About

My first goal is to show you the diversity in vegetarian cooking by creating recipes unlike the stereotypes often associated with going meatless. You will hopefully be introduced to a world of spices and herbs along with a variety of vegetables that are under explored.

Being vegetarian is not boring or monotonous. It does not just revolve around three overused ingredients – soy, mushrooms and seeds. Vegetarianism is also not about being on a diet eating raw or green foods, and is most certainly not about soy dogs, ribs or something outrageous like that! Vegetarian food is what it is. It does not need to look or taste like meat to be savored.

Can you tell yet that cooking vegetarian food is my passion? :)

My comfort also lies in cooking Indian food. It is so from being born and living there for the first twenty one years of my life. This passion was inspired from a very early age by my mother and uncle who are still the best at it. My hometown Chennai is a bustling metropolis in the southeastern coastal state of Tamilnadu. While living there, you are surrounded by food at any time of the day – on the streets, in restaurants and homes!

My second goal is to show you the diversity in ‘Indian’ food. While I am happy that Indian food is gaining recognition, it is clearly being stereotyped and boxed in. It has become one dimensional and limited to “curry” with naan. I am a fan but it is food from just one northwestern Indian state, Punjab. There are twenty-eight states and seven union territories each with vast diversity in cuisine and ingredients. For example, northern state cuisines use different ingredients and combinations of spices and herbs from the southern states. To complicate matters, individual state cuisines intricately vary across their regions. There is a whole world of northern and eastern coastal food that is under explored and a world of southern cuisine that is unknown.

Living in the US has given me a better understanding and a greater palette for food from all over the world. This has exponentially increased my options for ingredients to work with. It is my belief that any cuisine can be artfully made vegetarian and still remain delicious and beautiful.

As I create dishes whether Indian or international, they will include recipes that stay authentic to its roots and recipes that fuse my Indian influence with my evolving knowledge of international foods.

So please join me in this creative experience and share your comments and feedback as often as possible.

More about me :

I love animals; animal welfare is my other passion.

I enjoy movies, music and books.

‘ Too many’  is a mathematical impossibility  with shoes and jewelry!

Sushi (aka Sushila) is the joy in my daily routine bound life.

–Supriya Raman