Jagruti Dhanecha, or as she is to me - Mummy/Ma!

J Cooking Odyssey (or JCO, as we call it) began with my Mum. She grew up in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, where food quickly became her obsession. As a child she spent hours pouring over her favourite cookbook. So many hours, in fact, that its pages are now falling apart!

She was just as curious outside the home, visiting friends and neighbours to watch them cook, asking for recipes, like these bajra methi dhebra and tucking each one away for later. By the time she was a teenager, she was already cooking full family meals alongside her studies.

Marriage introduced her to East African flavours, especially mogo dishes! Moving to the UK broadened her horizons even more. Through college friends she picked up Punjabi and other regional Indian recipes, blending them into her repertoire. Her Gujarati recipes recipes remained prominent.

Along the way, she’s had her share of recognition: multiple appearances on Sunrise TV’s Indian cooking show. And two winning recipes published in Take a Break magazine.

Closer to home, her Indian sweets, especially mohanthal (mastered at age of 19), are famous among friends and family. She’s also the undisputed master of bateta vada! (If those disappear first at a gathering, you’ll know who made them.)

She’s been known to teach anyone willing to listen - including my Dad, who now knows his way around a spice tin!

In 2010, she started JCO as a hobby, mainly as a diary of her creations so I’d have a record to cook from. Over time, it’s grown into something much bigger: a resource for traditional Gujarati cooking and beyond. To this day, she remains my number one source for authentic recipes and perfect techniques - the foundation of everything JCO shares with the world.