My experiments with Food

By : Vaishali Sengupta | 8 Comments | On : August 2, 2012 | Category : About

I grew up in Mumbai, grew up eating Konkani food, my family origins being from Konkan, the western coastal region of Maharashtra and Goa. As a child, I was never really allowed to meddle in the kitchen. Study and play made up most of my life. Although before Diwali, me and my siblings always managed to force our way into the kitchen to help Mum make the goodies. But to be honest, more than the cooking, the excitement and the eating of the faral ( term for Diwali sweets) was the main intention.

As I grew up, I became more of a Sunday cook, often dabbling in and trying out different kinds of food , rather than learning the wonderful secrets of my Mum’s kitchen. Our home food, the food of the Saraswat Brahmins from Konkan is quite unique, very mild and uses lots of coconut, coconut oil, pepper and tamarind… so very different from the tomatoey gravies that Indian food is sometimes synonymous with. So that is a cuisine that my tastebuds will be partial to, always.

And then this foodie from the Western coast of India, met another foodie from the Eastern coast, a Bengali who could cook as well. There was no kind of food that failed to excite us, whether it was something eaten in our trips abroad or around India. The experiments with food continued, from Bombay to Bangalore and now in London. And now I want to share some of that with you, dear reader.

All the recipes in my blog, whether traditional or not , are recipes that have been cooked over and over in my kitchen. Some are old family recipes, some recreated wonders. They have all been appreciated and loved by my family and friends. While they usually look spectacular (even if I say so myself!), they do not require any particularly cheffy skills.

They are simple & uncomplicated, as life and food should be.

Don’t just be satisfied by reading, do try them, they are easy!