Hi, I am Dhanya and I live in a beautiful suburb of Melbourne, Australia with my boys. And by boys, I mean Sam, my best buddy/husband; whom I met as a gawky teenager 22 years ago and Adi, my cheeky adorable 10 year old who loves food even more than I do.
I started this blog on a lark five years ago, when I had migrated to Melbourne. Hardly knew anyone here and food was the way through which I embraced this new land, its culture and people. A regular at the local market and food events, I fell in love with the amazing produce and food stories that this country has to tell.
Today, The Spice Adventuress is my alter ego. Through her, I fulfill my desire to put my thoughts into words, explore my restless creative soul and express it through food and photography. Through her, I travel the world exploring cuisines and stories from across borders and bring them home to my plate.
I was born in India, but spent a large part of my childhood in the Middle East. And this has helped me immensely in understanding cultures and food other than mine. My earliest memories of food and cooking is being my mum’s ‘little assistant’ – helping her stir the dishes, cleaning up or simply standing by watching her create amazing and delicious food for her family and friends. Her influence on my style of cooking is tremendous; having been exposed to different ingredients and styles of cooking – I am constantly learning, experimenting and looking for ingredients and recipes from across the world.
Savoury food is what I like to create most; hence that’s what you will find largely on my blog though there are the occasional sweet treats too. And as the name suggests, spices are a passion and I enjoy using it immensely in my food. Sprinkle some cumin or spice it up with chilli or even better, create a blend that magically transforms any dish. Through the blog, I also like to educate my readers on why it’s important to source spices from the country of origin, the importance of buying local whenever possible and also encourage the use of homemade spice blends.
My food philosophy has always been ‘the world on a plate’. Bringing people together over food bridging their cultural differences is something I believe in truly. Through The Spice Adventuress, I want to encourage people to get back into their kitchens, cook dishes close to their heart, invite friends and family over to share the meal and their stories. Sitting down for a meal with your loved ones is one of life’s most precious blessings and that’s what I would love to celebrate through my space.
I can certainly ramble on, but I will let you discover and know me more through my food. And I certainly love a good chat so feel free to comment on any article or through my Facebook or Insta page (I always reply). Or feel free to drop me a line at vanyadhanya@gmail.com
I found your Lamb Curry recipe via Pinterest and fell in love with your blog! Now I can’t wait to make the curry and explore through your other recipes and posts. What lovely photography and writing!
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Thanks so much Jones…..thats a wonderful compliment; really appreciate it.
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I just made your aubergine chutney. Oh my it’s delicious. I read many recipes before choosing yours, and so glad I did. It will be a firm favourite 🤩
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Thanks so much for the feedback Leigh; glad you enjoyed it
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Lovely blog and great recipes , glad to have found it in my recommendations .Looking forward to reading your posts!
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Thanks so much for your kind words. Welcome to my space and hope you enjoy it here.
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Hi there, Great reading your blog. I wanted to be a chef ended up being an engineer. Its inspiring to see a medical scientist transform into a food blogger. Keep going. Cheers
Sabari
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Thanks Sabari, it doesnt matter if you are an engineer…there are so many ways these days to take your love for food forward. All the best.
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Beautiful blog! Looking forward to reading your recipes and trying them.
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Thanks so much Archana; hope you have a delicious journey here.
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Hi Dhanya !
Just visiting your blog and loving it ! I can almost get the aroma of spices right here !
Keep up the great work that you do in inspiring others with the same passion !
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Thanks a lot Sreelatha; it means a lot to me when I hear from you guys. That keeps me inspired and motivated. Thanks again.
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Thanks for the Cider and Happy Birthday Dhanya. From Stanley’s colleague. 🙂
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Thanks so much Kon for the wishes; hope you enjoyed the cider.
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Just stumbled on your blog via FB, happy to meet you. We share the same love of food, life and the pursuit of happiness, and not necessarily in that order :).
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Great to connect with you Loretta; hope you will have a great time here.
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I challenge you to find nine blogs you find interesting and give them a comment to brighten their day…well, eight other blogs and mine 🙂 Copy this message in your comment and enjoy your new blog friends!
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lol; will try my best
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Hey! I like this little piece you have written about yourself, very unique and so far from the stereo typical bloggers notes. Such a breath of fresh air I must say. I share your love for food and spices myself, but a full time job here in the US can take away from my passion to be a blogger myself. Having said that I cook like there is no tomorrow! I wish you the best for your Blog and hope to see many new recipes coming from your kitchen to mine!
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so nice of you Nandita; it really means so much to me. Thanks dear
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THE VERSATILE BLOGGER AWARD!
Hi Vanya! I have been following your blog and really enjoy the information you share. As a result, I would like to know a little more about you. Thus, gladly informing you that I have nominated you for ‘The Versatile Blogger Award’ for your amazing creativity in your blog! 🙂
I am not surprised that you’ve been nominated before, but if you’re like me, you never get tired of being acknowledged! Please follow the link to http://indiancurryshack.com/2015/06/24/the-versatile-blogger-award/
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thanks so much Anugya; its a pleasure always to be nominated….much appreciated.
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Glad i came across your blog. Lovely Intro. It’s good to find someone from Melbourne. 😉
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Hi Priti, welcome to my space. That’s true, its really awesome to get to know Melbourne based bloggers. Thanks for getting in touch. Where are you based?
