70 YO Aaji Wows People With Maharashtrian Recipes On Her YouTube Channel With 6 Lakh Subscribers

Hailing from Ahmednagar in Maharashtra, 70-year-old Aaji (grandmom) Suman Dhamane is taking YouTube by storm with her channel ‘Aapli Aaji’ that is known for its bevvy of Maharashtrians food recipes that any home cook can recreate in a snap! Not having gone to school or worked a day in her life, this Youtuber from Sarola Kasar village has over six lakh subscribers in just four months! And this is her inspiring story.

Aapla Aaji
Pic Credit: The Better India 

With over 120 recipe videos on her channel, she makes traditional Maharashtrian dishes using homemade spices that get up to million views per day!  “I did not know what YouTube was and never thought about putting recipes on social media. But now I feel uneasy if I do not share any recipe on the channel,” says Suman Dhamne. Her grandson, Yash Pathak is the millennial genius behind editing, shooting and uploading her videos. 

Aapla Aaji

“I don’t know what she changed from the recipe videos, but the food was loved in the family. That is when the idea struck me to come up with a channel,” says Yash. After some planning and discussion, the first video was about a karela (bitter gourd) recipe way back in March and that’s when the ball started rolling. “It started getting viewers. Eventually, we uploaded recipes of groundnut chutney, green vegetables, Maharashtrian sweet dishes, eggplant and other traditional food recipes,” he added.

Aapla Aaji

Facts don’t lie. According to analytics, her YT channel gets around eight million views a month on her social media page. And the latest Bhakarwadi video got two million views in just a couple of weeks. Though that sounds great, the duo’s journey had its ups and downs. “I was very excited about the idea when Yash proposed the idea to me. But I never faced a video camera in my life and used to get very uncomfortable initially. I used to be very conscious about my looks, the movements and if everything is going as planned,” voiced Suman. After being conscious and a little scared, she got comfortable overtime and even started understanding the technicalities behind social media. I decided to try, and now I have become famous. I was very happy when I got appreciation – even a YouTube creators award. I feel very proud and enjoy the appreciation from family and relatives,” Suman said.


From overcoming past issues of shooting on a smartphone as opposed to a video camera followed by editing and network issues coupled with understanding the length of the video, Yash took some time to figure out the kinks and taught his grandmother the correct way to pronounce English words for ingredients like baking powder and other sauces in the process. Yash managed to upload two recipes a week while preparing for his 10th board examination. Unfortunately, their channel was hacked recently and that upset the duo after putting in so much effort and hard work that he skipped his meals in the bargain. But all was well when the channel was restored in four days and now they’re back to the grind. 

Aapla Aaji
Pic Credit: The Better India 

To keep up with the never-ending request for spices, Suman and Yash have now started making traditional spices on a commercial basis for anybody to buy. How cool is that? “Viewers also ask to make particular food items and based on the demand, I try to make some,” Suman said. For the upcoming festive season, she has lined up a few festive special dishes and she’s excited to make them. So, if a 70-year-old aaji can do it, so can you!

If you’d like to buy the spices, you can call on 8888758452

News Source: The Better India 

Horizontal, Vertical and Facebook OG Pic Credit: The Better India 

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