Why I started this blog??

10 months ago I got married and came to the US. It was huge shift for me and suddenly I was given a brand new responsibility. I had to COOK. I was not a "cooking" illiterate by any means but the times I cooked were far and few and did not qualify me to cook on my own. My mom ever so diligently wrote down a few important recipes ( like the parrupu kozhambu or the elimichchai saathamudhu) and bought a lot of mallika badrinath recipe books to supplement. And so I started cooking. After a couple of months of  trial I felt good about my cooking.I started experimenting. People liked it , my husband definitely did and even my " expert sis" approved of my cooking. I felt good. I had one basic mantra , add vegetables, spice powders and spice pastes ( chilli,garlic,ginger,coriander,mint) to make a recipe work. By powders I mean everything I can possibly find in an Indian kitchen. Turmeric, chilli, coriander, garam masala, aam chur, pepper were always present and the chat masala  was added depending on my mood. Till  two months ago I thought I was a great cook. Most things I made turned out good. But then one fateful day I started analyzing my cooking. I realized my cooking was nothing more than a bunch of masalas. I had no idea what each masala did. I had no idea How it would taste if I left out one of the masalas. I had no idea how different would it be to add fresh garlic instead of a paste or vice verse. I decided that from that day onwards my policy was "less is more". Making sure I added few things but make the dish taste great. I am on a voyage and would put up recipes as and when I try them. Hopefully you like it.