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About me


Hi friends , 
I am Chitra sendhil, the one and only writer and photographer of this webpage :) I am a pure vegetarian. I was born in Tirunelveli, brought up in Salem and currently living in Bangalore, India. My Husband Sendhil is a software architect and our only daughter Raksha is studying in 8th grade. Basically I love my mom's Nellai style/Tirunelveli recipes and my MIL's tanjore/kumbakonam recipes. Both are completely different in method and taste. 
Before marriage, I have never entered into the kitchen. My sweet mom never told us (myself & my younger sister, Radha) to help. So I just enjoyed spending time in my education, work, friends etc :). After marriage, my ever caring and lovable MIL took care of the food. But I had always stood behind her & kept watching the way she cooks and make a note of the recipes in my diary.

 The best thing with my MIL is she never wastes food. She can make yummy dishes even with leftovers. My mom makes varieties of dishes with well balanced taste. We have never complained her food for less salt, more spice. I am trying to follow my Mom & MIL and be a good cook at home. Actually I started full time cooking after my daughter was born. 

First I attempted very simple and basic recipes asking my mom, MIL & friends. Slowly I learnt authentic dishes and started blogging the same to keep them as a record for my future reference and to help beginners in cooking :)

 As Sendhil is a foodie, I started trying my hands at dishes from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, North Indian, International recipes and experiment them in my kitchen apart from my usual South Indian cooking. He enjoys all my preparations and gives me genuine feedback which helped me improve my cooking skills a lot. He is the one and only critic for my food :) Once I got the hang of cooking, I started exploring the world of baking too. I am attempting eggless, easy cakes & cookies. U can find the list of all my recipes in recipe index. 

Initially I had named my blog as "Ratatouille-Anyone can cook". After I changed it to website, I renamed it as "Chitra's Food Book" in my own identity. Even then I dint want to lose "Ratatouille" name in my site as it was suggested by my husband. So I have given it as a tag line in my header. I strongly believe in these words "Anyone can cook" :). 

And now by seeing my blog title Chitra's Food Book, my readers are asking me whether I have released any cookbooks and where to buy them ;) Sorry, I have not published any cookbooks so far. You can find all my recipes in my website. 

 After changing my blog to a website, I took blogging seriously & started posting recipes for daily cooking with step by step pictures and Iam updating old recipes as well. I started sharing video recipes in my youtube channel.  I am using Nikon D5100 for taking pictures and video. I use picasa and photoshop for editing my pictures.. I use photoscape for tiling step wise pictures and Windows movie maker, filmora for editing my video recipes.

Actually I started this blog as a hobby and for my daughter's future reference ;) But through blogging , I got so many encouraging and caring friends. I am really happy for that.When I started getting  appreciation mails and comments from readers about my recipes, I started flying out of joy and it encouraged me to keep posting more n more recipes. 

I am getting featured as one of the Top Indian Food Bloggers since 2013 which boost me a lot. Your comments and the feed back is the only thing that keeps me going and makes my day brighter. 
So If you try any recipe from my blog and if you feel it is worthy for appreciation, do leave a word under the recipe in comments section or please take some time to mail me which makes my day great :) Your suggestions for improvements in the recipe and the way I blog it are also welcome :) It helps me a lot to improve my cooking skills. A big thanks to all the readers and friends for your continuous support and encouragement :) Thanks for spending time to read about me :)

 Follow me in facebook , twitter, Instagram , Youtube and google+  to stay connected.

Please find the links below.

U can find me in twitter at : https://twitter.com/chitrasendhil

Instagram :       https://instagram.com/chitrasfoodbook/        


Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Chitrasfoodbook

E-Mail id : [email protected]

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/user/chitrasendhil



Thanks for your time ,
With love
Chitra.


51 comments :

Rohitmyname said...

Hi there,
I like to know how to make Tirunelveli halwa...my friends bring bring it but the quantity is less.So i want to prepare my self.
thanks,
rohit

Chitra said...

Please check this link

http://www.chitrasfoodbook.com/2010/11/tirunelveli-halwa.html

Kumudha said...

You have a great blog! Thank you so much for posting so many plant-based recipes -good for our health and our beautiful Planet-Earth...

Chitra said...

Thank u so much Kumudha :)

Raji said...

Your blog is really helpful, especially during this festival season.. Am one of fond of cooking , generally all traditional items and now started trying new items as well.. Keep posting in your blog. Once again thanks. Raji

meena said...

Hi Chitra,
Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and for those lovely words.
I have spent some time reading ur recipes and found so many recipes I would love to try and u have an awesome space.Really appreciate the perfection with which u have done the Kerala menu.
Do keep in touch.

Chitra Amma's Kitchen said...

Just saw this Chitra. Congratulations and wish you all the best.

nandoos kitchen said...

Very happy to know more about you chitra. You have a nice collection. Would be a frequent visitor here.

Chitra said...

Thank u Dibs :)

Chitra said...

Thanks dear :)

Unknown said...

Hi Chitra,
Glad to meet you.. I too agree with you "anyone can cook". U have a great collectin , enjioyyed going through few of them. Would keep dropping.
happy to follow u. Would b happier if u reciprocate. lets stay in touch..

Chitra said...

Thank u Smitha:)

Anonymous said...

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Chitra said...

Thank u Raji for ur sweet words :)

D. Sekharan said...

Hi Chitra Maa, I am 68 years old retired person. I like cooking. Other day I tried your recipe "ENNAI KATHRIKAI KOZHAMBU'. It came out very well and every one liked it. Funny part is I never tasted Kathrikai in my life. Thanks.

