The taste Priya grew up with at home is now found all over the world

When Priya Sharma was a little girl cooking breakfast with her dad on the weekends to the tune of morning cartoons, she had no idea that a few years later, households all over the world would be tasting the exact same thing.

It all started when Priya, now 30, moved away from home to Central Queensland at age 21 to work as an explosive engineer, along with her partner, Sid Madiwale.

Missing their Indian families' home cooking, they tried to recreate it with the little ingredients they could get from the closest Woolworths store, located three hours away.

READ MORE: Heartbreaking personal sacrifice Mackenzie Arnold made to get to the top of her game

But anyone that has tried to cook authentic South Asian dishes knows if you get one tiny thing wrong, it throws the whole dish out of balance.

Priya found herself facing this exact problem. After seven 14-hour days of work in a row, the couple were too exhausted to cook from scratch.

She would find herself constantly on the phone with her parents as she tried to replicate their cooking with what little resources and time she had, more often than not telling them, "It doesn't taste like yours!", she recalled to 9honey.

Finally, her dad decided to do the hard work himself and create a spice mix for his homesick daughter, sending it to her regularly.

Made up of a whopping 38 ingredients, it of course features signature South Asian ingredients such as turmeric, chilli, curry leaves, cumin, asafoetida – but it also features a blend of various lentils and nuts to increase protein and fibre intake.

All she had to do was sprinkle it on top of any meal she was having – whether it be avo on toast or just plain boiled vegetables – to easily "get that 'made with love' feeling, as if my parents made it for me," she said.

Soon, word got out about Priya's spice mix when she would whip it out in the work kitchen to transform any old lunch into a filling meal, with many colleagues asking for some to try.

As she began distributing them in little paper baggies with a handwritten label scrawled on it reading "Dad's Special Spice Mix: Handmade with Love", she realised there might be something more to this.

Meanwhile, her clueless father was back at home wondering why his daughter was going through mounds of spices at such rapid speeds.

When she finally told him about the popularity of his mix, "he was in shock. I think he's still in shock," Priya said, "He's just like, 'What do you mean people like our spices?'"

"I think, as immigrant parents, it's a very surprising thing for them that their culture is being loved so much."

Well, they were in for more shock when they found out that not only did people love the spice mix, they were paying money for it!

READ MORE: Rare condition means baby Oscar needs round-the-clock care

Priya had concurrently begun posting to TikTok and had gained a following surrounding her life living in a van and using natural items and ingredients in her life, including the now-famed spice mix.

She began cooking more with the mix, adding that she "kind of had this confidence that if I'm making food, and if I make it with my that special spice mix, it would just taste good."

Curious followers began demanding some, and Priya began shipping out the mix to followers finding herself earning a profit, which she would use to buy supplies that would help expedite the process.

First some more sturdy packets, then a printer to help print shipping labels, then a grinding machine, then packets with official branding.

Over the course of four years, she and Sid – who began helping with the logistical side of things – created a business that reached not only other Australians, but people all over the world.

"I never, ever thought that we would have a spice mix business, but I'm just so glad that we do, and everyone loved the spice mix... They loved our family recipe."

READ MORE: Darren Palmer reveals the three things every kitchen needs

Before she had even realised, Priya was partaking in a custom that has only been enhanced with the use of technology.

By sharing her family's most treasured recipes with the world , she was immortalising them for generations to come – an opportunity that could have easily been missed if she hadn't been homesick all those years ago, creating a need for her to learn how to cook and leading to the creation of her Dad's Special Spice Mix.

The content creator wants everyone to feel that "made with love" feeling that comes from sharing her recipes, and so has joined TikTok Australia and New Zealand's new social movement, #MadeWithLove.

Australian Food Historian Lauren Samuelsson says, "The Australian food landscape is a vibrant multicultural melting pot, where iconic dishes are shaped by our rich history of migration.

"In addition to heritage, your most loved dish also depends on where you live in Australia. But, sadly, without proper preservation, these unique dishes and the foods themselves are at risk of disappearing."

Priya can speak to this first-hand, recalling feeling "insecure" for bringing her Indian food to school.

READ MORE: Sylvia Jeffreys recounts the moment that left her fearing indoor play centres

"As a South Asian kid growing up in school, you get teased for your food," she recalled.

But when she shared her recipes on TikTok, she found that they were "celebrated".

"It made it a very safe community for me, which was a big change from what I grew up with, and it was really nice," she said.

"Obviously, I love my Indian culture, and I always have. But I've had an insecurity about it before, and [TikTok] really helped build a safe space for me."

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.