The first video starts out with an unsteady shot of Manjula Jain in her Rancho Bernardo kitchen. Alex Jain, her husband and the man behind the camera, says “Go.”
Manjula began explaining her recipe for gulab jamun, an Indian dessert of fried dough balls in syrup, and Alex uploaded it on YouTube. He wanted to do something special for her. It was their anniversary.
They had to do it all in one take because back then, Alex didn’t know how to edit video. But once the video was up, Manjula marveled at how many views it garnered.
The Voice of San Diego reports now, more than three years later, the 61-year-old Manjula is somewhat of an internet sensation. She’s posted 120 Indian vegetarian cooking videos and the most popular one — for roti, an Indian flatbread — has been viewed more than 1.1 million times.
And this isn’t just a hobby.
Manjula has turned her passion into something that brings in money ($14,000 last year, they estimate), thanks to a YouTube program and ads on her own website — made popular by her viral success.
“I think in back of my mind I always knew I would do something with cooking and it will do good, but I never thought I would teach and I would enjoy so much,” Manjula said. “If you can make money doing what you really enjoy, it’s the best way to make money.”
Photo by Sam Hodgson.