About

Meet Sia:

Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.  
~ Harriet Van Horne

Namaste, I am Sia. I am your hostess and also a daughter/sister/wife/friend/cook/blogger and most importantly, a mother to a most adorable and lovable little boy in the universe! I was born and brought up in a charming small town Puttur close to the coastal city of Mangalore in South India which is famous for its virgin beaches, red tiled houses and gentle backwaters. I was introduced to authentic and traditional Indian cuisine by my Ajji (grandma), Amma (mom) and half a dozen aunties in a typical food and fun loving family where the life revolves around food, love, laughter and good dose of gossips!

You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh ingredients. 
  ~ Julia Child

I was never serious about cooking, but was a foodie all through my school and college days! My cooking adventure started after I got married and moved with my ‘much’ better half to UK some nine years ago. With beginners luck and zillions of SOS calls at ungodly hours to my Amma (mother) and Atte (mom-in-law), I reached a phase where I could cook decent pot of rice and Rasam. Slowly but steadily I graduated from cooking simple, everyday home food to exotic and exciting Indian and world cuisine. I continue to enjoy this exciting and adventurous culinary journey with few kitchen disastrous, some blunders and tears, and lot of laughter and good food on the way spicing up my life!

I hold a bachelor degree in Computer Science Engineering and masters degree in MBA, but literature and writing is my passion. After working full-time as an IT professional in a very exciting organisation for over 8 years, I quit my job to enjoy small things in my life. Now I am a part-time food blogger and photographer, full-time daughter/wife/friend/sister/mother, voracious reader, doodler, curry plant killer, nature and adventure sports lover, tree hugger, bon vivant, bathroom singer and generally having an interesting life and enjoying it to fullest. Living one busy life means the blog posts are often irregular and I can disappear for weeks or months from blog-o-sphere. But whenever the post make an appearance, you can be 100% sure that they are always cooked and served with lot of love and passion.

Sia and her blog, Monsoon Spice:

There is no love sincerer than the love of food.  
~ George Bernard Shaw

Monsoon, just the word is enough to bring back a flood of fresh and drenched memories of magical monsoon rain; the sound, sights and smell of home. For a girl born and brought up in southern India, the magical word Monsoon evokes feeling of happiness in me. So when it came to naming my blog I couldn’t think of any better name than Monsoon Spice.

Monsoon Spice (previously known as Spice Corner) was born on the day when I couldn’t find the recipe scribbled in hurry on a piece of paper/back of the bills while making zillions of SOS calls at ungodly hours to my Amma (mother) and Atte (mom-in-law). When it was needed the most, I found myself running around the house like some headless chicken, checking all the drawers and every nook and corner, while our smoke alarm made enough noise to wake half the neighbourhood! That was when I decided to catalogue all the recipes online and the rest, as we say, is history!!! Monsoon Spice has been up and running since September 2006!!! More than five glorious years… ~Ouch ~ I just pinched myself!

The Inspiration:

No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.
~ Laurie Colwin

My best friend and husband K (mostly known as my ‘much’ better half) is the main inspiration behind this blog. He not only eats what I cook in the name of cooking, but is also my food critic, sous-chef and  patiently waits for the food, with rumbling tummy, till I finish the photo shoots (lots of them) for the blog and my blog readers. Now with the new and joyous addition, our little boy P (lovingly called as Lil Dumpling), to our family, I am all the more inspired to cook fresh and healthy food that has strong root in our Indian culture and still embraces the world cuisine with same passion.

Three mothers in my life have left their mark on this blog and the way I cook. Without these three remarkable ladies, my Amma (mother), Ajji (grandma) and Atte (mom-in-law), I wouldn’t be a cook that I am today, let alone a food blogger. Thanks to all these loved ones in my life for igniting my love for cooking. Today this little spark of interest in cooking has become a roaring fire of passion!

