A bit about ME

I’m a part-time food blogger and a full-time mother to two adorable kids. I am a vegetarian by choice and a food enthusiast who enjoys cooking for my family.

I was born and grew up in Hosapete, a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, located between the banks of the Tungabhadra River and the World Heritage Site of Hampi, well known for its remnants of a glorious past during the era of the Vijayanagara Empire.

My parents relocated to Hosapete from Rayalaseema area of the south Indian state of Andhra. As a child, I loved touring Andhra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, and exploring their traditions, cultures, and tasting their food. Since both of my parents are originally from Andhra, my amma’s cooking style and flavours tend to be typical Andhra cuisine. I have adapted most of the traditional South Indian dishes, such as this mamidikaya pappu, dosakaya pappu, garlic pepper rasam, aratikaya puttu, kandi pachadi, from my amma and ancient recipes like avakaya, munakkaya pachadi, undrallu, ukkiri on the blog reflect her culinary techniques.

During my teenage years, I started my kitchen tasks with small jobs such as chopping vegetables. Slowly, I began my culinary adventure by attempting to make coffee and cook rice. Eventually, I expanded my cooking skills with my then most favourite speciality dishes – Indo Chinese gobi manchurian, vegetable fried rice, chana chaat, bhel puri, palak paneer and chana masala. Although my expertise and knowledge in the kitchen were limited to just a few dishes,  I would take great care to make sure they were cooked perfectly every time.

I didn’t start making staple foods such as chapati, dal, and simple curries until I got married and moved to the UK.

After we ventured into the food business, I had the chance to explore and develop a deeper understanding of how spices impact the flavour and taste of food.

With the guidance of experienced chefs, I’ve significantly improved my cooking skills and become more confident in using practical kitchen shortcuts. I’ve picked up a few simple techniques and smart strategies that make cooking much easier. I recreated many restaurant style dishes featured on the blog, such as paneer makhani, kadai paneer, paneer majestic, jeera rice, potato 65, bhindi do pyaza and methi malai paneer, while learning valuable techniques from professional chefs along the way.

A Few Category Links to Get Started

• Cooking With Kids
• Curry
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Snacks

About the BLOG

I created this blog as a resource to find simple and real family friendly food recipes. All recipes are made with wholesome, mostly fresh ingredients that are easily available. Most of the ingredients are easy to swap out with whatever is available in your pantry or fridge/freezer.

You will find classic and simple vegetarian recipes made from scratch using everyday basic ingredients. Most of the recipes can be customised to be vegan, gluten-free or to suit an individual’s requirements.

I want to show you how a few everyday ingredients can transform a simple dish into something amazing and delicious, such as my moong dal palak khichdi, mushroom pulao, jeera aloo and roasted baby potatoes with rosemary. Most of my recipes are fast-prep with great flavours!

Flavours Treat contains kid-friendly recipes featuring my 5 year old son and 12 year old daughter, showing that cooking can be both interesting and engaging. We hope to inspire people of all skill levels to enjoy their time in the kitchen! Some of my readers all time favourite recipes in this category include sweet potato patties, chickpea vegetable patties, carrot pasta and animal open faced sandwich featuring my daughter when she was younger!

The latest most loved recipes are baked vegetable patties, banana chocolate quesadilla, cracker canapes, chocolate superseed bites and breakfast banana split with yogurt. For me, the joy of cooking with kids is more than a bonding experience. It’s a fun and logical way to teach them an essential life skill – cooking.

Although it can be time consuming and sometimes challenging to manage young kid while filming, it all feels worthwhile. Over a period of time, my slightly picky daughter began exploring new dishes and different cuisines, developing a taste for different flavours. On the other hand, my son gets excited about being involved, helping plan recipes and eagerly taking part in the preparation process. Even though videos are not perfectly shot or photographs are not picture perfect, these moments make it all worth it.

Although I was familiar with many South Indian regional cuisines, it wasn’t until I moved to the UK that I started exploring international cuisines and broadening my culinary journey. Today pizzas, pastas, wraps, sandwiches, porridges, baked oats and granola are all part of our regular meal plans. On the blog, you’ll find a range of pasta dishes from classics like pink sauce pasta, tomato basil pasta to roasted cauliflower pasta and roasted pumpkin pasta.

There are Asian, Continental and Mediterranean recipes such as pan fried sesame tofu, vegetable spring rolls, peanut dipping sauce, eggless crepes with Nutella, roasted vegetable wrap with hummus, Greek vegetable salad

Every recipe has easy-to-follow instructions with process shots (detailed step-wise pictures) and a short video tutorial. Subscribe to my YouTube channel here.

All the recipes in this blog are Tried and Tested in my kitchen. I take great care to ensure I provide all the necessary information about the recipe, such as possible recipe variations, suitable substitutions (where possible), tips and tricks to get the right taste every time.

You will find so many crowd-pleasing recipes, such as Greek vegetable pasta salad, vegetable pulao, saffron rice, maple roasted carrot, that are suitable and convenient to make in large volumes or to make ahead for a party or special occasion.

A few cheat recipes, such as bread rasmalai, basundi with condensed milk, date snickers, to satisfy sweet cravings instantly that use shortcuts and a few ingredient replacements to save time, yet don’t compromise on flavours and taste.

I hope you find something here to suit your taste.

Final Thoughts…..

“Cooking is the art of adjustment” – Jacques Pepin

I wholeheartedly believe this statement. One thing I have learnt from my cooking experience is to understand how to balance flavours. For any cook, beginner or experienced, it is necessary to adjust the ingredients used that certainly bring out the right flavour to suit your taste buds and not just blindly follow the recipe.

I suggest you treat the recipe as a guide and keep experimenting with ingredients, add a dash of that and a pinch of this until you are happy with the taste, aroma and flavours. The real satisfaction is in creating something that you and your loved ones enjoy.

What will you not find on Flavours Treat?

I DON’T use additives, artificial colours, artificial flavour enhancers, preservatives or emulsifiers. Instead, I emphasise using natural food colouring and flavouring agents. You will not find any recipes that contain fake meat or eggs.

What will you find on Flavours Treat?

Simple, tasty recipes made using everyday ingredients and spices that are essential to prepare Indian meals.

Classic recipes from regional cuisines such as vegetable chettinad, bisibelebath, vangibath, kandagadda pulusu, payasam, aratikaya puttu, pongal that have distinct flavours and tastes.

Delicious, easy-to-make authentic homemade restaurant-style Indian recipes. Each recipe is easy enough for even novice cooks to make in the comfort of their home. I provide a few tips and tricks to get the right flavours and taste.

Quick, easy and tasty one-pot meals, such as kashmiri pulao, ven pongal, dal khichdi, curries like black eyed peas curry, chickpea spinach curry, mixed vegetable kurma, side dishes, appetisers that come together in 30 minutes or less. Perfect on lazy days or midweek nights when you don’t have time to make elaborate meals.

A lot of Instant pot recipes and air fryer recipes, such as gobi 65, masala peanuts, air fryer baby potatoes, cinnamon rolls with an easy-to-follow guide.

Cheers, and Happy Cooking 🙂

Geetha Priyanka