From My Kitchen

When I was a teenager, my mum always tried to encourage me to step into the kitchen and learn basic recipes but I always ran away from it as much as I could.

I got married into a family from a completely different culture e.g: Gujarati. Though most of the food they ate was more or less like we did but the methods were completely different. So there as well I was kept out of the kitchen just because I didn't know how to cook.

So my experiments in the kitchen started when we left the inlaws' house and started on our own. Though Deepesh was very supportive and encouraging, poor him had to say good to everything I made no matter if it was burnt, overcooked or undercooked.  As we are vegetarian by birth and by choice, the experiments are limited to veg food.

After coming to the UK, I made a lot of friends from all around The Globe e.g. : Russian, French, Italian, English, American, African, Chinese and Indians from different parts of India. I developed a habit of asking the recipe whenever I ate anyting made by these friends and started experimenting with these recipes.

Also being a die hard fan of MasterChef, Delia Smith, Sanjeev Kapoor, Tarla Dalal, Gordon Ramsay helps me a lot in my kitchen.

I prefer cooking everything as fresh as possible. I don't use frozen vegetables or fruits except Green Peas and sweet corn. The use of tinned food is limited for emergencies. This helps us avoid processed food as far as possible.

We are so particular about what we eat and how healthy it is, we don't eat in McDonalds, Burger King or any similar fast food joint. Our 'Eating Out' trips are limited to SubWay (veggie delight on wheat bread) , Pizza Hut (half cheese pizza, Arabiata pasta and salad), Pizza Express (Leggera range)  or some Indian Pure Veg restaurant in London.