All these years of active blogging, I’ve met immeasurable number of foodies, fellow bloggers and made many good friends. And you, my reader friends, are my inspiration. Without your comments, feedback, suggestions and encouraging words, this blog would not have survived all these years!

Let’s Talk About Food, Food & More Food:

I could talk food all day. I love good food.
~ Tom Brady

Monsoon Spice is my playground where I showcase my love and passion for food and cooking. Most of the recipes presented here are something that I learnt from my Amma, my first teacher who thought me about life and spice. There are recipes that are inspired from cookbooks, magazines, cooking websites/blogs, and cooking shows and always the due credit is given to the original recipe sources.

Almost 99% of food posted here are Vegetarian and there are many Vegan friendly recipes or the ones which can be easily converted to suit Vegan diet. The remaining 1% of recipes uses Eggs and this count ‘may’ rise slowly due to my new found love for baking. There are many recipes catalogued to suit busy working schedules and also beginner and bachelor friendly. You will find a collection of everyday meals, some with fancy ingredients, mostly Indian cuisine and also with international touch; variety is the spice of life.

Language:

My mother tongue/native language is Kannada and English is the second language which I am still learning. So please pardon my English. I hope you will not find it too offensive if my vocabulary and grammar takes a nose-dive here and there. But trust me, my cooking is better than my English! :)

Sia’s Do’s & Don’ts:

Cookery is not chemistry. It is an art. It requires instinct and taste rather than exact measurements.
~Marcel Boulestin

One thing I have learnt from my years of kitchen adventure is to understand how to balance and harmonize flavours. For any cook, amateur or experienced, it is important to make adjustments in the quantity of ingredients used to bring out the right flavour to suit your taste buds rather than blindly following the recipes.

When baking, follow directions. When cooking, go by your own taste.
~ Laiko Bahrs

Recipes given in Monsoon Spice should serve as guidelines as they cannot speak for your taste preference or the variance in the ingredients you get from different places. Rather following the cooking instructions religiously, follow your instinct and palate as it is them that tell you as what you like in a particular dish.


I feel a recipe is only a theme, which an intelligent cook can play each time with a variation.
~ Madam Benoit

Keep experimenting with ingredients, a hint of this and a dash of that, which creates perfect harmony between flavour, aroma and your taste buds. The real satisfaction of creating something which your loved ones enjoys adds that ‘extra special bit’ to your joy. Play around with the ingredients until you are happy with the combination of flavours which is suited to you and your loved ones heart, palate and soul.

Sia & Her Camera:

Know how to garnish food so that it is more appealing to the eye and even more flavorful than before.
~ Marilyn vos Savant

Seriously, I can’t talk much about food photography. It is true that food blogging and food photography go hand in hand but it is also true in my case that I know just a tad bit more about camera other than which is the click button!

I don't like food that's too carefully arranged; it makes me think that the chef is spending too much time arranging and not enough time cooking. If I wanted a picture I'd buy a painting.
~ Andy Rooney

Initially the pictures were taken from my Panasonic DMZ point and shoot camera. Just because my husband loves me a lot and he also felt that I may cook more food of his liking, he decided to bribe me three years back on my birthday with Canon EOS 450D dSLR. I use basic kit lens (Canon EF-S 18-55mm, I had to Google to find this info!) and till date, I have never found the need to upgrade to any other fancy lens. I try to take all the photos in natural light, sometimes in bright and almost perfect sunlight and other times in dull and cloudy UK weather. I am happy as long as the food looks edible and inspires you to try it for yourself. I am not all fancy! I have promised myself to make a sincere attempt to learn more about food photography but so far other important things in my life have taken the precedence.

Updated on September, 2011: Since my faithful 3 years old kit lens suddenly took it last breath, I was left with no other option than upgrade to new lens. I now have two new lens in my camera bag, Canon 50mm f/1.8 prime lens and Canon 18-135mm zoom lens. Almost all the photographs from mid September 2011 are taken using the prime lens and to my surprise, I just love it! It is inexpensive, light weight, captures the vibrant colour of the food, and also great for taking photos at poor natural light.

