Marriage has given me plenty of opportunity to explore my talent in cooking. Now 'talent' it is said is a big grey area, depending on whom you talk to. Those who survived my cooking would probably give you a decent review in passing but there have been some unsuspecting victims whom I have quietly disposed off with a soup here and a starter there. They were lovely people, bless them, who unknowingly sacrificed themselves for my culinary progress. One lone, brave, warrior left standing on the burning deck whence all but him had fled would be my husband. A unique kind of gallantry he has displayed, often known to arise due to a lack of choice when pushed into a corner, burning between two fires (the one that's raging in his stomach and the other that's burning my pots).

But jokes apart (and they were jokes, I cook well!!and that's that), the last year and half saw me trying several different, simple and lovely recipes. Some became household favorites like:

1. Masala aloo mor kozhumbu: This is the regular south indian mor kozhumbu with a twist. It comes half way between the south indian recipe and the the north indian Kadi with some cinnamon and garlic thrown in.

2. Beetroot mor kozhumbu: This became popular because of the beautiful color beetroot imparts to the butter milk. A shade inbetween a salmon blushing at its partner and cotton candy that is slowly losing its fluff.

3. Sprout salad with peanuts and paneer: This recipe is my all time favorite simply because it makes a simple one dish meal and it has risen wonderfully on several occasions and rescued me when I was too lazy to cook.

4. Kurma and parota: Parota is not to be confused with the stuffed paratas of the north. It is unique in that it is made of maida and forms crispy, chewy layers. This I have found is the best dish to be eaten with kurma. Kurma or korma is a Persian-Indian dish with its roots in the Mughlai cuisine. This recipe was passed down to me by my mother and it is one of the best recipes of kurma I have ever tasted.

5. Soups: I have always loved soups and I order them as often as I can in restaurants. Lately, I have gotten to cooking soups several times a week as it is healthy and low in fat. Some of the soups I have made are Pea and lettuce, broccoli and cheddar cheese, Moroccan carrot soup, Creamy pumpkin, Mixed veg etc. I want to try Gazpacho and some soup recipes with lentils and chick pea in particular. The other day I saw this italian recipe of chickpea and porcini mushrooms on TV that really caught my interest.

6. Bread pizzas: My husband and I are addicted to it. I toast the bread and use a bruchetta topping as the base. My toppings vary each time but I love to use chargrilled capsicum and eggplants, olives, capers and corn kernels.

7. My husband gifted me several cookery books by Kurma Dasa of ISKCON and I personally feel each and every one of those recipes is a treasure. I have tried several of them and they all taste wonderful considering none of the recipes include onion or garlic. My favorite salad from the book is the mixed bean salad with jalapenoes.

8. Good old Onion sambar and beans poriyal: I used to dabble in cooking even before my marriage and I could cook most recipes reasonably well. But sambar and rasam were my nemesis. I can now confidently say that I make good, aromatic,tasty sambar and all that credit goes to my husband who taught me how to make one in the very first week following our wedding. His recipe was simple and friendly and banished all the fears I had of cooking sambar forever.

9. Egg roll/Paneer rolls: This started out as a snack, then graduated to picnic ot travel food. I found the drive from Canberra to Sydney extremely boring and monotonous. A couple of good rolls, some cookies and fruit juice changed the entire outlook of the drive. Today, I make egg rolls very often for any meal and we love it.

10. Mushroom risotto: Well I haven't made this too often but I made it just like how it tasted in typical Italian restaurants and I am proud of that.

......and the rest.Who am I kidding? My husband and I enjoy food and different cuisines. We love to experiment and find new favorites every other week. To jot down just a few would be very unfair on the rest. There are very very few restaurants in Canberra that we haven't set and when we get bored we don't mind travelling to taste new cuisines.