“Some people say that being vegan is hard, but I want to prove them wrong,” she insists.

“My goal is to make a vegan version of whatever it is that you are craving to prove that you’re not missing out on anything,” says the strong-willed 25-year-old.

Gayatri herself became vegan at 23 after being a vegetarian for eight years. She admits that she learned to cook by trial and error.

“I was 11 when I first started creating my own recipes; I didn’t even know how to cook then,” she says.

Three years later, she set herself the task of creating 100 different versions of nasi lemak, five of which are part of her current menu.

Gayatri started her food delivery business when Covid-19 struck the country in early 2020. Prior to that, she had worked as a part-time private chef.

She now has her hands full.

She collaborates with Crown Colony Cuisine, a vegetarian restaurant in Petaling Jaya, conducts online cooking lessons and uploads cooking videos on social media.

She is also studying part-time to become a clinical psychologist, driven by the pain and suffering she endured in the past.

“I’ve experienced a lot of physical and mental abuse growing up as I didn’t do very well in school.

“There was even a time when I had to sleep at bus stops and laundromats. I was penniless. I didn’t have anyone to turn to and I had lost faith in humankind,” she said.

Now, she wants to help those who are in a similar situation.

Gayatri had also tried her hand at different jobs, for example housekeeping, teaching, HR, sales and marketing, and care of the elderly.

Needless to say, food is everything to Gayatri.

“If you see my captions on social media, you’ll know that I ‘make love’ to my food; it’s the only true companion I’ve had throughout life,” she says.

Gayatri’s inspiration springs from her emotions.

“I try to visualise the love and joy that I’m yearning for and I try to bring that into my life through the dishes that I create,” she explains, adding that she is a proponent of the “law of attraction”, which is a belief that positive thoughts bring positive results into one’s life.

Her signature dishes include the mango nasi lemak, Chandramukhi biryani, crispy tofu with mango salsa and Szechuan Manchurian.

Gayatri doesn’t believe in keeping her recipes to herself and often shares them with her students.

“When I give these recipes away, I make way for more ideas. If I want to gain something, I must be willing to give something; it’s a flow,” she says.

Interestingly, most of her customers are meat eaters.

“They like me because I can veganise their favourite food – that’s my selling point,” she says with a smile.

Although she has clear goals on what she wants to achieve in life, at the end of the day, Gayatri just wants to serve others as much as she can.

“Cooking is a gift that God has given me and it’s a gift that I have never failed to appreciate as it has kept me going despite the hard times I’ve experienced.

“It has kept me alive and, in return, I intend to touch people’s lives through the love and joy that I put into my food.”

Follow Chef Gaya’s passionate adventures with food on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.