Copyrights, Comment Policy & other Nitty-Gritty:

Food should be fun.
~ Thomas Keller

All the pictures and contents on Monsoon Spice are protected by United Kingdom and International Copyright Laws unless otherwise noted, and should not be reproduced, published or displayed without the prior written permission from me. Information on Monsoon Spice is not to be used in any form for publishing on other websites, mailing lists, commercial purposes or other media without explicit permission from me. You cannot reproduce, modify, display, alter, distribute or build upon the content of Monsoon Spice.

Comments are an integral part of any public blogs and it is they that help me to connect with the readers of Monsoon Spice. Your feedbacks/queries/comments/compliments lets me know and understand little bit of you, your feelings and what you want from this food blog. You, the readers of Monsoon Spice, are the inspiration for me to continue posting regularly and hence every single feedback from you is read, appreciated and valued. When you visit a person at their home, it is considered rude to leave without uttering a single word. It is not much different when you visit a person in virtual world when you are spending your time reading through the blog and trying the recipes posted here. I sincerely request you to take few moments to leave a line or two to mention how you liked your stay and also the outcomes of any recipes you tried from here.

Although Monsoon Spice is an interactive blog and is open to feedback and comments, I will not entertain any inappropriate or abusive comments. I welcome all your valuable inputs and constructive criticism as long as it is meant to help, guide and improve and is not offensive to me or the readers of Monsoon Spice. I reserve the right to delete any comments that are rude, abusive, written with the intent to advertise, contain profanity or considered spam. Enjoy your stay at Monsoon Spice but do not steal the photos or content and no hot linking of images. This is a happy place and please, let's keep it that way!

Want to use the photos or contents from Monsoon Spice?

If you really want to make a friend, go to someone's house and eat with him. The people who give you their food give you their heart.  
~ Cesar Chavez

I am very particular about (to the point of obsession) giving due credit to the original source and I expect the same from you if you try any recipes or use any content or photographs from my blog. You want to use the photos or contents published in Monsoon Spice? All you have to do is ask me nicely! People who know me say that I am usually a generous person with big heart and I may even let you use the photos and contents for free if you ask me first!!! At the same time, if you steal or modify the photos/content from my blog without my permission, you may have to face my evil twin when you receive a fitting mail from me or a notice from my lawyer. So let's just skip the nasty bits and simply agree on ASK FIRST rule.

To request for permission for personal or commercial use of photos and/or content from Monsoon Spice for your blog/website/newspaper/book/magazine etc, contact me via email at siakrishna[at]gmail[dot]com.

Keep in Touch:

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.
~ Virginia Woolf

You can subscribe to get up-to-date posts on Monsoon Spice for FREE. You can also find me Twittering around and join me at Facebook to hear more of my ramblings. Or if you just want to say ‘Hi’, drop me a line at comment section…

Want to say something personally without the world eavesdropping? Just mail me at siakrishna[at]gmail[dot]com. I sincerely try very hard to respond to each mail I receive. But there are times when I am unable to do so for some reason. It’s not because I am ignoring you or I don’t like you! I just wish I had more hours in a day…. Or even my clone will do the job!!!

Didn’t find the recipe you were looking for? Just Ask Sia :)

Still have more to say? I am all ears for your feedback as how I can make it more interesting space for you :)

It is small and little things in life that lift my heart and spirit… I love the colour red and blue skies. I love spring, summer, rain and snow! I love organic food, farmers market and things grown naturally. I love simple food, heirloom recipes and Ice cream. I love to be surrounded my loved ones and happy people. I love to listen to baby’s giggles, good music and positive comments.

I sincerely thank you for stopping by, trying out the recipes and saying all the nice words. I really, really appreciate it. You people make this virtual world a happy place…

Warm regards,

Sia
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Google+ | Flickr | Instagram