A little about me...

When anyone asks me where I'm from, the answer is inevitably long and convoluted. I have had the privilege of traveling extensively and living in a whole bunch of very cool places. The one thing people in all these places have in common is food. While the definition of 'good food' can be as varied as the colors at a local farmers' market, we are all to some extent consumed by our love and pursuit of said 'good food.' Having been raised a vegetarian, perhaps I have always spent a little more time than normal/usual thinking about food.




While I'm ethnically Indian, my recipes are influenced by my diverse experiences, and I am always looking for new recipes to try out. Not all my recipes are "made from scratch" -- instead, they are simply meant to introduce some of my favorite foods to anyone interested. Some are comfort foods; others are brand new trials, sometimes never to be repeated :-) As an added bonus, a lot of these recipes were developed while I was in graduate school and hence are quite easy on the wallet :-) I will try to offer tidbits of information regarding ingredients used in the recipes as well as my preferred sources for things that I chose not to painstakingly prepare from scratch. I may also try to post some opinions about restaurants I have been to.



As far as my recipes, these are just some of my myriad inspirations -- more on each in later posts:

• The wrinkly, hoarse-voiced Kulfi-walla hawking his delectable desserts on the late-night streets of Bombay



• Hungrily wolfing down the best-ever Nutella-banana crepes and wedge fries at a laundromat near Suma-Eki in Kobe, Japan



• The falafel-guy (OMG -- what was his name?) introducing the denizens of a tiny New England town to finger-lickin'

Middle Eastern food -- interestingly again operating out of a laundromat!


• The joy of watching your very own corn growing by leaps and bounds and digging up a tiny fingerling potato on a small strip of Mid-western soil



• The piping-hot demi-baguette from the corner bakery in the 18th arondissement, eaten with some questionably preserved Comte



• The incomparable aroma of the drip coffee at the downtown Portland farmers' market

So, if any of the above sounds interesting to you, do come back and check out my blog. I would love to hear your comments, too.