I am Pooja Masurkar, a vegan pastry chef and permaculturist, on a mission to redefine vegan patisserie in India.

My love affair with patisserie goes back to when I first experienced the taste of my mother’s delectable homemade chocolate cake made in a stove top sand oven. I still recall the afternoon I spent collecting sand from the garden, watching my mother carefully weigh out ingredients and helping her mix the cake batter. As I curiously waited for the cake to get done, I was completely taken by the warm aromas that filled the room. From then on I couldn't stop baking, feeding my family all of my experiments. Eventually this led me to pursuing baking as a professional career, graduating from Lavonne Academy of Baking Science and Pastry Arts in 2016.

Since I adopted a plant-based diet, I wanted to take up the challenge of creating alternative baking and confectionary recipes which are comparable to their traditional counterparts. With a keen eye for plating and a passion for the most vibrant, seasonal ingredients, my style has developed to highlight natural, ethically sourced ingredients, with a focus on local and seasonal produce. 

A curious cat by nature, I spend a lot of my time developing new recipes. One of my greatest sources of joy is to be able to spread this carefully acquired and curated knowledge through my online vegan baking school. 

This same desire to share my food philosophy with the world led to me to co-founding KaYa, a farm to table, plant forward cafe currently located in the offbeat village of Stok, Ladakh, where I currently occupy the role of Head Chef. 

I am continuously inspired by my travels and the privilege to live in the mountains. In 2021 this led to the launch of Mountain Muse, an ingredient driven FMCG brand that specialises in celebrating indigenous Indian ingredients through a vegan, gluten free, whole foods based product line. 

I hope you find value in my labour of love and are able to augment your plant based baking journey!

Love,

Pooja