I created Saffron Bowl as a hobby, a way to connect with other health conscious expats here in the U.A.E. and share recipe tips and ideas to help make life a little healthier day by day.

My love for food started way back at the age of 9 when my Mum caught me drooling over her recipe books. She gave me her apron and a much-needed push towards the kitchen. I’ve always enjoyed cooking delicious meals for my family and friends. Over time, our waistlines gradually expanded, since it’s so easy to over-indulge. With low immunity, fatigue, skin disorders, cholesterol, blood pressure and other issues cropping up, it was time to embrace a more holistic lifestyle. I decided to play doctor and dramatically change our eating habits. For the sake of my growing children, I began experimenting in the kitchen. My husband backed me up by choosing healthier options when we dined out. We took baby steps initially and decided we’d avoid gluten, processed white sugar and high sodium table salt. We switched to Himalayan pink salt and rock salt. Sugar has been replaced with honey, jaggery, date syrup, Stevia and raw brown sugar on a rare occasion. 

I’m fortunate to have learned from the best. Both my late grandmothers kept us grand-kids licking our fingers for more, no mean feat if you’re a picky kid. Top place goes to my late Mother of course, it was her duty to stuff me and my sister’s skinny figures with food lovingly made from scratch. Be it pickles, homemade ketchup, chili sauce, she loved to experiment (bless her). She even contributed to the Kerala set menu of a very urban Indian restaurant in London with her Appam and chicken stew recipe. My Mum-in-law is another talented lady, who adapted effortlessly to a life in Abu Dhabi in the early 1970s, rustling up traditional Kerala delicacies and Middle Eastern specialties with panache.

I have an eclectic mix of cuisines featured in my blog, majority of them naturally being Indian. All of my recipes have been tried and tested by over and over again. Most of them are child-friendly and if not, the recipe can be easily tweaked to your kids satisfaction. Since these are healthy allergy-free recipes, I have divided them into four categories, to suit whichever diet you are following. 

I’m incredibly thankful and blessed to have an amazing support group who encouraged me to start this blog. I’m also grateful to have touched the lives of friends and family who have children of special needs or suffer from various allergies like eczema etc. Even patients with cancer or diabetes have used my recipes for their daily meal plans. I hope every time you visit me here, you leave inspired and empowered to create your own healthy treats for the people you love. Happy cooking and don’t forget to tag #saffronbowl on social media if you try any of my recipes!