About

Hey there! 

This is Jagruti writing to you from San Francisco bay area currently juggling between a hectic postdoctoral appointment at Stanford with this creative relief and my brain child "The Turmeric Kitchen". This fantastic little journey of mine began one fine day when it dawned on me that cooking up new recipes just wasn't enough. I had to share it with the world and so it began. Clichéd as it may sound, I would still love to share with you the whole and sole reason for my embarking on this endeavor.

Ever since I was a child, I have always been fascinated by food (the smell - the sight - the feel...et.al)and the entire process of preparing it.Cutting, chopping,peeling prawns..you name it and I would do it! Though I had never formally prepared a whole meal for the family till then, I can trace back to the time when I was all of 5 years and all I would draw is kitchen utensils.Growing up, I would imagine myself hosting cooking shows while making imaginary food with non-existent ingredients.Standing by my Ma watching her dish out delicious recipes filled with love would captivate me to no ends.It actually acted as a welcome break from the hectic rigmarole of student life.

However, the cooking bug didn't bite me hard until way later when I came here to the US. That's when the realization sunk in that creating recipes for me is therapeutic, meditative, a stress buster and yes, definitely a way to express my love.A lot of my dishes are inspired by Odia cuisine - the food I grew up eating along with the several others that I picked up along the way-one of the many advantages of living in a city that offers up a cultural meld of global cuisines.

A note about the nomenclature of this blog:

Way before  I even started writing this blog, it took birth on Facebook as a photoblog. Right then I knew, that it had to name it something related to a spice. Spices define Indian cooking and I am immensely proud of that. So when I looked around my kitchen, I couldn't help but notice that turmeric is one spice that is used heavily in all regions of the diverse subcontinent and especially in Odia cuisine. Its actually quite interesting to note that India is the largest producer of turmeric, also known as the "Golden Spice". I found myself reaching out to this spice for both its medicinal and musky qualities and finalised on "The Turmeric Kitchen".

So a warm welcome to this journey of trials,errors and triumphs which I would try my very best to make every bit worthwhile! :)