About us

To begin with I have to introduce myself, right? I am Seena Koshy, a teacher by profession, a triple Master’s Degree Holder by qualification – { M.A (Economics); M.A (History) and M.Ed }, a food blogger and a passionate Food Photographer. My passion for food is portrayed in my recipes which are tested in my kitchen and tasted by my family. I love to spend quality time in experimenting and cooking. Thank you for stopping by our food blog where you can find well-crafted recipes.

My husband, Koshy George Thazhampadical has always been my loving critic. He is the first person who suggested that I should start a blog on cooking,    otherwise this blog would never have been born. Feeding the ones we love is as good an expression of love as anyone can think of!!

My fresh interest and connection to experimental cooking, recipe making and blogging may have something to do with Padma Shri Award Winner, Ms. Thangam Elizabeth Philip, my Mother in Law’s first cousin. She was a Nutritionist, writer, radio and TV programmer and the Principal Emeritus of India’s first Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Mumbai. Please read more about her by clicking here.

My passion for cooking and the urge to share my culinary delights prompted me to create this blog. I hail from the southern state of Kerala in India. Coming from such a wonderful place, it is an obvious fact that I am naturally inclined towards Kerala cuisine. To the well initiated, the land of Kerala should bring distinct visions of the orient through its charm, color, culture, history, dance, ballet, architecture, music, tropical warmth, unending sequences of picture postcard locales, water, greenery….and RICH CUISINE.

Traders from other continents came to Kerala to trade in spices, including Cinnamon, Cardamom, Cloves, Nutmeg, Mace, Star Anice etc. Now, its history – five hundred years ago, Vasco Da Gama and his group of intrepid traders sailed half way across the globe through hitherto uncharted oceans and in barely known winds to arrive at the Malabar Coast. He undertook this monumental feat to restore Europe’s access to ‘Black Pepper’ and such other spices – Kerala’s famous treasures then as well as now. As can be expected, the typical Kerala meal or dish is fortified with a range of these spices, in greater or lesser measure and with varying impact.

However, since leaving Kerala and India many years ago, I have also come to acquire a taste for cuisines of many other lands and now take delight in experimenting with these too.

I am a full time Teacher, but spend a good part of my leisure time in the kitchen, trying out and developing recipes of my own. There is indeed a lot that imagination and intuition can do to dishes! I also am the photographer for the blog `Seena’s Food Basket’. Away from the kitchen, I love travelling, reading, photography, hanging out at malls, gardening and drawing.. 

Last year, I started posting some of my recipes on Facebook in an album called `My Cooking Experiments’ just for fun and promptly started receiving suggestions from well wishers that I should start a blog of my own about it. Well, the prominent names I could remember are my husband, George Koshy, My Twin Sister Beena, Shilpa Rajesh, Sais Jacob, Divya Shaju, Sheela Daniel, Sapna Thomas.. I did not consider that at first but as those suggestions kept coming from different corners, I began wondering whether I should and I was in great dilemma whether to start it or not. To be frank those suggestions really boosted my interest. Now I think, I should have done this long time back!!

I remember starting off my marriage with two recipe books by Mrs. K. M. Mathew which I had received as a wedding gift… The days when I used to flip through pages to learn so many new recipes.. Those were the gone days….my friend..

Homemade food has always appealed to me as it does to most others, both in terms of great taste and also in terms of making a healthy choice. I am proud to say that my Mom, Grand Moms and my Aunties, – my Dad’s sisters had magic at their finger tips when rustling up dishes or meals. They cooked everything with so much of assuredness and skill! I used to watch my mom cutting vegetables so fast wearing a finger cap and every piece would turn out to be so identical – a skill I haven’t quite mastered!! I received my initial cooking lessons from my mom, who was a teacher and who was always there to cook something for us even on very busy days and something special on weekends. I remember Homemade Cake and Vine had been there in our home all throughout the year and she used to serve those to our guests first who come to our house. I cannot forget how my Dad relished having meals at home when he came on his bi-monthly visit. It was such a change for him considering how he had to depend solely on public eateries where he was working. Thus, it is a pleasure for me to dedicate this blog to my Mom, Grace Mathew Mankavil and now to my Papa, the late Mr. Joseph Mathew (Kunjachan).

I believe food should be good for the body as well as palate. The recipes that I will be posting on this blog are invariably tried, tested and tasted in my kitchen. Some of the recipes are picked up from my mom’s recipe books, shows, magazines, news papers, cook books, the internet, from friends and families. However, I add my bit or sometimes a little more if it’s source is elsewhere to make them more interesting. In some cases, I wind up with new dishes! There is indeed a great deal of room for creativity in cooking. Many among us south Indians will acknowledge that there could be a thousand ways to make the humble Indian chutney.

I’m always interested in trying new food and its presentation. I give so much importance to the taste of the food that I make. To be able to enjoy a great meal, it has to cook to perfection. Hmm, I have to confess that it’s really the toughest job for me to satisfy my husband’s taste buds.I heard that great chefs (of course not me)are not born but are created through a journey of trials and errors. But I believe good cooks are the ones who feel happy when others enjoy eating what they cook. Thus develop recipes as per taste and out of love. Of course cooks can surely be trained, provided they have special skill to put flavors together.

I feature here recipes from South to North and from East to West, various cuisines, tips that I can share on healthy eating, cooking tips and sometimes also on life and living. Most of the traditional recipes that I will be posting here are ones I learnt from my Mom and that were handed down several generations. I keep my mom’s hand written recipe books with me as a precious asset!!

I always cook with ingredients and spices that are there in my pantry and are readily available locally.

I shall post pictures on how to prepare dishes in a sequential way, a step by step visual guide which helps you to cook effortlessly (tedious though that may sound) for most of my recipes as and when possible, that should make it easy for anyone to see the whole process of my cooking at a glance and try them out without a glitch. I hope it lends you some extra confidence in your kitchen.

I try to learn new finger licking dishes and hope to come up with something new continuously with full of flavor, but less labor  It says, learning never ends. Hope you try my recipes in your kitchen and do let me know how you felt about it.

All photographs and text you find on this blog are my own creations, unless noted otherwise and may not be copied or used elsewhere. Lots and loads of hard work goes in right from cooking, taking photographs, arranging, presentation, write ups and finally editing before I present it here. Hence, copying, re-writing, re-publishing, re-distributing or using photograph or any text or part of the text, for any commercial or non commercial purposes without my consent is strictly forbidden. So pls. excuse. For non-commercial purposes one can link to the page or to a specific post. 

No cookery website is complete without receiving feedback and so I request my readers to write here what you feel about my recipes and my site. Suggestions would be truly welcome. If you like this food blog, please take a moment to `Like’ the, Facebook Page  and please share it with your friends in Google Plus account or Twitter .                                    

Pls. feel free to Comment, Like and Share each post which would really inspire us. All it takes is a simple click on the ‘Pin it’ button of Pinterest, ‘Like’ on Facebook, ‘Share’, ‘Tweet’ it on Twitter  or hit on Google+ button. You can contact me at seenasfoodbasket@gmail.com.

Hope you enjoy being in this website as much as I do. Thanks a ton to each ‘Liker’ coming up each moment. Need your blessings ever! Thanks once again to all of my loving friends and my dear and near ones

To get my Sweet Treat for you all Click Here.. 

Bon Appétit

Warm regards

Seena Koshy