One more food blog? Why?

I grew up in a big family in a small steel plant town. We had neighbors and friends from all over the country. Since I stayed at home through my college, I grew up watching my mother manage the kitchen from morning to late night. She was always ever ready with extras for un-expected guests, who showed up almost everyday. She’s a super fast cook even today and an expert in stretching the ingredients. Boy! can she do the magic?

Being the oldest daughter in the family, like many other girls in India, I was inducted into cooking fairly early. I used to help my mother in the kitchen and sometimes do the entire cooking myself. I used to experiment with other regional recipes and developed my own style.

My childhood memories are very close to the kitchen. I remember studying in the dining room while my mother and aunt cooked. Visiting cousins, relatives, friends always used to hang out in the kitchen. The ladies will be inside the kitchen, the men hang out in the dining room… and all the talking about family and food used to happen there.

Today, I have an open kitchen and dining area. Invariably, whether it’s just me and my husband planning things or just hanging out or friends visiting or a party… we always end up in the kitchen and around the dining table. I love to cook for my family and friends and entertain.

Today, my sisters and brother are in different corners of the world and each of us have our own style of cooking. Managing work and family, add to the mix the time differences, we hardly have time to talk about recipes or swap them. So this is my effort to document for my siblings and our next generation the recipes I have learnt from family recipes, friends, books, cooking shows, some from neighbors in the internet world and some – my own creations.

I don’t consider myself an expert in produce or nutrition or the history of the recipe. I just love to cook tasty and beautiful food for my family and friends. It’s more therapeutic for me.

So, Welcome to the Heart of my Home – my Kitchen!