Hello Everyone and Welcome to Shweta in the Kitchen!!
I’m Shweta Arora, photographer and author behind this blog. This is my creative space on the internet where I love to share recipes from my kitchen to yours.
About me and my family!!
I live in Phoenix, AZ with my husband, two beautiful daughters and a fur baby (Labrador) who occasionally make appearances on the blog and social media. I was born, raised and educated in the city of Mumbai (India). My father is a famous Marathi novelist and Hindi TV-serial writer, and my mother is a retired Indian government official. I’ve a sister who is an architect and settled in Mumbai.
I grew up in a Maharashtrian joint family eating healthy, fresh and delicious food cooked by Aaji (my grand mother) and mom. With these super ladies around, never had to cook anything until I moved out for my first job.
An engineer by education, I’ve a full time job in the corporate world. Cooking, photographing and writing this blog is my passion which I absolutely love doing outside of my day job.
My blog journey
My cooking expedition began mainly post marriage when we moved to the United States. There weren’t many Indian restaurants around back then in the valley where we lived. So when it came to our staple food, cooking was more of a necessity. Luckily, I instantly felt connected to it, as a creative and therapeutic experience. Soon I started building my journal collection of not only traditional Indian recipes that came from my mom and MIL but also my own successful trials and experiments.
Its only when everyone around me started appreciating my food, consistently, I got the idea and confidence to convert my personal offline journal into an online blog, in April 2012. The blogging journey had to go through a few intermittent pauses either due to my two pregnancies or my work schedule. That said, I believe the blog is now in an active phase where it is regularly updated with new recipes.
My inspiration
I’ve grown up seeing Aaji and mom enjoying cooking and making food with lots of love. I treasure those fond childhood memories of food brining family together, be it a casual Sunday morning breakfast or the festive times like Diwali where we made faral (sweet and savory goodies) and relished it with relatives and friends. The experience of cooking is the gateway for me to relive those precious memories and keep them alive.
As you can tell, Aaji and Mom are my first inspiration as they contributed significantly toward building my affection for food. Not a week goes by when I don’t ask mom for recipes, and whenever we talk food has to be one of the topics.
My go to for authentic Punjabi recipes is my MIL. She is an excellent cook and I’ve learnt most of the traditional North Indian recipes from her.
The husband and kids are another source of inspiration as they are my first line of reviewers and critics.
Last but not the least, I’m a constant learner and keep discovering additional sources of inspiration from internet, magazines, restaurants, grocery stores, etc. wherever there is a combination of food and creativity.
What will you find here
My husband and I come from two different cultural zones in India. I’m a love-all-kind-of-food Marathi, Mumbaikar west-coast girl married to a raised-as-a-vegetarian Punjabi Delhite north-Indian boy. With that kind of household set up, you will primarily find a mix of traditional Maharashtrian and North Indian recipes on my blog. We mainly follow a vegetarian diet so you will also find tons of vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free recipes. That said, I occasionally cook chicken or fish recipes, especially now since my kids have started enjoying it.
Along with Indian recipes, I also share global recipes that my family enjoys like Mexican, Italian, Indo-Chinese and more.
Given the diversity of my readers, I aim to share a variety of recipes ranging from simple-to-make everyday healthy recipes to indulging party delicacies, from traditional pressure cooker to modern Instant pot recipes, from spicy savory recipes to sweet ones including healthy eggless bakes. Last but not least, you will also find some treats for your fur baby. Fun fact: one of my most popular recipes from the blog is pupcakes . In addition to the world of recipes, I also share tips, tricks, hacks that make cooking easy and fun.
Each recipe goes through several iterations of testing and tasting through designated food critic - my husband (one of the toughest ones to crack). Sometimes these recipes are also sampled by friends before they make it to the blog. So be rest assured, they will be officially delicious! Moreover I believe every recipe is very adaptable and no two people would make it the same exact way, so don’t hold back to customize these recipe to your family’s liking.
My blog has always been a reflection of what’s cooking in my kitchen and what we love eating. It has evolved quite a bit from the where it started and will continue to in future. Hope you will find what you are looking for, and if not then please let me know.
Keep in touch
If you would like to connect or ask a question, you can reach me at [email protected].
You can also subscribe to my blog and follow me on Facebook Instagram Pinterest to get updates on the latest blog posts.
Thank you for stopping by and always supporting!!
Happy Cooking!
Shweta
