I'd like to Thank....

My journey with cooking so far has been wonderful. From a girl who never entered the kitchen to the home maker who enjoys and experiments with cooking, the change has been a big one. It did not happen overnight. There are lot of people who inspired and encouraged me into cooking.

Cooking becomes inevitable once you are married. My husband loves food and appreciates good food. He always told me how his friends enjoyed his cooking during his college days, but till date unfortunately I haven't had the chance to taste it. Cooking became an important skill that had to be learnt quickly post marriage. The innumerable attempts at making round Chapatis/Rotis, the disastrous Upma/Uppittu (I'm still not good at it!), the ignorance in recognizing various Daals, the hesitation in trying out different vegetables (it was limited to green beans, carrots, potatoes)...the list does not end! My husband survived all this and more! For his patience, his encouraging words, for the way he inspired me and helped me out, and more than anything else...for not complaining even once, I'd like to thank him from the bottom of my heart! If you did not encourage me the way you did, you would still be eating the disastrous Upma(may be you still do)!

My Mom is a great cook (All Moms are!). She is specially good at typical South Indian brahmin dishes. She would make the simplest of the simple dishes and it would turn out to be finger licking good! The variety of Palya (Vegetable/Subzi), Gojju, Huli that she makes are plenty. I miss them, but what I miss the most is the Tili Saaru/Rasam (spicy lentil soup that can be eaten with Rice). I remember school days when I would go home for lunch and the hot-hot Tili Saaru-Anna(rice) would be waiting for me on the table. All it needed was a little ghee on the top...heavenly! My Mom is also well known among Family & Friends for her Bisibelebath, 7-cup Burfee and MysorePak. Since I moved to the US with my Husband, my Mom has become my online teacher for cooking (I never learnt from her when I was with her!). Any doubt with any recipe at any time..Mom is always there! I'd like to thank her for being so patient and for being there for me as a friend and Mom!

My Father cannot cook. Yes, he would not agree, but I strongly believe he cannot cook! But there are a few things about cooking that he taught me and I use them everyday in my kitchen. He always says "cooking is nothing but chemistry". I believe in that statement. When I started off my adventures in the kitchen I started out experimenting like one does in a chemistry lab. What happens if I add this to that? How will that taste? Some of them worked out well, some didn't. But I learnt and that was more important. I learnt to try. Thanks to my Father for that!

I'm lucky to have another Mother, my Mother(in-law). Though I haven't had the chance to learn much from her in terms of cooking, I have learnt some very important things. As a beginner, I hardly knew how to arrange things in the kitchen or how to make the kitchen convenient for one's use. The kitchen is like a workshop. You need to keep the right things in the right place so you can pick it up when you need it. My Mother(in-law) helped me organize the kitchen and de-clutter. Some simple and handy tips that she gave me are so useful to me everyday. I would like to thank her for that and would love to learn all the tasty food she makes. I would also like to thank my Father(in-law) for being so encouraging. I remember the Masala Dosa I made for him for the first time. It did not turn out well, but he never said a word about it. Instead he appreciated me for trying and encouraged me to try again.

I have also learnt lot of recipes  from a number of people, various websites and blogs. I would like to thank them all too!

My blog is an attempt at sharing some simple vegetarian recipes that I know. I hope it is helpful for beginners, food lovers and for everyone who enjoys cooking!