About me




















I am a wife, change consultant and idealist (in no particular order). I grew up believing that cooking was a chore and I discovered my love of it after I got married. Now, my husband (Steve) and I spend our evenings catching up while preparing our dinner – he is a great sous chef – I would recommend him to anyone.

The food we prepare is not technically difficult but it is tasty and fresh.  The majority of the recipes are of Indian origin and based on the food I was brought up on. My aims in writing this blog include preventing my family’s recipes being lost in time and to make Indian home cooking accessible to everyone.

You will notice the occasional cocktail creeping in. This is because several years ago I took a month long cocktail making course and found I really enjoy the “art of mixology”. It was probably the most useful course I have ever taken. Hic.

Where Steve and I have particularly enjoyed a home cooked dish at a family member or friend’s house, we have asked them to contribute the recipe. As such this is turning into a rather motley collection of recipes but I hope you find something that you would like to try.

13 things that you don't need to know about me:
  1. My husband Steve came up with the name for my blog.  Coconut because I am brown on the outside and white on the inside and raita as in a play on the word "writer".
  2. My dad thinks that I can't cook and tells people that I live on pizza. 
  3. I am pathalogically organized.  I can feel my blood pressure rising when something isn't in the right place.  Please take a moment to pity poor Steve.
  4. I am empathetic to the point where it is debilitating.  I cry when I read the news, when I watch Gilmore Girls and when my friends share their good news with me.  When I was two years old my mum found me crying in front of the TV (I mean floods of tears) because the other reindeer wouldn't play with Rudolph.  My eyes are welling up now as I remember those mean, superficial, celebrity loving reindeer.
  5. The first movie I ever saw at the cinema was Grease - John Travolta became my first crush.
  6. I love old movies (favourites are Casablanca, Roman Holiday, Gone with the Wind and All About Eve) and wish that I could wear dresses from the 1950s a la Grace Kelly.
  7. I am an only child and my best friends when I was growing up were my stuffed animals.  Unfortunately my mum decided to send all of my animals to the dump a few years ago.  RIP Pooh bear, Mumphy, Brownie, Rupert and Silky the Wonder Horse. 
  8. I hero worship Joss Whedon.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer is probably the greatest TV show of all time closely followed by Firefly.
  9. I am terrified of falling.
  10. When I picture myself in my head, I am 6 foot tall and blonde.  When I look in the mirror I am 5 foot short and brunette.  Poop.
  11. I am always busy - working, knitting, yogaing, dancing, cycling, running, cooking, writing, meditating - sometimes I even find time to sleep.
  12. I am never happier than when I'm curled up on my sofa wearing my pyjamas with Steve.
  13. Correction: I am never happier than when I'm curled up on my sofa wearing my pyjamas with Steve and then my email pings and I've received a comment on my blog. :-)