It’s hard to believe that 7 years ago today I launched my food blog! My blog is a great medium through which I share my love for cooking ‘n’ clicking and everything around it…the stories and the lovely memories. Even if I don’t publish posts regularly, my blog has been there for me and has given me the motivation and the encouragement to keep going and to strive for more. And that comes from you, the readers and followers of this blog. You an integral part of this food blog and have been the wonderful force that drives me to come up with interesting concoctions and take mouth-watering pictures. And it’s not just that! Through my blog, you have offered me a ton of opportunities...

This year my lil’ top chef is chillin’ out at home all summer long.  She wanted to take a break from the all day summer camps and is hanging out with grand parents, who are here from India, especially for her! It’s been a couple of weeks now since school’s out and she’s having way too much fun! Sleeping in, watching cartoons every morning with breakfast, playing in the park, bicycling, cooking with grandma, sewing all kinds of things with her machine for her pop up store….the list goes on and on.

I’m so happy for her and feel blessed that my parents are able to come over and give her the summer that she wished for. Seeing them having fun at home, now I wish they had summer breaks at work...

I’m so excited for my brand new kitchen gadget! I had given up on my blender and food processor to do the heavy duty desi food prep and finally found a nice, new Indian mixer-grinder that’s available for use, here in the US. The conventional tools I had were simply not working out and it was time to find a reliable alternative. I love to make fresh ground masalas, idli batter, chutneys and many other traditional Indian foods at home and this one’s just perfect!

To inaugurate the new appliance, I couldn’t think of anything other than the Cilantro-Coconut Chutney for the classic Indian Tea Sandwiches! It is one of my favorite chutneys that used to be a struggle to make it in the blender I had. So it was...

A few years back, I had shared with you all my mom’s signature concoction. It is hands down the best dish my mom makes and I just LOVE it.

As I was thinking of a topic for writing a post for Mother’s Day this year,  I remembered that post, her classic recipe and all the wonderful memories associated with it. I decided to treat myself to some khichadi for lunch, but soon realized that I was out of the key ingredient, sabudana. There was, however, a box of sabudana-like ingredient in my pantry, the Israeli couscous!

…And that’s how my mom’s signature concoction got reinvented!

I had a lot fun playing in the kitchen that afternoon, recreating traditional flavors using some new ingredients and new...