Known for her easy recipes, Jesna Stephen is a recipe creator with thousands of followers on Instagram. Growing up in Dubai, studying in Kerala, and eventually settling in Mumbai, Jesna had the pleasure of exploring different cuisines from which she draws her inspiration.
Jesna had a late debut in the kitchen, largely due to her mother's strict emphasis on cleanliness and Jesna's knack for creating chaos.She would rarely want to enter the space, and on the rare occasions when inspiration did strike, fear of creating a mess stopped her from trying this foreign skill.
She recounts one instance when she mustered up the courage and crossed the threshold of her kitchen. “I ended up with burnt chilli and a sneezing spree.” She cleaned up all the mess and any traces of her cooking adventure and swore off cooking.
Things changed when Jesna got married and discovered her husband was a big foodie who loved homemade food. Love conquers all, even fear of chillies. Jesna started her cooking journey by reading recipe books, asking advice from both her mother and her mother-in-law and a lot of trial and error.
As she welcomed a son into her life, her journey took pace. To her joy, her son was a lover of food. “He loves eating and trying new flavours. He became my navigator and my critique as I dived into a diverse range of cuisines, trying to look for dishes that he would love.”
Then, COVID struck, and Jesna was cooking more than she did previously. She explored new cuisines and different dishes and decided to upload her recipes online once it was approved by her family.
Jesna revealed most of her cooking is inspired by her mother. “Whenever I want to try a traditional recipe, the first thing I do is call her up.” Jesna’s cooking journey began around 15 years ago when recipes were scarce on Google. She told us she would collect recipe books to try different kinds of cuisine. Her family is her team of testers. Good reviews from them are the approval stamp for all her recipes.
According to Jesna, she usually starts with an ingredient. She then researches it and finds new ways to modify traditional recipes and add her unique touch.
She revealed her favourite ingredient to cook with was “Fish or seafood rather. I love it. I don’t think I have done enough fish recipes, and I am excited to explore more of that.”
When asked about her signature recipes, she said,
“I would say Kerala-style fish curry is my signature dish. I cook it almost twice a week. Everybody loves it, including my son. It’s made with Kashmiri chilli powder and has a vibrant red colour, although it’s not too spicy. Bite-sized desserts and Biryani are two recipes I love to cook, which I am really confident about.
Jesna embraces the challenges of conceptualizing, filming, and editing recipe reels, insisting on doing it herself to keep the creative process enjoyable.
As Jesna conquered cooking, it quickly became the easy part of her job, and conceptualising the video, filming, and editing became the tough part. “Nowadays, reels have become competitive. So yes, trying to tell a story through the recipe, filming, and editing is tricky for me”, she said.
Despite the difficulties, she insists on carrying out these activities herself rather than hiring an editor and videographer,” I believe I’ll lose the fun of it if I don’t do it myself.”
“I have moved around a lot and tried different cuisines. I was lucky to experience such a diversity of food cultures, and now, that serves as an inspiration for my cooking.”
Hailing from Kerala, Jesna is currently living in Mumbai. The distinct yet similar food culture of these two places influenced her cooking style. She recalls cooking Moong Dal Payasam, a traditional South Indian pudding made with green gram, jaggery, ghee & coconut milk inspired by both the Maharashtrian and Kerala flavors.
“Chaat is one of my favourite things to eat,” says Jesna when asked about what she likes eating in Mumbai. She also revealed that she has a big sweet tooth. Desserts are her favourite things to eat and cook. Tres Leches cake and Cheesecake, in particular, are her two favourites. Although she strays away from cooking sweet delights, as her love for sweet things often leads to her eating the entire serving. Seeing how delicious her creations are, we totally get her!
Jesna is not a fan of spicy food. “Growing up in Dubai, the food there was relatively spicy. I prefer mild spice levels that allow other flavours to exist.”
Passionate about inspiring others, Jesna aims to provide easy recipes for busy lives while balancing family and dreams of starting her own cafe and venturing into YouTube.
“I like to inspire people”, Jesna is a homemaker and a very passionate one at that. She is conscious towards finding the right balance between family and work. She told us her primary motive is to offer easy recipes for bachelors, hustlers and homemakers.
“I want everyone to have access to good homemade food without taking too much time away from their life.” We asked her if she had any advice for aspiring recipe creators, “Take it slow. Work with the ingredients that are available to you. Start with easy recipes and perfect them.”
Jesna dreams of starting a humble cafe someday with some signature recipes. For now, she plans on venturing into YouTube as a Recipe creator.
Want to try out Jesna Stephen's recipes? Click here.
Updated on 24 Jul 2025
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