Aayi’s Recipes Konkan/Konkani food blog, Indian culinary treasures

About

Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.
-George Bernard Shaw

From time immemorial, culinary has remained an important skill which has been passed on from one person to another and most of the times from mother to daughter. The word ‘skill’ itself speaks something which can be learnt over a period of time provided one has certain degree of inspiration, interest and perseverance. This certain or rather I must admit most part of inspiration has come to me from my mother or as I fondly call ‘Aayi‘ in my mother tongue Konkani. Hence is name, Aayi’s recipes. Coming to interest part of it, I assume I have it enough without which I would not have had enough patience to prepare these dishes and draft the recipes. The last but not least, perseverance, I would leave it for you to understand. Only thing I can assure is this site will keep getting updated with my almost every visit.

The style of recipes would be Konkani homemade, originated in and around North Kanara district of Karnataka. May be even down South in Mangalore or up North in Goa, or may be even they match Maharashtrian food. But its individualistic taste stands apart from the rest.

I will also share some of the recipes which are non Konkani traditional food. I have learnt them from different people, books, watching different TV programs, internet etc due to my interest in cooking and the guidance from my Aayi & Pachi.

As mentioned earlier, my Aayi is the person from whom I learnt cooking. My mother’s sister Pachi is also a good cook, albeit all her preparations are simple ones. So these two sisters, by and large provided basic ‘ingredients’ for this site. My father and brother though by profession are doctor and engineer respectively, they are good cooks too. Their caustic comments added much essential ’spice’ to this site. My husband, who is also a software engineer, is responsible for look and feel of this site. In other words he is responsible for ‘garnishing’ of Aayi’s recipes site. Last, but not the least, my sis-in-law, who has the entire hard copy of this site, mostly does the proof reading of every new posting. These are the people whom I owe a lot for this site becoming a reality. Above all, some one needs to be there to relish as well and I anticipate you would do that job for me. Please come up with your thoughts. Whether good or bad, I will oblige your responses.

Finally, something about myself, I am a software engineer by profession. Born and brought up at a tranquil place called Kodkani on banks of river Aghanashini. This is a tiny place in North Kanara district of Karnataka state on West coast of India. I did my engineering from Belgaum and worked in Bangalore for nearly 4 years as a software engineer. Currently I am living in Kansas, USA with my husband. Apart from this, I don’t have much to say about myself, perhaps someday I may have or may be this site will do the job on my behalf.

I am dedicating this blog to my father and mother. Above is their picture infront of my home at native.

Come… Savor the delicacy.

- Shilpa

344 Responses to “About”

  1. Shraddha Sohoni Nayak says:

    Dear Shilpa,

    I am very much impressed with your all recipes. I am also Konkani speaking GSB and love cooking. I also experiment new dishes daily. I have tried most of the recipes from your site. They are just amazing. And now i am introducing your site to all my friends too.. Keep it up and keep posted some new recipes. If you want, i will share with you some of my recipes too. Let me know:) Would love to be in touch with you:)

    Hats Off to your concept,ideas and the way u developed this site:)

    Regards
    Shraddha Sohoni Nayak

  2. Sunita Parshurampuria says:

    Hello Shilpa,

    My husband and I came across your website while surfing for Konkani recipes on Google.

    We have tried quite a number of your recipes and the dishes turned out to be extremely delicious.

    Excellent initiative!

    Kind Regards,
    Sunita

  3. Varsha Patil says:

    Hi Shilpa, I recently visited ur site and I liked it so much that I visit this almost everyday. I liked almost all the recepies that you have posted. Last weekend I tried out some of your recepies and they turned out great. I tried Cabbage vada, Fish masala fry, Spicy egg. I also tried green chillie fritters. I have kept them for drying. I made very little on a steel plate directly. But they are getting stuck to the plate. So today I made some on a plastic sheet. I will check in the evening. Hope they turn out good. My husband also likes cooking and sometimes we cook together. Last weekend he made egg and soya nugget cutlets. They were yummy… Shilpa if you don’t mind could you publish my husbands recepie on your site? Waiting for your reply. Will write to you once I try more recepies. Take care

    Shilpa: Sorry Varsha, I don’t have option for reader’s recipes at this moment. It is very difficult for me to manage if I start this as I am getting a large number of requests from different people who want to publish their recipes on the site. I may start this in future, but as of now, I won’t be doing this. Hope you don’t mind.

