Payal Kapoor’s YouTube channel Rasoi Ke Rahasya is teaching blind people to cook independently

Whether you are new to cooking or looking to enhance your culinary skills, Rasoi ke Rahasya, a YouTube channel by Payal Kapoor, is worth checking out. Through detailed audio tutorials, Payal, who is completely blind, wants to equip visually impaired people with the confidence to cook independently.

Confused by the different types of flours and masalas you see at grocery stores or online? Well, Rasoi ke Rahasya may be the place to find all the answers you are looking for. This is a YouTube channel started by Payal Kapoor, a blind hotel management graduate, who wants to teach visually impaired people the skills they need to cook independently.

Payal graduated from the Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology in Hyderabad and was working at the Hotel Krishna Oberoi when she experienced a cerebral attack. She lost her vision, hearing and sense of touch. While she regained her sense of touch and hearing eventually, she never regained her sight.

“It took me six years to get used to being blind”, says Payal. She had to re-learn everything and went through active rehab. She also went through the rigour of learning Braille. “I used to be voracious reader and not being able to read at all was a blow”.

Payal lost her vision after a cerebral attack

Payal started working with Caring Aid for the Visually Impaired, an organisation that empowered her. She spent six years in giving back to the visually impaired community as a resource person, mentor and teacher. In 2007, she rejoined the hotel industry with juSTa Group of Hotels & Resorts. She now works with Merquri Medica, which specialises in medical emergency, disaster preparedness equipment, and first-aid kits.

Payal is also India’s first blind person with a certification to provide life support services like CPR and first aid.

More than just cooking tips

Cooking was always a passion but until now that was limited to her own experiments in the kitchen and helping other blind and low vision people with tips. Rasoi ke Rahasya is yet another effort to give back to the community that has given her so much.

I was looking at some other cooking channels started by blind people and found that they did not explain the finer nuances of cooking. There need to be more details as there are many blind people who are new to cooking and need to know exactly what is needed. Through Rasoi ke Rahasya I want to address those doubts. – Payal Kapoor, Founder, Rasoi ke Rahasya channel

The episodes are extensively researched with descriptive audio tutorials that tells you how to identify masalas and store them properly, tips and tricks for everyday cooking, even how to cook with the minimum ingredients available during the lockdown.

Registration is now closed for the session but you can watch the episodes here. Payal has done four episodes so far and plans to continue until the lockdown is lifted.

Also Read:

• Some steps to making cooking accessible for visually impaired people