Say ‘Hi’ to Colleen Mahal, a girl from sunny Santa Cruz, California who married a Punjabi guy from Mumbai, India. She runs a blog  “A Curry of a Life.”

Being a singer, a musician, and a blogger, her stories are flavored with food adventures of both the cultures, American and Indian.

A lover of Indian food, Colleen turns our chat into chaat of spicy memories, fun and relationship goals.

 

It's official! We are heading off to India super soon and I can't wait. Got any recipes you want to learn how to make? Let me know in the comments below what recipes you want me to learn and I will make sure I find an expert!

A photo posted by Colleen Mahal (@acurryofalife) on Oct 12, 2016 at 11:36am PDT

 

How did you guys first meet?

In U.S. Kulwant lived in the apartment right below me, we went to the same college. He was doing Masters in electrical engineering, and I was doing the Undergraduate course in music. As for the first time, we met on the stairs of the apartment. *Laughs*

And from stairs, you fell in love?

Well! I never thought that I would marry somebody whom I met on the stairs. It happened so quickly that I still don’t understand when I fell in love.

How the idea of starting a blog crossed your mind?

Even before marriage, I was very much into Indian Culture, especially the food. So I would travel to India and document other people cooking and then try to make the same at home. Now, I am cooking authentic Indian food myself.

Slowly people started to invite me to dinner to learn a few recipes, and I would give them instructions. Later, when people asked for more, I would say to them, ‘Oh! You could go to my Blog page and learn about the recipes from there.’ This is how the idea of blogging came into being.

What was that one thing that everybody kept asking the recipe of?

Definitely Chai. Everybody is fascinated by how Chai is made.

Are your blogs more famous in America or India?

I started to write the blogs to educate my American friends, but it soon turned out that the majority of people reading the blog are from India.

What are your favorite recipes?

Those that I know how to cook. Like the Malai Kofta, it’s my favorite one because it is tasty and second we had it at our wedding *laughs*. I love the Indian desserts as well.

Any recipe that you would like to master?

My husband is strictly vegetarian, so we never have non-vegetarian food. It’s just a few days back that I had some chicken and I would like to master that recipe. Butter Chicken and Chicken Tikka masala are the two dishes that I cherish the most.

While going through so many recipes, have you invented your own?

Not invented as such but I have tried to mingle American cuisine into the Indian one. One day I was making aloo paratha, I thought why not stuff the aloo masala into a puff pastry and Voila! I created something which had the covering of a puff pastry and the stuffing of Aloo Paratha, and I named them Samosa bites on my blog.

Sounds Yum! *Drooling*

 

Experimented with a healthy apple cake for breakfast. Apples with rolled oats and coconut oil. That's it! Find the recipe on www.vanelja.com

A photo posted by Colleen Mahal (@acurryofalife) on Jul 27, 2016 at 7:34pm PDT

 

One spiciest Indian dish you have ever tasted.

Oh! It was Alloo Paratha for sure. The first time I tasted aloo paratha was when I went to Punjab. So they had prepared a special breakfast for me and the rest of the family, and by mistake, I had tasted my Chachaji’s breakfast. Phew! I can’t forget that experience.

Actually, I have a challenge going on between my brother and me, and that is who can eat the spiciest dish amongst us two. Now I know what to cook for him. ‘evil laughter.’

Must your husband have helped you in understanding the Indian culture? The same way did you make him discover the American culture?

Yes! I introduced him to Thanksgiving, and he loves it. But like I said he is a pure vegetarian, so we don’t eat turkey.

Then what is Thanksgiving for you like?  *I asked surprisingly*

Thanksgiving for us is Indian food. We sit together and enjoy the Vegetarian Indian Food.

Having asked her a few boring, tasteless questions, it was time for me to spice up things a little bit. Time for some fun round.

Have you made some blunders in the kitchen, while making the Indian food especially?

Oh! Plenty! Especially when I am making daal, I leave the pressure cooker at high and then it sticks to the bottom. But you know what? I always give it to my husband to clean it *Laughs*

Does he know how to cook?

Yeah! He knows the basics. Well! I am the chef of the house!

With the popularity that you have got on the internet, do you plan to open your restaurant?

NO! Never! I have seen my cousin struggling in opening a restaurant at first and then making it successful. So I am happy where I am.

In a competition between American Cuisine and Indian food what do you think will bag the flavorsome trophy?

With no offense to American cuisine, in comparison to Indian food, there are not enough flavors, whereas in the Indian cuisine there is depth in the layers of flavors. It makes it so good. A lot of people in the U.S. complain about the scarcity of good vegetarian food whereas in India we celebrate the flavors of the vegetarian cuisine.

Having talked about the Aloo Paratha a lot, I think it’s time for me to stuff my belly with some tasty yet spicy treat, oh! and not to forget the raita that comes with it. Hehehehe!