  4. Varsha Patil says:

    Hey not a problem. Keep up the good work and keep posting some more recepies.

  5. Hi Shilpa!
    Just wanted to say that you are a Goddess for us bachelors abroad. Is it possible for you to have a category called “fata-fut” or “Quick dishes” which one can prepare in just few minutes. There probably may be many such dishes in your website, you could augment them along with new and easy dishes and categorize them. Final note: your husband is one of the most luckiest man in India, as is my Brother-in-law (check out my Sister’s blog http://www.thecookscollection.blogspot.com).

    Best wishes from me and other Students Abroad,
    Rakesh

  6. Ruchira says:

    Hi Shilpa

    My name is Ruchira, I work with the Weekend Section
    of Hindustan Times in Delhi. I have been going through your blog for a while now and really like all the stuff.

    Well, getting to the point. I am doing a story on Indian food bloggers and how they are
    getting classier with their photographs and their
    recipes and thought I should speak with you.

    Is it possible for you to send me a number where I can reach you? Otherwise, my phone number
    is 09899388238

    Would be great to hear from you soon

    Thanks
    Ruchira

  7. you are from kodkani???? near by mirjan????

    Shilpa: Yes

  8. cool…
    am from mirjan!!!! i know kodkani each and every bit!!!
    now in manglore…. nice receipes….

    pavan

  9. sorry now in banglore

  10. Sharvari says:

    Hello Shilpa,

    Your website is just perfect: amazing recipes, step by step details, pictures at every stage, plus you always have a house hold alternative for almost everything.
    Also more so because it is called ‘aayi’s recipes’.

  11. Sharvari says:

    Hello Shilpa,

    Your website is perfect! you have almost all the recipe’s that a Maharastrian-Kokani has grown up eating. Simple n easy steps with pictures make it fun to cook. I also like how you have a house hold alternative for everything!
    I have made my husband happy everytime I have tried your recipes!
    Keep up the good work!
    - Sharvari

  12. hey shilpa!!!

    what’s your father name??

    not possible to identify face clearly in the snap!!!

    pavan

    shilpa: Your guess is right Pavan. I had to remove the name from your comment as I don’t post my family member’s name/pictures here.

  13. Dear shilpa,
    I am a regular reader of ur blog they are just great. I belong from udupi district the style of preparation is just how my mother makes and ur receipes are simple and they come out very well. I try out ur receipe every sunday ( Cooking is my hobbie) Keep up the good work.

  14. hello shilpa

    doing great job yaar,,,,teaching lot of stuffs,, really great,,i am very helpful from ur blog,,

    somewht excited to see the receipes,,,ella thumba thumba easy mathe channagidhe

    thanks a lot,,,and keep going

  15. pratibha says:

    :) what an incredibly charming self description! And @ 737 recipesposted, you are amazingly modest!

  16. Wonderful. A software engineer; thus the nice website? I am so glad I found your recipe website; love Indian food, and look forward to making some of these. Thank you.

    Katrina
    No. CA

  17. hay.Aais. i saw ur web site very fantatic recipeis.i try to experiment with my international community firends .very very tasty and simple.in my 15 YEARS servise of saudi arabia iam always serching south indian recipes .now iget from u r web. thank god.and u for given best of the best GOOD FOOD RECIPES WEB.i pray from ALLAH for u r good idias and good helping to SOUTH INDIAN SOCEITY.
    thank you very much.

  18. Geetha Kamath says:

    Dear Silpa,
    I have become a regular visitor and a fan of you. Infact I was deparately searching for authentic Konkani recipes may be two years before. That is when my interest in cooking became serious. I am a konkani based in Kerala. Your site somehow missed about Konkani’s in Kerala. I am also a software Engineer by profession, now looking for a change and cooking is one of my area of interests.
    About this site, It is an unique and great work you have done. Thank you for this. Looking forwad to a reply.