Chitra said...

Thank u so much sir :) Its great you cook at this age :) Your family must be lucky :).I am so glad you liked my kuzhambu :) Keep visiting my page sir :)

Unknown said...

Hi chitra, it was really nice to go through your blog and your recipes. Loved reading and the way you presented everything is awesome. You have learned cooking to such a level that now you share recipes with others. All the very best. Keep cooking...keep writing...

Reshmi

Chitra said...

Thanks a lot Reshmi for your sweet words :)

Malathi Ganesh said...

Hi Chitra,
First time into your blog space. Nice work.Keep it up.. Visit my space if you could find. :)

Chitra said...

Thanks for dropping by.Will visit ur blog too:)

Malathi Ganesh said...

THANKS CHITRA.. ME TOO HAPPY TO KNOW YOU THROUGH BLOGGING

Badhri Narayanan said...

Hi Chitra Mam,

My wife is also from Bangalore but with her native being Salem.Its been 6 month that we have married. She is a very good cook. Have won many competitions as well. She is interested to start a food blog. It will be really great if u suggest me how to proceed with that, which i m planning to surprise her for her bday.....

Chitra said...

Hello ,
Can u please mail me to [email protected] can share the details in mail.

Ezhil Ramalingam said...

Fantastic, Chitra !! Your journey to Foodbook is fabulous !! I'm a great eater and my wife is a great cook !!! Definitely we will use your treasure of recipes !! All the best and God bless you !!!

Unknown said...

Hi Chitra sister
Your recipes are very good and very tasty....thank you sister

Chitra said...

Thank u so much :)

Unknown said...

Hi ur collection are nice.tried ur chaat items.super mam

Unknown said...

Super mam

Unknown said...

Hi ur collection are nice.tried ur chaat items.super mam

Chitra said...

Thank you :)

Thiruman said...

what happened to your thalapakattu briyani,ambur star briyani pages..Its showing 404 not found....

Chitra said...

Hi,
They are working fine.Please check the below links :
Ambur biryani : http://www.chitrasfoodbook.com/2014/05/ambur-veg-biryani-recipe-with-soya.html
Thalappakatti -http://www.chitrasfoodbook.com/2015/01/mushroomsoya-chunks-biryani-recipe.html

Rengarajan said...

Awesome blog! Very well written. Tried many recipes and sweets. Turned out well. When I email with silly questions the author answers it fast. Keep up the good work.
Regards,
Rengarajan.

Chitra said...

Thanks a lot sir :)

Flimpfly said...

Wonderful narration.. Inspiring both to cook and write.
Thank you

Chitra said...

Thank you :)

Unknown said...

Hi Chitra,
Congrats, just saw your site in Google and tried Vanilla & Chocolate cup cakes. Result was so good. Inspired by the recipe & started reading fully your site and about me. Very well planed food book. So many good, new, innovative recipe... really its a treasure. Keep Cooking and Keep writing. God Bless You Dear.

Chitra said...

Thank you so much for your blessings and sweet words.Keep visiting my page n recipes :)Happy cooking !

PPTLS said...

Hi Chithra,

You are doing a good job. I have tried most of your recipes, they are really good.

Just like you I was born in tirunelveli and brought up in salem but currently in coimbatore.

I wish you all success.

Chitra said...

Oh wow, good to know it :) Thanks for your sweet words. Keep visiting this space :)

A Pinch of Ronit's Decor said...

do you know any prasadam recipes for murugan or venkateswara

Chitra said...

For Lord murugan u can offer honey mixed with foxtail millet flour (thinai maavu).Its a simple but the best neivedyam recipe.For perumal u can offer panakam , tamarinf rice , vada, sweet pongal or akkaravadisal. You can find all these recipes in my recipe index.Thanks

JP said...

Hi Chitra. I used to visit villages in Tirunelveli District on work. Had fallen in love with the food there. I come to your blog for recipes and have never been disappointed. Thanks so much for putting in this effort.

Chitra said...

Thank you so much for your sweet words. Happy to know you like Tirunelveli recipes :)

S said...

Hi ,
I saw a another website having your recipes, thought you should know about it.
This is the link....https://www.verygoodrecipes.com/avarekalu-recipe. I found it when i was searching for avarekai recipes.

Chitra said...

Hi,
Thanks. I was sharing my recipe links with that site for sometime.So it came in google search :) But its linking back to mine. So no issues. Thanks again for the concern :)

Tanvi said...

Hi Chitra,

My name is Anuj Agarwal. I'm Founder of Feedspot.

I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog Chitra's Food Book has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 100 Indian Food Blogs on the web.

http://blog.feedspot.com/indian_food_blogs/

I personally give you a high-five and want to thank you for your contribution to this world. This is the most comprehensive list of Top 100 Indian Food Blogs on the internet and I’m honored to have you as part of this!

Also, you have the honor of displaying the badge on your blog.


Best,
Anuj

Chitra said...

Hi Anuj,
Thanks for the feature. Glad to know it !

mademoiselle said...

Hey .
Impressive one.. would follow in future..

I liked ur opinion on started blog to document recipes for ur daug.
My mom to gifted me a few cook books on my wedding. Loved d idea and book btw..

Bye

Unknown said...

Hello Mam can make recepies in Millets for diabetes I'll be very grateful to you.

Chitra said...

Thank you. I have already shared some millets recipes. Please check this link. I will try to add more recipes. https://www.chitrasfoodbook.com/search/label/MILLETS%20RECIPES