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Namaste!

22nd April 2012 By Urvashi Roe 20 Comments

This is my first blog post!

I’ve been blogging at The Botanical Kitchen for a few months now and while I’ve been out and about lots of people have asked me about my background which is Gujarati.

To be specific, my father is from Rajkot and from a ‘community’ of ‘Suthar’ which literally translated means ‘carpenter’.  This is rather bizarre as I don’t know any carpenters in the family!  I was born in Tanzania though, as was my mother, so a lot of the food you will find on this site also has influences from there.

Gujarati food is 100% vegetarian, despite having an extensive coastline for seafood, and this is mainly due to the influence of Hinduism.  It varies widely in flavour and heat, depending on a given family’s tastes as well as the region of Gujarat they are from. The four major regions bring their own style to the food but meals often have sweet, salty, and spicy elements at the same time.

My family’s food is traditionally mild in the curry scale and uses little garlic or onions.  This is partly because my Dad isn’t particularly partial to garlic or onions in food and partly because some of the family follow the Swaminarayan faith which forbids it.  I love garlic and onions so I’ve adapted some of my family’s recipes to include them where I think they work well.

I hope you enjoy the recipes I’ll be posting on here and will have a go at making them.

Related

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: curry, food, Gujarat, India, Rajkot, recipes

Previous Post: « Tastes of India on London’s Southbank
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Comments

  1. Matt Inwood says

    22nd April 2012 at 8:29 pm

    Look forward to reading more, Urvashi. *hurls bottle of Champagne in direction of Gujerati Girl’s hull*

    Reply
    • Urvashi says

      22nd April 2012 at 8:32 pm

      How exciting! A champagne hurl for my first ever comment! Thank you Matt x

      Reply
  2. Kathy Egan says

    23rd April 2012 at 1:29 am

    I am so excited about this blog, I cannot tell you:) Please re-teach us the basics-I need a renewal lesson or two!

    Reply
    • Urvashi says

      23rd April 2012 at 5:50 am

      Thanks Kathy. I’ll do a basic spices post next!

      Reply
  3. Tracey Todhunter says

    23rd April 2012 at 8:59 am

    Good luck with you new blogging adventure. Lots of love xxxx

    Reply
    • Urvashi @ The Botanical Baker says

      23rd April 2012 at 11:28 am

      Thanks Tracey xx

      Reply
  4. Toddy says

    23rd April 2012 at 1:12 pm

    Brilliant blog idea! I love reading about the various different cultures and traditions (esp food related) from all over India! I knew some Hindus didn’t hv onions or garlic, which seems unthinkable when you read most recipes for “Indian” food!

    Reply
    • Urvashi says

      23rd April 2012 at 5:10 pm

      Thanks Toddy x

      Reply
  5. Shivani says

    23rd April 2012 at 3:19 pm

    Excited to see everything you post but “Gujarati” is spelled with an “a,” not an “e.”

    Reply
    • Urvashi says

      23rd April 2012 at 5:11 pm

      Hi. I have seen it spelled that way too. I guess both are versions are out there and I prefer this one. Thanks for stoping by x

      Reply
  6. monica says

    23rd April 2012 at 7:49 pm

    Very excited about the new blog, Urvashi. Look forward to seeing the recipes. 🙂

    Reply
    • Urvashi says

      23rd April 2012 at 10:06 pm

      Thank you x

      Reply
  7. nellycakes says

    24th April 2012 at 9:05 am

    Love the idea for this blog, I know next to nothing about indian food or cooking, so looking forward to learning a few things. xx

    Reply
    • Urvashi says

      24th April 2012 at 11:52 am

      Thanks lovely x

      Reply
  8. tracy says

    28th April 2012 at 11:03 am

    Would you consider making a post for the recipe of traditional chai?

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      28th April 2012 at 11:10 am

      Sure. I’ll ask my cousin in India for her recipe. It’s the only chai I really like.

      Reply
  9. Regula @ foodwise says

    5th May 2012 at 6:27 pm

    Looking forward to your posts Urvashi!

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      5th May 2012 at 7:47 pm

      Thanks Regula x

      Reply
  10. African Mango Nutra Burn says

    20th April 2013 at 3:58 am

    Hi there, I think your site might be having internet browser compatibility problems.
    Whenever I take a look at your site in Safari, it looks fine however when
    opening in Internet Explorer, it’s got some overlapping issues. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Aside from that, wonderful website!

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      23rd April 2013 at 8:54 am

      OK. thank you for letting me know 🙂

      Reply

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Hi I'm Urvashi!

I love food. This blog is a little glimpse into my foodie world which is an escape from two teenage girls, a busy job and my little cafe.

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