    With Best Wishes
    Geetha

  19. Hi Shilpa,
    Have followed ur blog for a few years now. As a fellow konkani all i can say is that it just brings back gr8 memories from childhood to see my favorite recipes being posted here. I have tried so many of ur dishes with varying degrees of success but nothing can replace “aayis” love in them.
    One question I did have was, is there a way we can substitute some quintessentially konkani ingredients (they r simply not available here) like teppal, pachfonos etc with something which is locally available at walmart or publix…

    • Thanks for your kind words Deepak. There is no single replacement for all the recipes. Depending on what you are cooking, you can sometimes find replacements. I haven’t come across any replacement for teppal yet. I just leave it out when I prepare any dishes that has teppal in it.

  20. hello, ME very much impressed with your blog ! Me quite a newbie in this blogging and first timer @ ur blog ! and mainly me too typical GSB girl .. so all of your recipes just made me call my Mom and talk about Food !! :) happy blogging !!

  21. hi !! am a regular visitor of your blog and just today tried out the nankhatayi recipes and it came out well. i am a konkani too and an engineer too from bangalore and worked for two years and now am busy trying out all recipes.

    congratulations on your excellent blog and the lovely photographs and the tips. the photos really help.

    all the very best
    vidya

  22. Hi Shilpa,
    Thanks for your reply. I would really love to try to make pachponosa gojju..but i cant get pachponosu here.
    Also have you tried to tweak western recipes to include konkani tastes. The most i tried was to make ravioli stuffed with spicy desi style shrimp…tasted okay…maybe it was too much of a clash…love to hear your thoughts on this..

  23. Hi Shilpa,

    I stumbled upon your website while waiting for my code to get compiled. :)

    I am a GSB too and have grown up eating most of the amazing dishes you have described in your blog. However, I spent most of my time studying and playing and never really had a chance to learn to cook these authentic preparations from my ‘aai’. This website is a blessing! It has tempted me to call up my mother and get some of her ’speciality’ recipies from her, while using your blog as and when I want to try out something new.

    Thanks a lot!

  24. First of all, I love your site! Beautifully written and presented and such delicious recipes. I’m not from India but I have always loved eating Indian food and have been cooking it for 20 years. My sister in law who has lived and worked in India got me started and my husband who has traveled visiting friends there encourages me. We have a number of friends who go back and forth so I’m always checking with them as to how things are tasting. Good luck with your blog, it’s really wonderful.

  25. Mayura Shanbhag says:

    Came across this website while looking for konkani recipes. I’m konkani by birth and my grandmother and mother used to make these dishes. Its easy now to call and ask the recipe directly from the source, but great to have these online where they form my own recipe book for easy access. Thanks for compiling these.
    btw, I learnt later that you are N’s sister and that made it even better to follow this site. I studied with N and your Pachi is my maami-by-marriage. And I agree, she is an awesome cook. I have a few recipes I picked from her too.
    Thanks for the effort put into this website and I hope you continue this great idea.

    • Hi Mayura, very nice to see you here. Yes, I remember meeting you in Belgaum. (I modified your message to remove my bro’s name just to be anonymous, hope you don’t mind). Keep in touch.

  26. Shreya Trasy says:

    Hi Shilpa,
    I love this website and I admire your passion for cooking and sharing this with the world!

    I am konkani from Mangalore but born and brought up in Sydney and married to a kutchi Jain. I am based in Sydney now. WellI love to eat but was never into cooking before marriage.

    Had a tough time initially cooking but now I am used o it and infact I am falling in love with it. Fortunately for me though my husband is a vegetarioanhe loves differnt cuisines. Hence, cooking different dishes is something I look forawrd to.

    Your website offers a variety of simple, delicious choices and love glancing through it everyday. I now don’t have to think of what to cook in the evening. I just select a dish from your website.

