About

I was born and raised in Mangalore and migrated to US after marriage. Like most of us who had no hands on experience with cooking, for me it was a complicated process. Marriage brings a lot of changes and to add to it, I would turn jittery with the thought of cooking a simple Konkani meal. Before leaving India, I spent quite a bit of time with the wonderful chefs in my family, trying to understand the techniques and secrets of cooking traditional Konkani dishes. Although, I knew the base for most Konkani curries was coconut, red chilies and tamarind - it took me a while to understand the difference between "Kodel", "Ambat", "Ghashi", "Sukke" and several other dishes. Here I was, in a kitchen of my own, with limited access to grocery - I had to put my thinking cap on to cook a decent meal. Finally, after several permutation and combination of recipes that I had collected from My Dear Mom, Aunts, Cousins, Friends and Grandmothers, I somehow managed to plate a decent meal for dinner. 

Growing up, my Ajja-Bapama (father's parents) and Ajja-Mamama (mother's parents) both lived in the same town and were 15 mins away from where we lived. Both sets of grandparents had their own style of cooking. At Bapama's, where I spent most of my school days (after school), they had seafood almost every day of the week which was THE highlight for me! At Mamama's, they cooked authentic Konkani food which I never got to taste at my parents or at Bapama's. No doubt there were too many good cooks in the family and it was indeed a blessing to experience the best of both Grandmom's cooking. 

"Konkani Cravings" was created hoping to post more of traditional Konkani recipes but I do find myself cooking Non-Konkani dishes as well. Each of us at home like different cuisine and I try to balance the traditions that I was brought up with and the western culture. Most recipes are simple, easy and healthy and I like food with a lot of flavor. Although, I may not cook fresh food everyday (I won't say that I don't find time, it’s just tiring after long days), I always make sure that I have home cooked food in the refrigerator or freezer. At times, you may find recipes which are cooked in larger quantities. It's either for guests visiting or to freeze for future use. Also, I do not include measurement for oil and salt. I like to leave it open for readers.

Any questions, email at konkanicravings@gmail.com and I will try to respond at the earliest.

With all said and done, without the support of my family and the people I love, this blog probably wouldn't have existed. A big thank you to my "My Hero" who taught me to always think positive and take life as it comes.