As you know, we have continued with our vacation to India. We have been here for almost two weeks and are having the time of our lives! With so much family, it is getting hard to decide just who to spend time with! That is a good problem to have. We have spent the days sitting and talking; and of course laughing. Both Alex and I are enjoying getting pampered and catered to. Alex is meeting many family members after a long time.

I have enjoyed eating here in India as everyone has made the dishes they know are favorites of mine. I have to say food in India has changed. It has become very cosmopolitan and a mix of different types of food – some would say fusion. I have to say I am old-fashioned and still enjoy the food from my childhood. In fact my nieces and nephews laugh and tell me to change with the times!

I have talked to many local chefs during my trip. However, I have learned a lot from my sisters and sister-in-law as they are excellent cooks. I prefer their cooking style as it is the food I have grown up with

Our next stop is Banaras, which is also known Varanasi. After that, we plan on visiting Jaipur Rajasthan.

Until then!

As you know, we took a short break from our vacation and returned back home to San Diego to spend time with our family. This time spent with family was much needed and I am happy we were able to come back. We are now ready to finish our vacation with a trip to India! I am very excited about visiting India. It is always fun spending time with family members. I am pampered and spoiled when I spend time with my siblings. What can be better than that? I am especially excited to meet my brother and sister’s new grandkids!

Our first stop and base will be Gurgaon. We will then venture out to Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Banaras, and Mumbai. So far these are the cities we have decided to visit. We may visit more, but we plan to play it by ear.

So far what I cook is all trial and error and I make the recipes to my family taste. Every recipe has been a learning curve for me.

During this visit to India, I want to learn and experience the recipes of the local chefs in the cities I visit. I am hoping to learn new techniques that will greatly enhance my recipes. I think these little details can make a huge difference in the dishes and can really enhance the flavors. Of course, I will share these tips with you.

I will keep in touch.

Until next time…

As you all know, Alex and I were having a great time on our vacation, traveling throughout the United States visiting family and friends. I have to say that this trip has really been a great experience and we have had the time of our lives. With that said, I have to admit I was really missing my family back home. Both Alex and I missed our family (especially our four grandchildren) so much we decided to come back home for a little while before continuing with our vacation.

So much to the surprise of our family, we came back to San Diego. I have been spending a lot of time with my grandchildren to make up for the time I was away. These days I have been cooking a lot with my younger granddaughter, who is 2 years old. I am trying to introduce some of my son’s childhood favorite dishes. So far we have made delicious chocolate chip pancakes and puda folded with fresh spinach and cheddar cheese. I think I may have a future chef-in-training!

I feel like I made the right decision coming back home for a while before continuing on with our trip to India. After all, what can beat spending quality time with your family?

Until next time…

The month of October is a month of celebration. This month the Hindu calendar is filled with many holidays. As you know, this year I am celebrating these holidays with friends while I am away from home. We have already celebrated Navratri and Dashara but there is still some celebrating to do!

The next holiday coming up is Karva Chauth which is a festival where married women observe a fast to ensure the well-being of their husbands. Karva Chauth is celebrated with great enthusiasm with wives getting together dressed in their best colorful attire. In my family, we enjoy celebrating by making Gatta Ki Kadhi, Rice, one green vegetable and my daughter in law’s favorite Gulgulas.

After Karva Chauth, it is time to get ready to celebrate Diwali, which has been coined the festival of lights. Diwali is the time to get together and socialize with friends and family and exchange gifts. I love to celebrate Diwali with my friends by giving them home-cooked treats. I would recommend the following as great treats to bring at Diwali festivities: Coconut Burfi, Mohan Thal, Besan Ladoo, Baklava Rolls, Besan Para, Shakkar Para, Masala Peanuts. I have many recipes for these items.

Right now, I am in Ann Arbor, Michigan having a great time with family. Recently we took a trip to Niagara Falls. It was just spectacular.

I plan to enjoy the remaining holidays with my family and friends. I will be posting a new recipe which is perfect for Diwali – “Mava ki Kachori”. This is a delicacy from the state of Rajasthan. This dish is a fried pastry filled with an aromatic nut mixture – it is the perfect Diwali treat. Make sure you do not miss the recipe for this delicacy!

Until then…Happy Diwali!

Our journey has now taken us to Seattle, Washington where we are staying with my aunt. They live about 2 hours north of Seattle and have a beautiful countryside home. Many of you have noticed my new surroundings in my last video posted about Zucchini Pasta. This video was taped at my aunt’s house. She has a beautiful vegetable garden and I used fresh zucchini from there. I will have to come up with a recipe using more of her fresh vegetables very soon.

Downtown Seattle is very lively and interesting. We enjoyed walking through the Farmer’s market fresh fruits and vegetable stands, spice shops and small gift shops and restaurants. It actually reminded me a little of India.

We have been doing a lot of driving and walking near the water and in the woods. Seattle is a very scenic town. Tomorrow we will be taking the ferry to Vancouver, Canada. We are looking forward to that!

I have to say the best of part of this trip is sitting down with my aunt and having heartfelt conversations about our childhood and family members back in India. We are amazed at how life has changed for both of us since moving to the U.S. We have spent many late nights laughing and crying when reminiscing.

My next video for Veggie Hash Browns will be posted very soon.

Our first stop was San Francisco; we stayed with our son’s in-laws and had a great time. They took us around the city. I wanted to take the Bart which is a local train to downtown and then we went on the cable cars. We walked around downtown San Francisco. Then we went to Fisherman’s Wharf, browsing gift shops and trying out a local restaurant. These activities made us feel that we were young again. Next day we went to the University of Berkley. We enjoyed walking through the university, watching students, and remembering our own college time, that was very refreshing.