    Thanks a lot to you and all other for blogging

    Cheers,
    Shreya

  27. Ashwin Nayak says:

    Hey shilpa,
    I’m a konkani GSB…i’m currently studying in USA…away from home…away from home-made konkani food…but you site helped me a lot to recover from the nostalgia. thanks…

    P.S: I’m Looking for ananas saasam receipe…can you help me…

  28. seemasatish says:

    Hi shilpa,

    I am also a konkani speakin (Konkaan maratha) After marriage i abelong to same place as yours Kodkani.I was just searching for kankani receipes as my husband is very much fond of Konkani food.And luckily you came to my help.millions of thanks to you Shilpa

  29. Hi, whenever I want to cook something my aayi used to make back home, I come here and I have always found it — I have never commented to thanked you for it. So, here you go — thank you very much. I love this website. Keep ‘em coming!

  30. Hey Shilpa,

    Splendid work on the recipes..some really mouth watering items..just reading through it increased my appetite!! Well i’m a new mom and am always looking for new recipes..was wondering if u’ve a section on that…that wod help tremendously!!just a thought..keep up the great work!!

    Cheers,
    Rajni

  31. souwmyatw says:

    Were you Ganga Gaddi’s room mate living in Jayanagar ? Sounds like that…..

  32. Hi

    Thanks for the great recipes. I will try posu tommorrow.
    How come you changed your website. This one is nice but i used to love your old website.

  33. Miss. Ketki says:

    Hi shilpa..

    jst came across this blog through net surfing..

    Wht i would like to congratulate u 1st of all is ” your affection towards your mother “..!!

    AAi baddal cha aadar, and aatmiyta hoti jyane u made urself capable of writing.. Be pround on ” AApla culture, Our sanskriti.. ”

    Keep going honey… All the best.. Best wishes..

    -Miss. Ketki

  34. Hi,
    I am from Pune, native place Honavar and mother tongue Konkani. At present am staying in US with my hubby. I am not at all a good cook but your website has really helped me in everyday cooking and also learning our traditional Konkani recipes. I have tried few recipes which really turned out good. Thanks a lot for such good and tasty recipes. I always refer your website almost everyday and try out some new recipes.
    I am searching for Sprouted Moong Randai…. can you help me in this….

  35. Hi Shilpa

    I have tried some of your recipes.. they came out really well, just tried the banana cake yday.. it was awesome , my kids enjoyed it.. thanks for these..

    I am trying to get the mangolorean kanna fry recipes with the masala red masala poured on top of it..

  36. Lara Matossian-Roberts says:

    Hi Shilpa!

    I love your website. I’m Armenian and I grew up in Dubai, UAE. Six years ago I got married to Rohan, who grew up in Dubai as well, but who’s parents are from Mangalore. I thought I knew a lot about Indian food, growing up here in the UAE, but he and his family introduced me to a whole lot of dishes I hadn’t even heard about!

    Now, thanks to my mother-in-law and my Indian colleagues and friends I have learnt to make many new Indian dishes. My most recent adventure was in making idlis and dosas – just this weekend, actually!

    I came across this site because I wanted to learn how to make puris and chappathis and was interested in increasing my repertoire of chutneys (I know only one).

    I am very happy I came across your website and am really looking forward to trying out the recipes you’ve posted.

    Thank you!

    Lara

  37. Dear Madam,

    your website is excellent. your recipe collection is awesome. thanks a lot for taking the pain to take pictures of each and every step of cooking a recipe. since this is really helpful for us to see how it looks rather than leaving it to our imagination.

    thank you

  38. Dear Shilpa,
    You and your site are a real life saver for me. I am a scientist who never did have any plans for married life. Happy as I was with my books in early life and experiments later I never took an interest in cooking. Even after marriage as a pampered bahu in India I never got into the kitchen. When hubby decided to shift base to Saudi I was in a real soup :) …that was all I could make… from a packet. I learnt cooking from scratch from your web site. Simply followed your recipes like I used to follow my protocols…including researching some of the steps to understand the whys and hows. Now thanks to you I have become a famous cook. Just goes to show how wonderfully meticulous you are in profiling your recipes. Thank you very much. Hope to learn more from you……Dont let my mom or ma-in-law know all this. They think Iam a magician :) .

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