About Me and Mine

Ok, so I had to do it.

You know it is time to do something when finding a recipe in your beloved personal recipe book becomes a more tougher chore than actually cooking it . The quest to organise it fails because you are sidetracked by the recipes that you have jotted down but never taken the time to try out.

My solution : a food blog.

It is hard not to think about legacies when you are sitting with your seven week old daughter on your lap. Especially when your mother is also sitting there advising you on how to raise her. So, there we were, three generations of women,laughing away to glory. A picture perfect moment.

It also brings back memories of my dear bapama (my paternal grand mother) who passed away march last year. She was a robust 80 , a true matriarch who ruled over us(Dad,Mom, bro, me and sis) with an iron hand in a velvet glove. Family was the be all and the end all of her life and she made sure each one of us was imbibed with the family values that she treasured the most. Values that made living in the united states with all the family back in India after marriage even more tougher for me. Tough because with bapama and mom around, I had never bothered to learn to cook the everyday food. My food experiments before marriage were restricted strictly to restaurant and street foods that I would enjoy. Certainly not the kind you can sustain for days on. My attempt to google traditional konkani recipes (Yep,me n hubby hardcore konkanis) came up with nothing great. So after many international phone calls, visits from my mom and mom-in-law, I think I do a pretty decent job of it.

Most of my Konkani dishes have that distinct “bapama” flavor to it. My non-konkani dishes have my mother’s flavors in it . Of course, I have added a whole lot more influences into my cooking since getting married (my mom-in-law’s for instance) annd moving to US (Food Network). This is my attempt to chronicle it all. Hopefully, my “legacy” to my dear daughter Anoushka and my son Aayush.

So dear Anoushka and Aayush, I present to you secrets from Bapama, Mom and Me.
The Past,The Present and Me.

24 Responses to “About Me and Mine”

  1. love your site,colorful and the dishes appetizing.

    Thx Lalitha, Welcome to my blog

  2. Vee,

    That is a really sweet introduction! I love your blog. First time visiting here, but will keep coming back. Look forward to learning more Konkani specialities

    Hey GM, thx. And welcome to my blog.

  3. Very heart warming introduction, Vee. Though I am not a mom yet, I can totally nod my head in agreement with you. This is the benefit of technology which helps us preserve our present memories for the future. I’m sure our kids will have great fun in reading what their mom’s were upto some 20 years ago :D

  4. Mayye, chang website kella tummi. (Ok, okay, I think you are not old enough to be mayee)… love it. All my bachelor cooking is, well, mostly fusion, and i am craving for traditional recipies….just found your blog today, and can’t wait to try some trad. konkani dishes.. Oh, and you have the recipe for PATHRADO, but where on earth do you get the leaves in the US? I am dying for some real pathrado, but I’ll never make it though…..

  5. Hi Vee,

    I have visited your blog a few times after my friend told me bout it. I had to agree with her that you are a wonderful cook. Now that I am away from home, I cant help miss Home-made recipes… Have found quite a few recipes to try out so I dont have to call home…

    Cheers!!

  6. Hi Vee,

    Love your blog! I’m going to start a 21 Tuesdays fast for Lord Ganesha and came across your Naivedya Modaks. I was so happy reading all you wrote. Thanks!
    And you know, I know a couple who has children called Ayush and Anushka too. They live in Karnataka, India.

  7. Love ur Intro

  8. Very intresting to go thru the entire site and easy to understand the recepies .
    i am abt to try the chola batura

    also can u add receipe for sol kadi ,manglorian fish and hing dal ,and eggplant bharta (bhajjee)

    thanks
    sheetal

  9. Hi,

    Its wonderful to see find Konkani recipes on the web. I live in Sydney and usually call mum in Bangalore for a recipe. Its great to know that there are Konkani recipes I can access on a website.Maybe I can surprise mum with something new which she hasn’t taught me, when she visits me next month?!!!!

    Thank you.

  10. Hi. Just tumbled upon your blog and loved it. Married to a ‘Pachkalashi khshatriya’ for last 10 years to know what ‘food’ means to this community. It took me almost 7,8 years to perfect the art of making karanjis. Wish had something like this back then.

  11. Hi, I stumbled on your blog when I looking for yet another recipe for making some of my fav dishes in the microwave in Europe. I am completely when you say that you need to present the foodlores of yester years as a legacy to your children. I had started taking recipes from my Dodda( grandmother) so that they are not lost with her.A lot of these are not made at home anymore for the want of time and space .
    It is not migration to another country but also changes in lifestyle and the more fast paced life that we live now in the Indian cities too.
    Now I can learn some Konkani dishes too along with the Manglorean ones.

  12. But what happened here. I guess you upgraded to something new and I lost some cherished receipes. Like Chicken 65 and Dry Chilly Chicken

    Sudip, not to worry. Cherished recipe still on the side bar, alphabetically ordered. Try the C and the D ones. Yeah, yeah, I will go ahead and update the recipe page too. How you guys make me work….

  13. hi asha,

    I hope you are the same person I imagine you are. I have been with NIIT. if you have connections with NIIT then go get in touch with me at kirti@kreativevistas.com. Even if you do not have any past association with NIIT, accept my sincere hi.

    have a great day.

    Incidentally the blog is really great.

    Huh? Looks like you are at the wrong blog, my friend.

  14. Love your blog Vee! Recipes ani posts chalu davar! :-)

  15. Hi
    Great site. Just chanced upon it while looking for recipes. The patholi pics/recipe was great. Where did you get the patholi paan? I hate that we dont get it in CA. Tried to get them dried and transported from india. Dosent taste the same AT all :(

  16. very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
    Idetrorce

  17. Hi vee,

    Just got into ur bolg….was overwhelmed to c u r a m’lorean too:)beautiful pics n awesome recipies:)can’t wait to try em :)

  18. hi..just stumbled on your blog searching for a recipe…it is gr8 to find konkani recipes on website…v r in dubai n i needed to call my mother for recipes….thanks a lot to u that now, i am surprising her saying i did this today.

  19. :)

  20. Hi Vee,

    I found ur site while I was looking for the recipe of Chole Bature. I loved the recipe on your site and gave it a try.

    It turned out to be awesome. My hubby [a diet conscious guy] couldn’t resist the finishing off the extra baturas on the plate.

    For a newbie like me who has never learnt to cook in India, that dish seemed to be a BIG achievement. Thank you so much.

    Will be trying out more of your recipes soon.

    Mehak.

  21. As a Pachkalshi Kshatriya married to a Bengali …..this site has helped me feed the Bong appetite

    Hi Vee,

    Stumbled on your site as I was searching for my origins - Pachkalshi Kshatriya links.
    Your site is great and has helped me feed the Bong apetite.
    Also stumbled upon the name Swati Chemburkar. I am from Chembur as well but
    To be honest more tamilian than a Pachkalshi Kshatriya as I lived in a typical South Indian locality and therefore
    Apetite for knowing my origins which has brought me here to your appetising site.

    Padmaja Sahani Sarkar

  22. ….your site will be referred to all my Australian friends here in sydney who have grown a voracious appetite for Indian food

    Thanks Vee

    Padmaja Sahani Sarkar

  23. Hey,

    Love your photos. I have been visiting your site on and off. I just started to blog too. thanks for sharing your recipes.

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