The transfer is now complete, and we're running on our new host.

Everything should be back to normal - if you come across anything that doesn't work the way you expect or remember, please drop us a line at webmaster@mamtaskitchen.com and we'll get on it right away.

Thanks, and enjoy!

Please remember to take digital pictures of the dishes you cook from this site and send them to me via contact link. If they are better than mine (mine are quite bad usually, so it will be easy), we will post them with the recipe, with your name in credits - Mamta.

We wish all of you a happy, joyous and peaceful 2006. May all your wishes come! Let.s hope that; There is peace and understanding between all nations and peoples on earth. There is no desire to justify anger, hate and terror, whatever one.s beliefs and motives. We treat others with respect and learn to understand their pain and fears. We have generosity of spirit, kindness, love, patience, and mercy in our hearts. We allow hope to flourish once again.

The year will no doubt bring a few disappoints for all of us. Let.s hope that we will accept them without bitterness and blame to others.

Naye Varsh ki Shubhkamnayen (Hindi); Naya Saal Mubbarak (Urdu); Nave sal di Mubarak (Punjabi); Shubho Nabo Barsh (Bengali); Nutan Varshabhinandan (Gujarati); Naveen Varshachy Shubhechcha (Marathi); Prosit Neujahr (German); Xin Nian Kuai Le (Chinese); Bonne Annee (French); Godt Nytt?r (Norwegian); Gott nytt ?r (Swedish); Antum salimoun (Arabic)

Mamta, Kavita and Pete

PS Please remember to take digital pictures of the dishes you cook from this site and send them to me via contact link. If they are better than mine (mine are quite bad usually, so it will be easy), we will post them with the recipe, with your name in credits - Mamta.

Not only is December the month when some of us celebrate Christmas, Hannukah or Bodhi Day it's also a month where many of us enjoy many cultural winter traditions too.

Here in the UK we decorate our homes and offices with holly, ivy and mistletoe whilst hanging candles and ornaments on beautiful fir trees. Whilst these things have come to be associated with Christmas in recent times they didn't all originate with Christianity and are actually much older - some of them come from ancient Norse traditions associated with the Yule festival, others have been handed down from pagan/ fruid winter solstice celebrations, others still are likely to be Roman Saturnalia traditions and some may even come from the ancient Egyptians who were one of a number of ancient cultures that worshipped evergreens.

As winter often brings snow it's also the time to build snowmen, have snowball fights and make angel shapes in the snow before rushing back inside to warm ourselves on wonderful winter favourites such as thick, hot soups, casseroles and roasts!

Our Christmas food habits have similarly diverse origins to our other traditions and take much from other parts of the world. These days a traditional Christmas dinner includes roast turkey and stuffing, roast potatoes and vegetables, bread sauce, cranberry sauce and gravy, followed by Christmas pudding with brandy butter. Yet only a few decades ago goose was far more popular and further back still roast boar, swan and peacock graced the tables of families who could afford them!

We'd love to hear about traditional celebratory meals in your part of the world so do please drop into our forums and let us know your national/ regional/ local/ family or personal favourites!

All of us here at Mamta's Kitchen would like to wish all of our MK regulars a wonderful festive season and a very happy new year!

Kavita, Mamta & Pete

Winter has finally arrived here in south of England, with temperatures of 10?C/4?C! We had frost on Sunday, our first this winter. My beautiful buzy-lizzies (impatience), chrysanthemums and dahlias that were still full of blooms, died overnight. I spent a busy morning tiding up the garden yesterday!

Thanks to international trade these days, vegetables and fruits of summer are available almost all the year round. However, those amongst you who are gardeners, will have a store of traditional winter fruits and vegetables. Swedes, turnips, carrots, beetroot, parsnips, salsify, sweet potatoes, artichokes, celeriac, onions etc. are excellent in soups, roasts, pickles, curries, pies. Apples and pears make great desserts. I love soups for lunch during winter, often making them without oil, cooking vegetables in a pressure cooker and then blending with a stock. Crumbles/pies made from apple and other fruits, are also family favourites. I am experimenting with low sugar/sugar free versions, let.s see how they turn out! If you have and sugar free dessert recipes that you would like to share with the rest of us, please send them to me via the contact link. If they work, I will be happy to add them to this site under your name.

Best wishes to you all :-)!

Mamta

Best wishes to all the Sikhs world over, on the auspicious occasion of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak ji on the 15th November 2005.

"Eid Mubarak"

Happy Diwali.

Lots of love to all of you.

Mamta

Hello everyone

A friend of my daughter's, Abigail Brooks-Daw, is running the New York Marathon 2005 on the 6th Nov 2005, to raise funds for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of UK. I hope that you will be able to support Abigail in her endeavour, no matter how large or small your contribution is. Please visit Abigail's donation page, here.

MS Society does sterling work in supporting not only the people with MS and their carers, but also by funding various research projects that are trying to find a cure for this debilitating condition.

A receipt will be emailed to you once your donation has been successfully authorised.

You can find out more about the Multiple Sclerosis Society by visiting their website .

Many thanks

Mamta

It looks like summer has finally left us. Autumn is one of the most beautiful times of the year in the Western hemisphere. Leaves on the trees are turning yellow, brown, rust, red. Autumn produce is filling the shops in UK. Apples (Cox's, Bramley, Russet, Discovery and Worcester), plums (Victoria, Damson, Gage), many soft fruits (pick your own in the garden centres or in the wild)) and vegetables are at their best right now. Wild mushroom picking is also good fun, but know the varieties well, before you eat them. I hope you have dried your herbs by now! It is a good time for making preserves and freeze your own produce. Those of you who have their own vegetable patches, have fresh potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic etc. from their garden to pick, store and preserve. Chillies are also nearly ready to pick. Tomatoes must be nearing the end now. Remember green tomatoes are very good for making chutneys and cooking with vegetables, fish and meat etc. Collect chestnuts to roast on winter fire.

Some of you must be making your own jams, jellies, crumbles & pies, chutneys, pickles, bottled/frozen fruits-some in alcohol, cider and beer. If you have any great recipes for preserving/freezing/drying and you want to share them with everyone else, do feel free to send them to me via the Contact link. Remember, they must not be copied from anywhere. All good recipes will be added to this site, with your name.

Have a great Autumn!

Love

Mamta