“Food Is A Language”: Chef Sanjyot Keer On MasterChef India, Virality, And The Memory Of Cooking With Ed Sheeran
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From his early days behind the camera on MasterChef India to becoming one of India’s most influential food creators, Chef Sanjyot Keer opens up about purpose and the power of food
“Food Is A Language”: Chef Sanjyot Keer On MasterChef India, Virality, And The Memory Of Cooking With Ed Sheeran
A decade ago, he was the young chef behind the camera, absorbing the heat of the kitchen and the wisdom of mentors in quiet anonymity. And recently, chef Sanjyot Keer returned as a special judge on the very same platform as a digital titan, and the founder of Your Food Lab, boasting a global footprint that has seen icons like Ed Sheeran swapping guitars for spatulas.
But talk to Sanjyot for five minutes, and you realise he hasn’t changed his coordinates; he’s simply widened his lens. Whether he’s perfecting the texture of a street-style pav or engineering premium cookware for the modern Indian home through his brand, Cüraa, his mission remains singular: dignity for the cook and depth for the cuisine. In this conversation, we trace his journey from the 2015 production trenches to becoming a global culinary ambassador who still believes that the most powerful thing you can cook is a connection.
Coming back to MasterChef India, how did it feel coming back to the same platform after starting behind the scenes years ago?
The first emotion was a heart full of gratitude.
For a second, everything paused. For over a decade, I’ve been building, creating, and pushing forward with one clear vision – to present Indian cuisine to the world in a way that feels authentic, detailed, and rooted in our rich food culture. With Your Food Lab, we’ve consistently shown up every single day, setting benchmarks for how Indian food can be presented on the digital screen and how its stories can be told.
When you’re in that loop of creating and pushing forward, you rarely pause.
But the moment I walked back into the MasterChef kitchen, there was stillness. It took me back to 2015, when I first entered that same kitchen behind the camera, absorbing everything, working with some of the greatest culinary minds in the country. Walking back in on the other side as a special judge after a decade didn’t feel like a victory lap. It felt like homecoming. It reminded me how far consistent work, patience, clarity of vision, persistence, and above all, belief in yourself can take you.
When you look at your journey so far, what’s the biggest shift you see in yourself as a chef and creator today?
I don’t really separate the two roles. For me, food has always been a language. Whether I’m cooking in a kitchen or creating content for millions, it comes from the same place, someone who loves food and believes it can spread joy, connection, and understanding. If there’s been a shift, it’s clarity. I’ve always been a learner. From the day I started cooking to the day I started creating content, it’s been one continuous journey. But over time, I’ve become clearer about why I’m doing this.
Your Food Lab was always about creating for people – that’s why it’s called “Your” Food Lab. I wanted someone on their first day in the kitchen and someone who has been cooking for 30 years to both find value in what we create.
The biggest shift is that today, I believe even more strongly that if you keep people at the centre and focus on impact, success follows. I’m clearer about my purpose – to present Indian cuisine with depth, respect, and the highest possible value.
You’ve collaborated with global names like Ed Sheeran. Did you ever imagine your food IP going that viral and international?
I’m not a believer in virality. I’m a believer in impact. When we collaborated with Ed Sheeran, it was special, not because it went viral, but because it showed that food truly is a universal language.
I chose to cook Misal pav, a dish deeply rooted in Maharashtra, yet lesser known globally. If even a few lakh more people now know what Misal pav is, that’s impact. It was also a powerful moment because Ed Sheeran was seen cooking on screen for the first time. Watching a global icon step into an Indian kitchen and cook with me showed that our cook-along format has depth and structure.
That collaboration validated the IP’s strength. And I genuinely believe Cook Along with Sanjyot Keer will continue to be one of the most significant collaboration formats in our country.
For your Cook Along IP, which one has been the best yet and why?
Every cook-along has its own energy. Getting artists, athletes, and actors into the kitchen and having conversations around food and life is always special. But if I had to choose one, the first one with Ed Sheeran will always stand out. It laid the foundation. It proved the format works. It showed that this idea could scale beyond what we initially imagined. After that, whether it was Ajay Devgn, Sourav Ganguly, or others, each one added a new dimension. But the first one will always have that emotional weight.
From content creator to entrepreneur, what pushed you to finally launch your brand, and what does it represent for you?
Entrepreneurship was a natural extension of the journey. Having cooked in professional kitchens and home kitchens for years, I realised something that always bothered me – India was often treated as a market for substandard products. High-quality, globally benchmarked kitchen products were either inaccessible or simply not prioritised.
I felt we deserved better. Cüraa was born from that thought. I wanted to create products that match global standards but are built thoughtfully for Indian kitchens. For too long, kitchens in India were hidden spaces, often gender-biased, often overlooked in terms of technology and aesthetics. I believe the kitchen should be one of the most beautiful, empowering spaces in a home, because that’s where life is nurtured.
Our products are functionality-first, they reduce friction in achieving the best cooking experience, improve textures, improve consistency, and make cooking easier. But they are also designed to look modern and premium, because I believe the space where food is created deserves dignity and beauty.
For me, the brand represents respect – for the cook, for the kitchen, and for the craft.
What’s been more challenging: building credibility as a chef or sustaining relevance as a digital creator?
I don’t separate them. Even as a digital creator, I see myself only as a chef presenting food, just not in a restaurant, but on screen. Credibility comes from impact. If someone watches your work, finds value in it, and changes something in their life because of it, that’s credibility.
When someone tells me they entered a kitchen for the first time using my recipe and have been cooking for years since, that’s impact. When a 70-year-old says they still find value in my content after cooking for decades, that’s credibility. Sustaining that level of impact every single day for years is the real challenge.
Longevity in digital doesn’t come from trends. It comes from value. And that’s something you have to commit to consistently.
For someone watching your journey today, what’s the one lesson you’d want young chefs and creators to take away?
Don’t chase someone else’s milestones.
Find your purpose. Stay consistent. Show up every single day, especially when progress feels invisible.
And most importantly, don’t kill your ideas too early. Even the ones that seem unrealistic. Success rarely happens overnight. It compounds quietly, if you stay long enough.
March 17, 2026, 20:06 IST