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I am based in Springvale. How about you? Good to know you dear. Cheers. 🙂
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superb; I am in Dandenong – that makes us almost neighbours. I have been following your blog on facebook for a long time but didn’t really know who was behind it. Oops!
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Wow that’s cool. Dandenong is so close by 🙂 I am a newbie in blogging. And your blog is so inspiring. We should keep in touch. Take care 🙂
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sure, we must; now I have a partner to explore Springvale
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Thank you for linking to Maverickbird. Hope I can get inspired from your recipes and cook safer dishes.
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thanks for writing in…lets just mutually inspire each other
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I’m happy to feature you on my space. Please stop by at Visit me @TaleoftwoTomatoes 🙂
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Hi Vanya, you have such a beautiful blog, so I’ve nominated you for the Liebster Award. You can accept, or not, as you wish.
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thanks a lot for the award; as I always say, a recognition is always a joyous thing.
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Hi Vanya!
I found your great website and we would love to feature it!! I work with http://www.TheBesty.com which helps people all over the world find the best restaurants & food. Simply email me back the names and cities of 5-10 restaurants locally or anywhere in the world – that you think are the BEST, and we’ll feature your picks & link to your website, so our users can find you! We work with websites & blogs in over 50 countries, it would be great to work with yours as well!
A few of our celebrity users include: Anthony Bourdain, Guy Fieri, and Rachael Ray!
Featured Blogs: http://www.thebesty.com/search/blogs
Also, we would love to feature an article about your site, so if you would like to do a write-up about how your website got started, with any fun tidbits about yourself, send that my way and I’ll have our content team post it for you, FB it & tweet it! – any length works! 🙂
I look forward to hearing from you, and hopefully we can feature your site under our featured blogs!
Cheers,
Julia
Website & Blog Partners
http://www.TheBesty.com
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Wow, lovely to hear this Julia. Deeply honoured…..
Will get back to you soon with the information you need. Thanks
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Hi, is Julia@thebesty.com the email id I should mail to?
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Hi Julia, I have send you an email with the details, kindly acknowledge when you receive the same.
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Hey Vanya, I have nominated you for the Wonderful Team Readership Award. Congratulation! If you wish to participate do read the full post on my blog here: http://cookingdiarybyshruti.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/wonderful-team-member-readership-award/
Love
Shruti
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lovely to hear this Shruti and thanks a ton for nominating me. Like u said, its a joy and inspiration to win an award.
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Hi Vanya, you have a awesome blog:) found lot of interesting recipes. When it comes to the theme we have a same desire:)
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happy to hear that…..very encouraging.
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Nice little introduction vanya… Loved your blog tooo… I have bookmarked some recipes and shall write to you with a feedback soon
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lovely to hear that….looking forward to your comments
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Happy New Year!
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wishing u the same too…..
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afracooking sent me your way! great guest post 🙂
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lovely to hear that..thank you
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Hi Vanya, I found your blog today, and very glad I did! Love your honesty, and your creative recipes.
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thanks for the compliments
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Hi,
I felt the need to shower you with some warmth and shine, so I have nominated you for a Sunshine Award!! Congrats! Participation is optional however if you may choose to accept the award please click on link
http://cookingdiarybyshruti.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/the-sunshine-award/
Love
Shruti
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lovely…its double celebration. I have been nominated twice…wow!
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Hi sweety..(do i hear you say oh no not again lol)…well my dear I felt the need to shower you with some warmth so I have nominated you for a Sunshine Award!! Congrats! Participation is optional however if you may choose to accept the award please click on link http://feedingthesonis.wordpress.com/award/
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lol…thanks dear, I will never get tired of awards. I saw this message on 21st so will take it as my birthday gift
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Happy birthday 😘 lotsa hugs!
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Hey Vanya, it took a while in coming, but I have my guest post ready. I just find your email back…Could you mail me at afracooking@gmail.com. That is if you would still like a my contribution 🙂
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oh sure…eagerly waiting. I will mail you soon. and thanks a ton.
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Hi Vanya I consider you as part of my WordPress Family so I have nominated you for the WordPress Family Award. Check it out http://feedingthesonis.wordpress.com/award/ 😊 hugs!
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wow! thanks a ton dear
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Cheers!
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Could you give me more detail on how exactly does this work? I did look at your website but I would like more information
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Loved being on yr blog!! Fabulous!! Stay blessed!!
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thanks a ton for the kind words
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Hey Vanya you are awesome!! I have nominated you for a Dragon’s Loyalty Award!! Congrats! please check it out. Participation is optional however if you may choose to accept the award please click on link http://feedingthesonis.wordpress.com/award/
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thanks a ton dear
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Hi.. Your blog is so fabulous that I nominated it for The Liebster Award. Happy blogging!
http://taleoftwotomatoes.wordpress.com/awards-and-recognitions/
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http://skinnychefdecuisine.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/the-liebster-award/
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Lovely Blog!! Keep up the work!! Bon appetite 🙂
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thanks a lot…..
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Hi Vanyadhanya I have been following your blog and love it. I nominated you for a Versatile Blogger Award for all the hard work and effort you put into your blog content and pics. Well deserved Congrats! 😀You can collect your award from the following link:
http://versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com/about
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that’s so wonderful of you…..love the gesture. Thanks a ton
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