They are food lovers of a different kind. Living hundreds of miles away from home, these food bloggers are whipping up traditional Indian recipes along with some gorgeous photography. On this Republic Day weekend, we got talking to some of the most popular Indian food bloggers settled overseas about their passion for desi khaana and what makes their hearts sing from the Indian kitchen.
Edible Garden
Popularly known as Nags, Edible Garden’s Nagalakshmi Vishwanathan started blogging 10 years ago. Her love for food styling and photography is evident as you browse through her blog and Instagram feed. From spongy appams to spicy Chettinad recipes, this Kottayam girl can be found dabbling with heirloom Indian recipes passed down by the women in her family.
With a day job in Twitter in Singapore, Nags finds asafoetida the most versatile Indian spice. “It’s amazing how a tiny bit can really uplift a dal or sambhar or kootu,” she says. Ask her about her go-to Indian meal and she says, “In a pinch I’d default to dal, a thoran (a simple dry vegetable side dish with coconut from Kerala), curd and pickle.” An Indian dish that you will find Nags cook often is biryani. No wonder her blog has a variety of interesting biryani recipes!
Just a Girl from Mumbai
Bhavna Kalra’s love for all things desi is evident in her blog, which she fondly calls Just a Girl from Mumbai. Find this project manager from Sydney share her love for Indian food, especially Punjabi and Bengali cuisine, through lyrical descriptions of dishes and memories associated with them.
Born and raised in Ulhasnagar (a town in Thane district), Bhavna says, “When I moved to Australia, I realised that I was not eating the kind of Indian food I had grown up on. Also, here, it is mostly heavy north Indian curries and we know that there is so much variety back home.” The blog was thus born celebrating desi flavours. Even today, Bhavna finds solace in poori-aloo. “There is something so comforting about the deep-fried poori eaten in the morning with a cup of chai, which makes waking up in the morning just worth it!”
Food Fashion Party
Asha Shivakumar may have moved to the US in 1996, but she left a piece of her heart in India. And the proof lies in her love for Byadgi chillies! After growing up in a family where food played a huge role, she realised it was the only connection with home she had in a foreign land.
“A simple chapati and egg poriyal brought back those warm memories on cold evenings,” she reminisces. Asha’s blog Food Fashion Party was born out of nostalgia for a home she left behind 22 years ago. On her blog, you can find Indian recipes with a twist, south Indian dishes from her mom’s kitchen and more, complete with some incredible food photography. “A comfort meal has to be dal, rasam and a simple sabzi. I also love my mom's tomato pulao, which brings back all sorts of nostalgia. I boil some eggs and toss it in some oil and spices, another simple side that I lean on when I don't have the time or energy to cook,” says this Bangalore-bred girl.
Culinary Nirvana
After moving to Tokyo in 2007, Gayatri Singh was driven by an urge to change the way people perceived Indian food abroad. A trained chef from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, she left her job and started teaching Indian cooking and blogging about it.
Culinary Nirvana is all about traditional recipes using natural and fresh ingredients, but with a twist. Idli sambhar and chutney is the Singapore-based (she moved last year) blogger’s favourite food as it is “healthy, gluten-free and delicious.” Gayatri’s passion for desi flavours living away from her home in Pune reflects not only in her recipe experiments such as shepherd’s pie cooked with garam masala, but also in the traditional dishes she grew up on like kande pohe and gajar halwa.
The Spice Adventuress
Although originally from Kerala, Dhanya Samuel spent a large part of her childhood in the UAE. Back to India at the age of 14 years for higher studies and marriage a few years later, she moved to Melbourne with her husband and son.
“Whenever I cook a traditional dish, I try connecting with my roots, preserving those recipes and teaching my son about our heritage. Our food has the power to excite taste buds, perhaps in a way most other cuisines cannot,” she believes. Dhanya’s blog The Spice Adventuress carries forward memories of cooking with her mother as a child, and will help you cook desi food with a fun twist. Prod her about her go-to Indian meal and she says, “Even though I am south Indian, I love a north Indian thali with rotis, dal, bhindi sabzi, chole, aloo, papad, pickles and of course lassi.” When it comes to cooking one dish often in her Aussie kitchen, it is something from her home state of Kerala. “I love to cook fish curries especially fish moilee, which is a fragrant, aromatic and delicious curry with coconut milk,” she quips.
