if he were not such a fussy eater, she might have given up somewhere along the way.

The goal she describes is simple: cook something good and get him to eat it well. It is the same goal many of her followers wake up with.

Among all the foods Ana prepares, pasta holds a particularly special place. It is one of her son's favourite meals, which has encouraged her to experiment with countless variations. From vegetable-based sauces to creamy, nutritious combinations, she enjoys finding ways to incorporate different ingredients into a familiar and comforting dish.

One of her early pasta recipes was labelled suitable for babies aged eight months and above. The post sparked conversations among parents who wondered whether babies could eat pasta before developing teeth. Ana explained that babies can manage appropriately prepared soft foods using their gums, provided the food is cooked thoroughly and served in a safe, age-appropriate shape and texture.

She also encouraged parents to choose suitable ingredients and adapt recipes according to their child's developmental readiness. The experience reminded her that creating baby food content involves more than simply sharing recipes. It also means answering questions, understanding parents' concerns, and helping them feel more confident about introducing new foods.

Today, she has shared so many pasta variations that her own Instagram page has become a personal recipe collection. On days when she struggles to decide what to cook, she sometimes scrolls through her previous posts, finds something her son particularly enjoyed, and prepares it again.

Like many first-time mothers, Ana initially felt overwhelmed when introducing solids. She worried about variety, nutrition, and whether she was preparing the right foods.

Over time, she realised that nutritious baby meals do not have to be expensive or complicated. Her approach focuses on everyday ingredients such as rice, lentils, vegetables, eggs, chicken, and whole wheat.

While she enjoys experimenting with ingredients like ragi and other traditional grains, she believes parents should feel confident using simple foods already available in their kitchens. For Ana, the goal is to make feeding less stressful and encourage parents to focus on variety, balance, and home-cooked meals.

Ana's love for food is deeply influenced by her Indian roots, particularly Lucknow's rich culinary traditions. From kebabs and biryani to nihari and kulcha, she has always enjoyed traditional dishes and their distinctive flavours.

She loves experimenting with baby-friendly versions of familiar meals, adapting ingredients, seasoning, and textures to suit younger eaters. One memorable experiment was a baby-friendly biryani rice recipe she created with her sister, which her son thoroughly enjoyed.

When it comes to her own comfort food, however, nothing quite compares to her mother's kadhi khichdi.

Behind every beautifully presented recipe is a process that requires planning, preparation, creativity, and patience. Ana manages almost every aspect of The Tasty Tale independently. From choosing recipes and experimenting with ingredients to filming, editing, writing captions, and engaging with her audience, she remains closely involved in every stage of content creation.

Most of Ana's ideas start with a recipe she spots on Instagram. She modifies it to her own taste, and when the original was made for adults, she reworks it into a baby version. A recent run of tikki recipes, including chana tikki, began as adult dishes from other creators that she adapted with milder spicing.

Before filming, she carefully plans the ingredients, quantities, and sequence of shots. Since much of her filming happens while her son is asleep, she tries to make the most of the limited time available. Everything is prepared in advance so she can work efficiently. Editing usually happens later in the day, when her husband or sister is available to help care for her son. Although her filming process has become simpler over time, her attention to detail remains unchanged. She continues to value clean backgrounds, good lighting, and visually appealing food presentation.

Of course, not every recipe experiment is successful. There are occasions when a dish does not turn out as expected, and sometimes the final result never makes it to Instagram. But she sees these experiences as part of the creative process. Each experiment teaches her something new, and every successful recipe gives her another reason to keep creating. For Ana, content creation is not simply about cooking a meal and recording it. It is about transforming an everyday experience into something creative, informative, and genuinely useful for other parents.

For Ana, reaching this milestone has been both surprising and deeply rewarding. She remembers how overwhelming it felt when her page first reached 5,000 followers, followed by 10,000 and then 15,000. Each milestone reminded her that the content she was creating in her own kitchen was reaching people far beyond her immediate surroundings. Her videos have reached hundreds of thousands of viewers, with her content achieving significant organic reach.

She takes particular pride in the fact that this growth has come without paid promotions.

"Yes, organic. No boost, no nothing."

Like many creators, she has faced challenges with consistency, especially during extended trips to India. Over time, she learned to plan and prepare content in advance, allowing her to stay connected with her audience even while travelling. Today, she continues to learn, adapt, and experiment with new ways of connecting with her audience.

For Ana, The Tasty Tale is more than a hobby. It is something she has built with dedication, creativity, and genuine passion. Having stepped away from her teaching career, she hopes to establish a professional identity of her own through content creation.

"I want to grow financially also, in this field. I want to build something of my own."

So far she has done two or three barter collaborations with Dubai-based companies. She has pitched many brands for paid work, she says, and most have not replied. It irritates her that the effort she is putting in is not being noticed. She wants to collaborate with brands that align with her values, particularly those connected to parenting, baby food, and children's products. Her goal is to build meaningful partnerships while maintaining the authenticity and trust she has developed with her audience.

The page runs lean on purpose. To lift engagement, Ana stopped putting ingredient lists in her captions and started asking followers to comment for the recipe, then sends it to them by DM. That messaging is done by hand. Her sister explains that they tried apps that automate the replies but would have had to pay for them, and Ana's rule for now is that she will not invest money until the page is earning it.

She also hopes to see more opportunities for emerging creators whose work requires considerable time, effort, and creativity. Ultimately, Ana wants to turn something she genuinely loves into a sustainable career.

Ana credits much of her motivation to her husband and sisters, who have supported her throughout her journey. Her younger sister, in particular, inspires her through her resilience, independence, and determination.

But some of her most rewarding moments come from the mothers who follow her page. She recalls receiving a meal plan from a mother who had included The Tasty Tale's tikki recipe for lunch and pasta for dinner. Seeing her recipes become part of another family's routine made her realise that her content was genuinely helping people.

She has also been pleasantly surprised to discover well-known personalities, including Bollywood celebrities, among her followers. Yet the encouragement she receives from everyday mothers remains especially meaningful.

Ana's advice to aspiring creators is simple: don't wait for the perfect moment. She believes everyone has something unique to offer and encourages people to embrace their individuality rather than compare themselves with others.

"Whatever it is, if you are passionate about it, just start."

Ana admits that she often feels nervous and doubts herself, but she has learned that confidence sometimes comes after taking the first step. More than anything, she wants to look back knowing that she tried, worked hard, and gave her dreams a chance. She hopes to tell her children one day that she pursued something she believed in and left the outcome to God.

What began with a bright kitchen, a camera, and a love for cooking has grown into something far more meaningful. Through The Tasty Tale, Ana has found a way to combine her creativity with motherhood while building a supportive community of parents. She continues to experiment, learn, and grow, with the hope of making The Tasty Tale a trusted space for baby food inspiration and everyday parenting discoveries.

Follow Ana's recipes on Instagram at @thetastytale01. Chefadora spotlights creators like Ana because the recipes people cook every day come from real kitchens and real lives, and the people behind them deserve as much attention as the food.

Updated on 04 Nov 2026