About

Chhaya Date

This blog pays homage to Chhaya Date’s mother, Leela. Chhaya was born in India, and at a young age, grew up in Pune which is near Mumbai (Bombay), which is in the Maharastra state. She got married and moved to the United States. She is currently living in Northern California with her daughter’s family.

Chhaya paints a very colorful picture of growing up in Pune. She describes the rich bouquet of fresh ground spices, wafting from her mom’s kitchen when she would come home from school. Leela was apparently very deft with flavors, and this has definitely carried through in Chhaya’s cooking. Leela was apparently quite adventurous in her culinary talent—not only carrying the spice train through the lineage of cooks throughout the centuries—but also being willing to culminate a repertoire of dishes from other areas outside her expertise. Chhaya has also inherited this incredible savoir-faire with marrying spices intuitively.  This blog sets out to take you on the adventure that began with Leela, is carried through with Chhaya, exploring the comforts of Indian cuisine in a zest-filled extravaganza. We hope you will enjoy the ride on the spice train!