On an episode of Sunday Brunch with Kamiya Jani, Ashwini Kalsekar and her husband, Murali Sharma, walked in with the easy comfort of a couple that has shared meals, mishaps, and plenty of laughter over the years. The table was set with Marathi and Andhra flavours, and the conversation turned into something far more entertaining: Ashwini’s early adventures in cooking.
Ashwini Kalsekar Opens Up About Her Early Cooking Mishaps
Ashwini Kalsekar doesn’t pretend she was born with a rolling pin in hand. She admitted she wasn’t exactly kitchen-ready before marriage. She did cook, yes, but with absolutely no concept of proportion. Murali, clearly enjoying the memory, joked that whenever she made food back then, it wasn’t just for the family. It was enough to feed the entire neighbourhood. Portion control, apparently, was not part of the curriculum.
What followed was one of the episode’s sweetest moments. Ashwini shared how her jethani became her unofficial cooking coach. Instead of handing her a recipe book, she handed her something far more practical, a spoon, a bowl and a glass. “Call me when you start cooking,” she told Ashwini. And Ashwini did as told.
She would literally phone her mid-cooking, and her jethani would guide her patiently; add this much, pour in two glasses of water, stir now, wait. It was the kind of story that feels inherently familiar in Indian households, where learning often happens over phone calls and kitchen counters. The brunch then slipped smoothly into the universal territory of cooking disasters.
Also Read: Ashwini Kaleskar And Murali Sharma Invite Kamiya Jani For Sunday Brunch At Their Mumbai Home
More Kitchen Disasters Leave Us Cracking!
Kamiya Jani, our editor-in-chief, jumped in with a story of her own, the kind that sounds too absurd to be real, except it absolutely is. She once told a friend to put “two katoris of dal” into the cooker. The friend, taking the instruction literally, put the actual katori itself inside the cooker along with the dal. A bowl steamed, cooked, and sacrificed in the process, and yes, a legendary mishap was born.
Ashwini, unsurprisingly, had her own collection. Baking, she confessed, is where things truly go off the rails. “Main bakery se door hi rehti hoon,” she said, recalling an attempt at cake-making that ended with an actual burnt cooker. Cakes have never forgiven her, and bread hasn’t either.
Murali, adding his deadpan humour, joked that bread is now basically hidden in their house, stored like ammunition, so they can use it on each other during fights.
By the end of the episode, Ashwini also spoke about cooking special mutton and rice dishes on the sets of Son of Sardaar, reminding everyone that despite the disasters, her relationship with food has always been warm and full of stories.
It wasn’t just a brunch episode, it was more like a reminder that cooking isn’t always about perfection, sometimes it’s about burnt cookers, borrowed measurements, and laughing through it all.
Cover Image Courtesy: Internal