The Indian diaspora and culinary enthusiasts everywhere would gain from this book. - Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, renowned Indian chef, best-selling author, and recipient of the Padma Shri Award I was always a culinary enthusiast who enjoyed experimenting with flavours and dishes from all around India. I married into a Maharashtrian family, which expanded my palette beyond what I had ever experienced. I learned a lot from my mother and mother-in-law, who also greatly influenced the way I came to enjoy cooking. In 1993, when we relocated to the USA, I was introduced to a wider variety of international foods. We quickly established a lot of close friends who love to party with us and got to meet a lot of fun-loving Indians. I took pride in cooking the entire menu for all my parties, including appetizers, main entrees and desserts. It gave me immense pleasure when the guests raved about my food, which motivated me to experiment even more with tasty dishes. I started to write down my own recipes with quantities of ingredients properly measured as I wanted to ensure authentic replication of my dishes when I started getting multiple requests for my recipes. My motivation for writing this book is simple ? to record my recipes for posterity and to honor my husband who encouraged me to set out on this adventure. Shakuntala Shinde is an occupational therapist who graduated from Seth G. S. Medical College, K.E.M. Hospital in 1977. She practiced in Dr R. N. Cooper Hospital until 1993, when she got a job and moved to US. She retired in 2020 and is now leading a relaxed life pursuing her passions ? cooking, gardening, classical dancing and karaoke singing.