About Spice Cuisine

Welcome to Spice Cuisine!!

Spice Cuisine is a personal food blog, created and maintained by me, Nithiya. I am originally from India although I have spent a significant part of my life in the States - mostly in the East Coast (for work) and the Midwest (during my Master's). I currently live in Virginia with my husband and a hyperactive 14 month old daughter.

I love to entertain and enjoy having friends over for get-togethers.  During my teens, my mom used to overwhelm my friends with a variety of dishes although she made me do the prep work but cutting veggies was not my forte back then. So, my cooking experience began more so, through my accidental entry into the kitchen.

My mom has been a great inspiration all through my growing up years...be it cooking, baking or any kind of artwork (she did most of my art projects during school days :). When I left for my Master's, I managed to jot down few of my favorite recipes from mom, couple cookbooks and I was good to go...atleast that's what I thought. I started experimenting in the kitchen and it was interesting to cook recipes that I learnt from family and friends.

Soon after marriage, I met my biggest critic, my hubby. If not for him, I wouldn't have developed my passion for cooking/ baking. Over the years, I have tried and tested several recipes and ended up with quite a few family favorites.

Most of us like to try out different cuisine, so why not try cooking them as well?  I am sure all of us cook with spices to add that extra touch to a dish. Playing around with the spices and adding our own spin on recipes is always exciting.  Spices and herbs can add so much flavor to a recipe and could even motivate you to cook more. 

After a long break, I got back to blogging in Oct 2012 but with a whole new outlook on life trying to adapt to being a vegan. Initially, the shift from a vegetarian to a vegan (had to stop consuming dairy products for my new born due to her milk protein allergy) seemed tough (mostly milk and cheese, hated honey...sorry honey lovers!!) but it gradually caught on and I started welcoming the change. As days passed by, I realized that I was embracing the new lifestyle and didn't feel deprived of the foods I gave up. I feel more than happy being a vegan and I hope I can raise the awareness in my own little way one person at a time.

Some of the recipes in this blog are ones that I have learnt from my mom, family and friends.  Most of these recipes are vegetarian with some non-vegetarian (or lacto-ovo vegetarian) recipes as well.  By the way, I'm not a total health freak, so you'll find some occasional indulgences too!!!

Enjoy good food & health with family and friends as always.

Thanks for visiting Spice Cuisine.

(Updated: Aug 2013)