Hi there, Welcome to my Hideout..
Cook's Hideout is all about delicious plant based recipes from India and also from around the world. Here you will find recipes that are easy AND tasty to make.
About the Author:
My name is Pavani and I’m “the Cook” in this hideout. I’m from Hyderabad, a bustling city in South India that is famous for its Pearls and of course the delicious Hyderabadi cuisine.
I’ve lived in the United States for the past 21 years and my real hideout currently is in beautiful Colorado where I live with my husband and my 14 year old son and my 9 year old daughter.
About Cook's Hideout:
I started Cook's Hideout in 2006 as a recipe journal where I write about the new (and old) recipes that I have tried in my kitchen.
What kind of dishes do I make:
Most of the dishes here are Indian, focusing more on South Indian cuisine. But I also like to try international cuisines, my 2 favorites being Mexican and Italian. I make Chinese & Thai dishes at least once a week. So basically if my family likes it, you will find it on the blog no matter which part of the world it is from.
What’s with the blog’s name:
When I decided to start a food blog way back in 2006 and was thinking of a name for the blog, I remembered my husband telling about his favorite food joint called “Hideout” in Davangere, Karnataka (also in Southern India). I thought that was an apt name for the kitchen where I love to hide and cook, so that’s how the name “Cook’s Hideout” came into being.
What really happens in Cook’s Hideout:
As I said, I’m “the cook” in this hideout and I cook vegetarian food in my kitchen which includes eggs and dairy. I love cooking and baking. I also love to read and collect cookbooks. My philosophy is to try everything at least once, so I make it a point to try new ingredients/ dishes (meeting my dietary restrictions, of course) and if the family likes them, they become a part of our menu rotations. All of the recipes featured here have been tasted and tried by my family and only the ones that are liked are posted.
Where do I get the recipes for my dishes:
Most of the Andhra recipes that I post are from my mom and my MIL, both of them are extremely talented cooks, but with completely different styles of cooking. My mom’s style of cooking puts more emphasis on the vegetable itself and less on the seasonings and other supporting ingredients which only have a secondary role –vegetable is the hero in her kitchen. Whereas my MIL cooks more with spices and makes delicious gravies – entire dish is a hero here. I like both the styles and I think I try to take a middle ground with the vegetable still taking the center stage and enhanced with the addition of spices but not completely overpowered by them.
I love to read cookbooks and thanks to my local library system, I get to borrow the books before I decide to buy them. So there will be some recipes from cookbooks, and some from the very talented food blogging world.
That is in a nutshell about me and my blog. Thank you for spending some time here and hope to see you soon. Please leave a comment or send me an email @ [email protected] with any questions, queries or concerns.
Glory
Hello! I'm happy to stumble upon your blog. I want to experiment with more "vegetarian" recipes hoping to convert to being a vegetarian.
Mahathi Ramya
Hi Pavani, iam glad to find a vegetarian South Indian food blogger in Denver which is near to the place I live - Colorado Springs. Iam a South Indian as well as vegetarian. Would love to follow your blog and recipes. By the way, I blog too @ https://www.fantasticfeathers.in about books, parenting and travel.
Ashrita
Very lovely write up about your blog and yourself !!! Going to try the potato pancakes ... Thts how I found you and your blog !! Will start following too 😉
Pavani
Hi Ashrita, thank you so much for stopping by. Hope you love the potato pancakes and do come back for more recipes 🙂
Susan
I am making your chocolate pudding pops recipe and it lists vanilla as one of the ingredients put in the instructions it doesn’t say at what point to put it in, but I’m guessing you put it in with Milk so that’s what I did
cookshideout
Hi Susan, sorry for missing that information. I have updated the recipe card now. Thank you for pointing that out.
Dave
Googled and stumbled on your veggie bunny chow recipe. Soooo good. (I am From Durban). Thx. Saved your site for future visits.
Erica Holman
I’m on a vegan journey and love all the foods you love! I stumbled into your site looking at the kubaneh recipe. I made it vegan style with olive oil and it was incredible. Heavenly. Fantastic! Great instructions!!! Thank you! Can’t wait to cook more from you!
cookshideout
Hi Erica, so happy to hear that you found the recipes helpful. Wish you the very best in your vegan journey.
Judy Elsley
I recently bought your vegetarian cook book, and I love the recipes! Finally, I can make delicious Indian food. The recipes are clear and simple, and the results are great. Thank you so much!
cookshideout
Hi Judy, Thank you so much for your kind words. This made my day.
Leera
I liked this blog of veg recipes.
Daphné
Hi, Pavani!
A couple of us friends are online looking for a nice dried fruit cracker recipe, and came across your site: it looks wonderful, and i m wondering if u have ever did a gluten-free version of these, and if so, what variations u made to this recipe, please. I`d love to try them.
cookshideout
Hi Daphné, Thank you for your comment. I have not tried a gluten free version of the dried fruit cracker. But I am thinking you can easily use gluten-free all purpose flour instead of the flour in the recipe. I will try that sometime soon and update the recipe. Hope this helps.
Aayushi
Hi! I love how informative and great your articles are. Can you recommend any other blogs that share recipes or authentic Indian cuisine? Thanks a lot!
Catheline Ash
Hi Pavani~
I just bought your Instant Pot cookbook and am very excited to start cooking some of the recipes! However I'm wondering if your recipes will work in the smaller 3.5 qt Instant pot? I doubt I'm the only one with this question so I hope you can answer this for all us us mini owners. Thanks!
cookshideout
Hi Catheline, thank you for your support. Most of the curry recipes will work in 3 quart Instant Pot. In fact I did test some of them in my 3 quart and they work.
But for some of the rice recipes which serve 6, you may want to reduce the ingredients by a third.
Happy Cooking and feel free to reach out if you have any further queries or questions!!
Thank you again.
Regards,
Pavani
Catheline Ash
Oh that's great news! I'm thrilled because I just LOVE your cookbook!!!
Don't laugh but one of the many highlights is just your thoughtful recipe list on each chapter page. It makes picking up a cook book when you're uncertain what to make so much easier rather than flipping thru each page every time! That attention to detail, as well as your well written instructions, makes this Instant pot cookbook a true delight. I'm gifting the book to all my friends and family!! Thank you!
Katha Winchester
Hi, I am on the 1st day of making potato sourdough starter, my starter has developed a dark hooch on top….is this normal?
cookshideout
Hi Katha, dark hooch on top is OK. As long as it is not pink or orange tinted, starter is still going good. You can discard the hooch before feeding it again.
Good luck with your starter. Do let me know how it turned out for you.
Happy Sourdough Baking!!
Regards
Pavani