On 29th November 2025, a cookbook my sister Sarah and I wrote together – Jevayla Ye: Everyday East Indian Recipes from Abby’s Hearth – was named the Best Indigenous People Cookbook in the World at the 31st Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Our seafood book placed second in the world in its category the same evening and also gets the honor of being called the Best in the World. Although sis and I couldn’t be there to accept the award in person, we were stunned, grateful, and maybe a little tearful.
The books are a record of our mom’s and granny’s recipes – the dishes we grew up eating at our kitchen table in Mumbai, the ones that only existed in memory and instinct (we normally cook without measurements – it’s called cooking by andaaz) until we sat down and measured them out properly for the first time. It took a few years of slaving over stoves and making the same dishes mulitple times to get the measurements right for our readers, but it was absolutely worth it.
Oh, by the way, I’m Abby, an East Indian from Bombay. East Indians are an indigenous Catholic community from Mumbai – not people from Eastern India, which I’ve had to explain more times than I can count. Our food is a spicy coastal blend of Maharashtrian and Portuguese influences, handed down through generations mostly by word of mouth, and usually by standing next to your mother at the stove and watching. That’s largely how I learned.
I started writing about food and travel back in 2017, first at TheWingedFork.com, then at AbbysPlate.com. After life slowed down in 2020 and travel became less possible, I found myself focusing more on home and hearth – on faith, on DIY and stuff around the house, and on the quieter and richer things in life. So Abby’s Hearth was born. You might remember me from those older blogs, or you might have just found me for the first time. Either way, I’m glad you’re here.
This blog is where I share East Indian recipes, Indian recipes and some yummy fusion recipes along with faith reflections for everyday life, and occasional glimpses of home. My siblings Aaron, Sarah, and The Soz contribute here too, and sometimes friends from around the world add their voices. It’s a family affair, really – which feels exactly right for a site called Abby’s Hearth.
With so many people supporting us, including you dear reader, we’re glad to go on this voyage of perfecting our hearths and homes.
On the topic of voyages, the first time I travelled outside the country, we had gone to visit dad’s friends in the Holy Land and we spent almost a month there. Didn’t want to come back from Israel, but you know… life. Anyways, that’s me on the left of the pic above next to my siblings at the Garden of Gethsemane looking at the olive trees that Jesus may have touched. Random fun fact that you didn’t need to know: People used to call me fat back then, and now that I weigh 1.5 times that amount, people tell me I’ve lost weight.
Talking about weight, we love cooking. I’ve learned a lot from my mom. We grew up sitting on the paaneri (kitchen platform) stirring our traditional moulded marzipan and vanilla cream since we were barely 5-year-old kids. I used to just love watching mom making sojee cakes aka semolina cakes or fry potatoes and make a yummy chicken khudi. Or a chicken tope. Or a chicken roast. Mom’s chicken roast stuffed with liver pudding is so yummy. So is her duck moile and every other random thing she makes! That reminds me I have to put down more of her recipes one of these days. Oh wait, I did. Sis and I collated as many of mom’s and granny’s recipes as we could into the East Indian cookbooks called Jevayla Ye: Everyday East Indian Recipes from Abby’s Hearth and Essentially East Indian Seafood: Recipes from Abby’s Hearth. And can you believe it? These books won awards in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2025. A win for all East Indians!
Anyway, I love the way mom cooks. Food never tastes the same twice. It’s always throw approximately the same things together to make somewhat the same dish. No measurements! It’s almost like being Alice in Wonderland. Sis and me have learned to cook like mom. Just throw things together and it tastes awesome!
But what was I talking about? Yes, food!
Friends ask for recipes, and we rattle off a number of ingredients. Then they say, but how much. And we say, till it tastes good. Which really gets someone or the other miffed. So I finally got around to measuring out mom’s recipes a few years ago. And I’ve got my friends to put down some of theirs too. Smile, grin, smile!
So if you’re looking for gluten free chicken soup or special East Indian chicken tope or a number of other dishes, you’ve come to the right place! And a PS, if you’re looking for healthy meals, what on earth is wrong with you? Okay, seriously, we make healthy dishes too, but the majority of our food is hearty homecooked food that’s rich, spicy, and flavorsome. And they’re all in our cookbooks that are listed here.
If you’re not crazy about cooking or faith, lifestyle and DIY stuff, and you’re looking for restaurant reviews and where to eat or what to eat in a city, we have that too. Thanks for stopping by. Your reads make it worth the work!
A Few Facts About Abby
- I love books, especially Christian books. I have more than I can count.
- I’ve also written a few cookbooks with the help of my parents and siblings, and some of them are quite popular. The latest one is a compilation of recipes handed down through the generations. My mom’s and granny’s version of these dishes is what we’ve recorded in the cookbook Jevayla Ye: Everyday East Indian Recipes from Abby’s Hearth.
- My favorite foods are chocolate and marzipan (yes, I know these aren’t real foods), paneer (Indian cottage cheese), foie de morue (soft cod liver sold in tins in France), malawach (the flaky flatbread from Israel), mathiya (delicious Gujarati papad made from Math beans for Diwali in India), green mutton chops (only mom’s version will do), and a lot more.
- I also love Kiri, in both its forms. The first one being Kiri, the calcium-filled yummy French cheese that’s made for children. Yup, the French ex-BF’s mum introduced me to it, and I absolutely love it. Do you? And also kiri, the udders of a goat roasted on a shig in India. It tastes like a savory marshmallow.
- My friends and family complain that the wine I make gets them all sleepy, drowsy and lethargic. But they haven’t stopped drinking it yet, so I’ll take that as a compliment.
- I make a mean chilli wine and a really spicy ginger wine.
- I’m an East Indian from Mumbai, India. Our cuisine is a mix of Portuguese and Maharashtrian. Here’s a list of our different dishes.
- I’m Christian, and Jesus is first in my life.
- My favorite pastors? There are so many of them.
- I have a Master’s in ICT Management but got tired of corporate life, and switched to working as a ghostwriter; and blogging on the side.
- I love to crochet. It helps me to de-stress. And although I hardly find the time to do it nowadays; it’s one of my go-to relaxants, other than cooking and brewing wine.
- My favorite fish is the fattiest one ever, the local baiki (not to be confused with the bhetki from the Bay of Bengal). It just oozes yummy sweet fatty goodness.
- I’m like my dad. I have to have at least one tiny piece of dessert after every meal. It’s a proclivity I cannot shake.
- I’m a mosquito magnet. I’ve tried most tricks in the book to get rid of them.
- I’m waiting for the day when I can afford to live on a farm in the middle of nowhere, with just the mountains and streams to keep me company. And maybe a few sheep and olive, almond, orange, lemon, and apple trees, and tomatoes, cabbages, pumpkins, and so many other things.
- My favorite book authors at the moment are Ann Voskamp, Max Lucado, Robert Hendersen, Brian Simmons, Lana Vawser, Jennifer LeClaire, and John Eldredge. Just putting that out there in case anyone wants to gift me a book for Christmas or Hanukkah. Wink wink!
- I love listening to gospel and country music.
- I’m left-handed. Go figure!
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