Everyone has them, everyone pines after them and they offer that warm comfort – My indian childhood favourite foods. I was thinking about them this week as Mum had been away for a while and I missed her cooking. Cooking is something of a ‘family thing’, from my mum to my late aunt to my sister in law….We ARE all foodies.

My cooking comes from my roots and has developed with where I visit, what I taste, what I crave and most of all who I am.

As a child I grew up with and could not do without something we call Vaghereli Rotli, basically Stir fried Chapattis in Curried Yoghurt. A classic Gujarati dish, simple cooking, nothing great to look at but when you think of hearty food it’s something which definitely takes the limelight in my mind. Everyone makes it their own and mine is definitely a winner in my family, served semi dry with sliced onions and coarsely crushed peanuts.

Another favourite for me is Spring Onion Pura with chutney or ghor, fresh and tasty, these thin indian savoury pancakes are perfect in the summer for Sunday brunch when you fancy a little spice. Just writing this made me crave them so I got in the kitchen as soon as my mum got back, cooked a batch and started to reminisce. It does not have to be fancy to make your mouth water. I’ll add the recipe on the recipe section soon….

For me there are some favourites which should always stay classic without any changes – don’t remake a classic which already works! There are however a few alternate recipes to pass on to my boys that I have put a twist and they work a treat. The one I tried this week was Dal Dhokli, or as I call my version:

Spiced Vegetable & Onion Dal Dhokli

My twist on the classic dish Dal Dhokli – Gram flour dumplings combined with peas, red onion and green beans in a rich dhal sauce.

These dumplings were full of flavour and lifted the classic dish to a new level with the added texture and freshness from the greens. Something to pass to the younger generation, it’s all about dressing up the classics where you can to get them to try it.