Next day was the visit to Temple which wasn’t planned but this came out to be great experience. At the temple, they were celebrating Lord Ganesh Chaturthi, which is a Hindu festival.

Next stop was Golden Gate Bridge, which is world known tourist place and we had a great time. We were care-free tourist, its different feeling as it has been long time since both of us together have taken a vacation together.

Guess what! I met some of my viewers. It was rewarding to know they are enjoying the web site and cooking. . It was very flattering, more importantly it inspires me to do even more.

We also visited our very old friend and their boys; he is the very first friend I met when I came to the States 42 years back, for hours we talked and remember old times and enjoyed.

I wanted to make a video using something San Francisco is known for. We are enjoying beautiful summer day in San Francisco. Walking down pier 39, I was inspired by a local favorite, Sourdough Bread Bowls. So I decided to give it an Indian twist and created a creamy spicy potato soup to go in sourdough bread bowl. I did not get a chance to do the recipe but one of these days I will like to do it. This will be one dish meal and it will be easy to make.

Now we are in Seattle, Washington staying with my aunt, they live 2 hours north of Seattle and this is beautiful place in countryside.

I did one video in her kitchen (already posted) and will be doing some more.

I will be posting as my trip develop.

Paryushan and Das Lakshan Parva is a most auspicious and sacred day for Jains. This is a festival of spiritual awareness. Generally this falls in the month of September. One sect of Jains celeberate as Paryushan 10 days celeberation and just after another sect of Jains celebrate as Das Lakshan, concentrating on the ten universal virtues like forgiveness, humility, straightforwardness, contentment, truth, charity, and non-possessiveness.

In Jainism fasting is considered a spiritual activity that provides self-control and strength. Fasting is not just done by not eating; it is also having control on personal behaviors, and shows personal strength, for example leaving for a day or more the activity you enjoy most, like watching television, shopping, talking to friends. The significance of this holiday is self-purification and uplifting of oneself.

Another very important aspect of this holiday is asking for forgiveness from friends and relatives for both intentional and unintentional wrongs. Today last day of celebration I will like to ask all my viewers for forgiveness if I have hurt anyone or said something hurtful.

I am so incredibly excited…. Alex and I are taking a much-needed trip. We are planning to visit family and friends across the United States and even India. This trip will begin in September until the end of the year. My husband, Alex, came up with this idea and has taken the task to plan this exciting trip. I was hesitant to go on this trip as I know I will miss my family here in San Diego (especially my four grandchildren). It is an indescribable strange feeling when I think about staying away from family. But now I have embraced this idea and I am actually looking forward to this cross-country trip.

We will stay in touch as I will be blogging along the way and share my experiences. Of course, new recipe videos will continue coming. You will see me in different kitchens of my friends and family. That should be lot of fun! As I travel, I hope I will adopt and learn to incorporate some new flavors and techniques.

 We will start the trip on 7th of September. Our trip will be starting from the San Francisco Bay Area and we will be visiting the following cities: Seattle Washington, Ann Arbor Michigan, Cleveland Ohio, Washington DC, and New Jersey. We will then head to India and then back home to San Diego.

I look forward to updating you all about my adventures across the U.S. and India.

Raksha Bandhan is a festival that signifies the beautiful and loving relationship between brothers and sisters. My family celebrates Raksha Bandhan with great enthusiasm.

For those who don’t know about this holiday, “Raksha” means protection, and “Bandhan” means binding. Sisters tie a thread called Rakhi (like a friendship band) on their brother’s wrist and pray for their well-being. And in return brothers promise their sisters that they will always take care of them. Traditionally, brothers will give a gift to their sisters and sisters will treat their brothers with sweets. Afterwards there is a feast like other holiday.

I have two sons and no daughters. They celebrate Raksha Bandhan with their cousins. Now each of my sons has a daughter and a son. My sons, their cousins and my grandkids celebrate this holiday together.

My nieces and granddaughter like to make their own Rakhies. They take great pride in making them by hand. Some of their Rakhies are simply weaving different colored threads together and others are fancier with decoration like beads.

Raksha Bandhan is on August 13th and we will have a family brunch at my son’s home. I have been requested not to cook. They want me to relax and enjoy the grandkids. This sounds good to me but I can’t stop myself from wanting to make something special. I am not sure what I will make. But I am going to surprise them with a treat.

Teej is around the corner. As a child, I enjoyed Teej festival very much and have lots of fond memories of it. The Indian calendar is filled with many wonderful holidays that celebrate the Gods, the family or the welcoming of a new season. My mom loved celebrating festivals, as it was more of a joyous social occasion for her, rather than religious. I really liked how she chose to celebrate these special occasions.

Teej is a unique festival for women, which includes fasts and followed with delicious feasts. Typically this is a day for women and young girls to dress up and decorate their palms with mehndi (henna). I can remember the house courtyard being decorated and had installed rope swings for this occasion. The women would be swinging and singing Teej folk songs that were unique to the festival.

Once I moved to the U.S. in late sixties, most of the festivals were left behind. While my two sons were growing up, I would dream of the day I could celebrate Teej with my daughter-in-laws. Both of my sons got married. After my eldest son was married, we purchased a swing set for our backyard. I was overjoyed to use the swing set for Teej celebrations! Then as my younger son married, my dream of celebrating Teej with my two daughter-in-laws was finally fulfilled. This year Teej will be on August 2nd and I hope you will enjoy this holiday as I do.