About me

Vanakkam and Welcome to Chitra’s Food Book – an Indian Vegetarian food blog dedicated to Indian recipes, Eggless baking and Global Cuisine.

I’m Chitra Sendhil, the only writer and photographer behind this website. I started my food blog, Ratatouille – Anyone Can Cook in 2009 and later rebranded it to Chitra’s Food Book in 2013 after securing my own domain. I’m a pure vegetarian, born in Tamil Nadu and now residing in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. My cooking roots lie in my mother’s authentic Nellai-style (Tirunelveli) recipes and my mother-in-law’s Tanjore/Kumbakonam cuisine. Both are completely different in flavor and preparation, but equally special.

Before marriage, I never entered the kitchen – I was too absorbed in my studies, work, and social life. After marriage, my caring mother-in-law took over the cooking, but I would always stay by her side in the kitchen, watching her methods and jotting down her recipes. One thing I admire most about my mother-in-law is that she never wastes food and can transform leftovers into delicious dishes. On the other hand, my mother’s cooking is known for its well-balanced flavors – we’ve never once complained about her food being too salty or too spicy. I strive to follow in their footsteps and become a good cook myself.

I began cooking full-time after my daughter was born. At first, I started with simple, basic recipes, asking my mom, MIL, and friends for tips. Over time, I learned to prepare authentic and traditional dishes and began blogging them to keep a record and to help beginners in the kitchen.

My husband Sendhil is a big foodie. So I started experimenting with dishes across South India from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, North Indian recipes and international cuisines to expand my cooking skills. He enjoys everything I cook and provides me with constructive feedback which has been invaluable in refining my culinary abilities. He’s my only food critic! Once I gained confidence in Indian cooking, I ventured into baking, especially eggless cakes and cookies. You can find all my recipes organized in the recipe index on my website.

Initially, I named my blog Ratatouille – Anyone Can Cook, but after transitioning to a website, I renamed it Chitra’s Food Book to reflect my personal identity. However, I didn’t want to lose the name “Ratatouille,” as it was suggested by my husband, so I included it as a tagline on my header. I truly believe that anyone can cook!

By the way, I’ve received many inquiries from readers asking whether I’ve published any cookbooks, as my blog’s name suggests a cookbook collection. Unfortunately, I haven’t published any cookbooks yet, but you can find all my recipes here for free.

After turning my blog into a website, I took blogging more seriously, focusing on daily cooking recipes with step-by-step pictures. I also update older recipes and share video tutorials on my YouTube channel. I use a Nikon D5100 for photography and video, with Picasa and Photoshop for editing, Photoscape for creating step-by-step image collages, and Filmora for editing my video recipes.

What started as a hobby for me – and a way to record recipes for my daughter’s future – has turned into something much bigger. Through blogging, I’ve gained a wonderful community of encouraging and supportive friends. When I receive appreciation emails and comments from readers about my recipes, it fills me with joy and motivates me to continue sharing more.

Since 2013, I’ve been featured as one of India’s top food bloggers, which has been incredibly encouraging. I’ve also had the honor of being featured in well-known newspapers and magazines. This wouldn’t be possible without the love and support of readers like you. Your comments and feedback are what keep me going and brighten my day.

If you try any of my recipes and enjoy them, I would love for you to leave a comment on the recipe page or send me an email. Your suggestions for improvement – both in terms of the recipe and my blogging style – are always welcome as they help me grow as a cook. A big thank you to all my readers and friends for your continued support and encouragement. Thanks for taking the time to read about my journey!

You can contact me through mail : chitra.ganapathy@gmail.com

MY SOCIAL NETWORK

You can find and follow me on

facebook , twitter,  Instagram , Youtube, Pinterest to stay connected.

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49 thoughts on “About me”

  5. Raji

    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

    Reply
  6. meena

    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.

    Reply
  11. Unknown

    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..

    Reply
  13. Anonymous

    Hi there Chitra!!!!

    Your blog page is quite impressive and it’s just too perfect for our project. I don’t know how to catch your attention but hopefully you could spare me a minute to read this message

    It is noticeable that there is a great number of tasty recipes on your blog and we would like to suggest you to have a look at the “Top Food Blog” section on our recently launched site, the http://www.mytaste.com . Our site is a search engine that gathers all the best recipes from all major worldwide blogs and websites in one place.

    We would like to give you an opportunity to add your food blog to the list and have your recipes indexed on our site, all you have to do is add your blog URL here: http://www.mytaste.com/add-your-food-blog

    Our project is the second biggest worldwide when it comes to recipe search, and it’s already live in 37 countries, including countries in Europe, Asia, Middle-East, Australia, South America and South Africa. We deliver thousands of visitors to food blogs daily. Some of the top food blogs receive at least 20,000 visitors from us on a weekly basis.

    This is something you can do to make your blog more visible and be exposed to a lot of people in United States, Canada and around the world; this can help your blog page to get more visitors and increase traffic.

    You help us, we help you.

    Hopefully your food blog will be up there in the top!

    Reply
  15. D. Sekharan

    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.

    Reply
  17. Unknown

    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

    Reply
  22. Badhri Narayanan

    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…..

    Reply
  24. Ezhil Ramalingam

    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 !!!

    Reply
  32. Rengarajan

    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.

    Reply
  35. Unknown

    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.

    Reply
  37. PPTLS

    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.

    Reply
  40. chitra

    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

    Reply
  41. JP

    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.

    Reply
  44. chitra

    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 :)

    Reply
  45. Tanvi

    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

    Reply
  47. mademoiselle

    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

    Reply
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