All about me

I've been vegetarian all my life.  My family is Gujarati Hindu, by heritage, and most Gujarati Hindus are vegetarian.  My parents were born and brought up in Kenya and so I was brought up on East African Gujarati food which is a big influence on me.  Dark lentil dhal is my go to comfort food and I naturally default to lots of strong flavours in my food. 

I discovered Lebanese food while at university in Oxford where there are some lovely Lebanese restaurants (particularly Al Shami on Walton Crescent - check it out if you're in Oxford and haven't!) - and it and Middle Eastern food in general has made me realise that there is a surprising amount of flavour that can come from just one or two main flavourings, like lemon and parsley.  But I still find it difficult not just to add a bit of this and a bit of that.. 

How can adding more tasty things to other tasty things ever go wrong?! 

Actually, in many and varied ways, as I will doubtless be posting about soon..

I intend to use this blog for general thoughts about vegetarian food, being a vegetarian, recipes, cooking experiments, cookbook reviews, restaurant reviews (these will mostly be London restaurants because that's where I live!), and other related things.