Soothing Dishes For the Soul

It's Friday night! What are you up to? I kicked off my weekend attending my favorite gym class, Zumba with Elizabeth and now I'm chilling on the couch, watching Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom. No matter how many times I watch this movie, I still love it. Every gory scene with the creepy crawlers in the dark tunnels, the eyeball soup, chilled monkey brains for dessert, and roasted beetles. This movie has something for everyone; drama, action, romance, and adventure.
I don't know about you but I like my soup bug free and without eyeballs. The soups I enjoy soothe the soul.

Here are some of my favorites that you may enjoy as well:

Tomato and Coconut Rasam

Easy Dal Makhani

Potato and Spinach Kadhi

I'm also recovering from the flu, so besides soups, I am keeping well with dishes that fill me up with nutrients, protein and of course probiotics: yogurt rice and pongali. Try them sometime!

Have a nice weekend and be healthy during this Spring season. Don't let the allergies get you down! 

Cheers To Many More Collaborations!

In all the years I've been blogging, one aspect that has truly made a difference in broadening the blog’s appeal is collaboration (not just within my area of expertise but in all areas). When you open up your space to others, you grow and learn from each other. For example, personally, I gained an understanding about user experience, design, and content optimization. I also found that this makes way for mutual recognition across the virtual world.

Recently, I collaborated with a couple of food bloggers who showed interest in Indian cuisine and wanted to share my insight on their websites. First let’s meet Kimlai who is the founder of www.EatinAsian.com. She blogs about Asian cuisine and culture. She wanted to introduce her readers to the "Must Have" spices in Indian cooking. Read more at http://www.eatinasian.om/indian-spices-101-whats-in-your-rack/.

The other is Lauren Van Mullem, travel and food blogger for Wanderfood Wednesdays and Website Manager for Wanderlust and Lipstick. Wanderfood Wednesdays is about Lauren's global food adventures and interesting food trials. Her approach is both informative and playful. She wanted to do a “geek out” session on Indian cooking. Many a times, I've heard or spoken to people who've hindered away from Indian food because of certain stereotypes: it’s oily, unhealthy and/or cooking it is way too complicated. I strive to make the content interesting enough so I can change some of this thinking and get people to try it. During the session, I felt as though she really understood what I was trying to achieve with my blog. I enjoyed the conversation and her enthusiasm for the cuisine. To read more on the "geek out" session, please visit: http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderfood/2013/04/16/indian-khana-made-easy-khichi/ and http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderfood/2013/04/25/how-to-use-indian-spices/.

All in all, my mom and I are grateful and delighted that there are so many excited about learning Indian cuisine and hope they enjoy it as much as we do.