In 2001, when I mentioned that I am going to US for MS, one of my friends explained that it would be very difficult to find vegetarian options. I think it is still a valid concern for those who does not bother to find the vegetarian options that the restaurants might offer. Having been lived here in US since then, and eating out made me comfortable in saying that - Yes, there are enough vegetarian options to survive but not enough to enjoy and savor. There are so many cuisines out there from across different countries besides Indian to choose from (American, Chinese, Ethiopian, Greek, Japanese, Italian, Mongolian, Mexican, Moroccan, Thai, etc to name a few). However, majority of the dishes are made out of meat which I really cannot enjoy, besides that these cuisines, with the exception of Thai, do not always have the level of spices that one would expect and/ or use limited variety of spices.
I always wondered how can I bring cuisines from different countries and match them up with the variety of healthy spices (ginger, garlic, turmeric, hing, coriander, jeera, mustard, etc) and the levels that would savor the taste buds and of course, all vegetarian. While there can be a debate on what constitutes a vegetarian, to me, for all general purposes, an egg is vegetarian.
I consider myself a good cook, who does not want to cook the same dish over and over. Not to mention my 6 year old, who will not the same dish twice within short period of time. Thankfully, my wife is also a good cook. So, to kill time or to overcome boring of eating the same dish, we are always on the look out to cook/experiment something new or adapt a meat dish to vegetarian dish from the different cuisines we come across either through search on internet, eating out at different restaurants, watching food channels, reading food related articles.
I helped my mother in cutting, kneading, frying, etc but never cooked by msyelf. However, I am a very good food critique and pretty good in guessing the ingredients or how a dish was was made. (Should I say reverse engineering a dish).
Like many of us, I started cooking while pursuing MS, here in USA. I noticed that there was a lot of monotony in the dishes that we used to make (for example, biryani, standard curries from eggs, potato, cauliflower, cabbage). The town where I did my MS was pretty small no variety in the vegetables at the grocery store. so I used to feel very delighted to find fresh eggplant and okra once in a while. Because of rarity of finding these vegetables, I cooked these vegetables, using the tips/tricks from my mother and grandmother, with extra caution and all my roommates used to enjoy the dishes, which made me feel proud and confident, of course. I challenged myself by preparing a different dish each time and every time I cook and thus excelled as well.
The Real test:
In 2001 August, one of my roommates, confident in my cooking, invited a group from TANA (Telugu Association of North America) who were in the town to perform in a concert. Less than a day notice to shop and prepare, we quickly decided a traditional menu (tomato dal, eggplant kottimeera karam, sambhar, tamarind rice (pulihora), etc) for 40. That experiment turned out to be really good.
Since Then:
I got married, which is when my wife joined me in cooking. While she is expert now, then she had a very little exposure to cooking. We prepared food (Italian, Mexican, traditional, etc ) for family and friends during festive occassions or family events, gatherings (son's brithdays, our house warming party, etc).
Why Blog?:
Our success of cooking to blog. We bring in here vegetarian recipes from far and near comprising of traditional, classic and western. Especially the western with spicy touch to savor every one's taste buds. Hope you will enjoy reading and good luck with your coooking.
I always wondered how can I bring cuisines from different countries and match them up with the variety of healthy spices (ginger, garlic, turmeric, hing, coriander, jeera, mustard, etc) and the levels that would savor the taste buds and of course, all vegetarian. While there can be a debate on what constitutes a vegetarian, to me, for all general purposes, an egg is vegetarian.
I consider myself a good cook, who does not want to cook the same dish over and over. Not to mention my 6 year old, who will not the same dish twice within short period of time. Thankfully, my wife is also a good cook. So, to kill time or to overcome boring of eating the same dish, we are always on the look out to cook/experiment something new or adapt a meat dish to vegetarian dish from the different cuisines we come across either through search on internet, eating out at different restaurants, watching food channels, reading food related articles.
I helped my mother in cutting, kneading, frying, etc but never cooked by msyelf. However, I am a very good food critique and pretty good in guessing the ingredients or how a dish was was made. (Should I say reverse engineering a dish).
Like many of us, I started cooking while pursuing MS, here in USA. I noticed that there was a lot of monotony in the dishes that we used to make (for example, biryani, standard curries from eggs, potato, cauliflower, cabbage). The town where I did my MS was pretty small no variety in the vegetables at the grocery store. so I used to feel very delighted to find fresh eggplant and okra once in a while. Because of rarity of finding these vegetables, I cooked these vegetables, using the tips/tricks from my mother and grandmother, with extra caution and all my roommates used to enjoy the dishes, which made me feel proud and confident, of course. I challenged myself by preparing a different dish each time and every time I cook and thus excelled as well.
The Real test:
In 2001 August, one of my roommates, confident in my cooking, invited a group from TANA (Telugu Association of North America) who were in the town to perform in a concert. Less than a day notice to shop and prepare, we quickly decided a traditional menu (tomato dal, eggplant kottimeera karam, sambhar, tamarind rice (pulihora), etc) for 40. That experiment turned out to be really good.
Since Then:
I got married, which is when my wife joined me in cooking. While she is expert now, then she had a very little exposure to cooking. We prepared food (Italian, Mexican, traditional, etc ) for family and friends during festive occassions or family events, gatherings (son's brithdays, our house warming party, etc).
Why Blog?:
Our success of cooking to blog. We bring in here vegetarian recipes from far and near comprising of traditional, classic and western. Especially the western with spicy touch to savor every one's taste buds. Hope you will enjoy reading and good luck with your coooking.
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