Growing up in New York City’s southernmost borough during the 1990s, Priyanka Naik’s family dinners and packed school lunches looked very different from those of her peers.
“I’m Hindu, so we only ate vegetarian as part of our culture and our belief system,” Naik says. “We also grew up with the notion and the value that animals are extremely sacred.”
Sara Kerens/AP Images for Humane World for Animals
Staten Island, on the other hand, is known for its meat-heavy cuisine. Classmates would make fun of the meals her mom packed for her, such as spicy Bombay sandwiches with mango juice. When she’d go to restaurants with her friends as a teenager, she’d struggle to find foods she could eat.
Still, she’s loved food her entire life. Cooking was a huge part of her family’s daily routine and connected them to their Indian culture. It also provided a creative outlet: By middle school, Naik was creating her own recipes.
When college administrators came to her high school to talk about next steps, she gravitated to the culinary schools. But she learned students had to butcher and cook an animal. On top of that, only around one week of learning was devoted to Asian cuisine. “You can’t even learn my region of India in a week,” she says.
Naik decided to go to college for pre-med. Then she switched to an economics major. Then she considered becoming a lawyer. All the while, she was cooking in her spare time.
It was also in college when she saw a video detailing the horrors of factory farming. She and her sister “were just extremely traumatized. We always knew it was bad, but people don’t know what it looks like cause you’re hidden from it, especially back then.”
I’m Hindu, so we only ate vegetarian as part of our culture and our belief system.”
Priyanka Naik
Cooking with culture and compassion
The video inspired her to cut all animal products out of her diet. “It was easy,” Naik says, “because we culturally have thousands of dishes that are vegan by default. We just never called it ‘vegan.’”
After graduating from college, she worked for various media and tech companies but kept pursuing cooking on the side. She applied for cooking shows—ultimately appearing on and winning an episode of Cooks vs. Cons—and ran her website chefpriyanka.com.
Then, a few years ago, Naik was laid off from Twitter (now called X). She jumped into cooking full-time, where she continues to weave her compassion for animals and the environment into her recipes. She teaches people how to use food parts that are usually discarded to reduce food waste, such as watermelon rinds and carrot tops. And she encourages people to incorporate more plant-based foods into their diet. She also attended our annual gala in 2023 to celebrate the fight for animals and participated in our T-shirt social media campaign, which announced the launch of our new name in 2025.
Naik has been able to spread her message far and wide. She’s published a vegan cookbook entitled The Modern Tiffin, appeared on the TODAY show and The Kelly Clarkson Show, and amassed over 200,000 followers on social media.
The world of vegan foods has expanded so much since Naik started cooking decades ago. But there’s still a lot of work to do. “There’s hardly any vegan chefs out there, like on TV, doing this stuff regularly,” she says. “I think it’s really important to have that representation.”
Sara Kerens/AP Images for Humane World for Animals
Bucatini à la pumpkin
In Indian cuisine, pumpkin is typically used for savory and spicy dishes, while the pasta pays homage to Staten Island’s strong Italian influence on Chef Priyanka. “This dish really brings together those two cultures,” she says.
Total time: 20 minutes | Serves 2 | 480 cal, 11g pro
Sara Kerens/AP Images for Humane World for Animals
Sara Kerens/AP Images for Humane World for Animals
6 oz bucatini boiled al dente, pasta water reserved
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp pink peppercorns
3 Tbsp unsalted pistachios, chopped
2 Tbsp vegan butter
½ tsp red pepper flakes
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 cloves minced garlic
½ of a 15-oz can pumpkin puree
¼ cup non-dairy cream cheese
⅛ tsp nutmeg
Kosher salt
Black pepper
- Boil pasta; reserve at least 1/2 cup of water.
- Grind together peppercorns and pistachios until coarse; set aside.
- In a large pan, add olive oil and 1/2 Tbsp of butter; once hot, add 1 tsp of peppercorn and pistachio mixture and the red pepper flakes.
- Once fragrant, add onions and garlic; sauté until golden.
- Add pumpkin and non-dairy cream cheese; mix until smooth.
- Add a hefty pinch of salt, pinch of pepper and nutmeg. Stir in 1/4 cup pasta water; reduce heat to low. Let sauce simmer, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add cooked pasta; toss until coated evenly.
- Add another 1/4 cup pasta water, the remaining butter and the rest of the peppercorn and pistachio mix; toss to coat evenly.
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