About Ash!
I am Ashwinee, from Chennai India. I live with my husband, Joshua and my beautiful little baby girl Menorah. They are the inspiration behind this piece of work and I owe it all to these two amazing people. I have had a confused educational and professional background with a major in Marine sciences (yea don’t ask me why) and a profession in editing and writing. But one thing that I've never been ever confused about is my love for food and therefore my first ever food blog! The first memories of my experiences with cooking date back to when I was 11 years old, when I totally fell in love with my friend’s lunch - egg burji and lemon rice - and pleaded my mom for the same. However, she attempted several times but it was nowhere close to what Sindhu’s mom cooks. This involuntarily made me try my own hands at cooking, with no recipe or instructions whatsoever, but with just that amazing flavor profile in mind. You ask me if I was able to replicate the dish? Well, not to date (lol). But what I discovered was my deep-rooted passion for food and cooking. Over the years it became my strongest identity and fortified my deepest pains and wounds. It became my expression of love and sorrows. Those who know me and have been a part of my journey know what to expect when they pay a visit to our little home – warm happiness on a plate.
About this blog!
I have lived all my life in south India but I come from a family that’s deep-rooted in the Northern part of Srilanka. As I grew up, I have embraced this concoction of cultures and have tried to make the most of both worlds. My recipes are raw eccentric dishes that come from a thatched backyard kitchen from the little beach town, Jaffna. Authentic Lankan cuisine with a lot of south Indian influence is what you can expect from my recipes. In this space, I share delightful healthy recipes that I love to make and eat. My intent is to inspire you to fall in love with the art of cooking by making it both exciting and approachable. Cooking is the basic survival skill that we have to equip our future generations with and not have them look upon it as an option. To learn to cook and to be excited about getting back home to stir up a warm hearty meal is a paradigm shift towards a healthy lifestyle.
About Lankan cuisine!
Sri Lanka is a paradise on earth! Loving people, beautiful landscapes and amazing comforting food. The food is greatly influenced by the culture and environment. There is so much to say about Sri Lankan cuisine. Coconuts and fish are an integral part of cooking. Gorka puli or Kudampuli, Brahmi leaves or vallarai keerai, maasi or smoked dried tuna fish, kithul pani (palmyra treacle), raw jackfruit, odiyal are some of the ingredients that are substantially used in Lankan cuisine that are rarely found in others. Kerala and Malaysian cuisines are two of the closely associated cuisines that I find to be very close to what we eat.
I would love to point out that there are a lot of similarities between Lankan cuisine and Kerala food. I love them both! I know so confidently because I have a lot of friends from Kerala and it has always felt home to me. Endless dishes with coconut, wattalappam, the term ‘American maa’ and the list goes on, to how similar these two faraway places are.
Srilankans love their spices and they eat a lot of snacks. You’ll find rolls, patties, cutlets, bread and buns in every store in every lane. I guess it’s because of the Portuguese and British colonialization, baked food take a prime spot on the table.
I am really excited to be sharing my culinary experiences with you and I hope you find what you’re looking for in my recipes.
@Please note that all rights for photographs and texts on this blog, unless otherwise mentioned, rests with the author. Please do not use without permission.
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