hi there!
Welcome to The Belly Rules The Mind.
Hi! We are Anvita and Soniya. Two moms, two Indian kitchens in America, and one shared obsession: making sure our kids know exactly what home tastes like.
We moved from Mumbai to the US. We refused to leave the food behind.
We both grew up in Mumbai, where food was never just food. It was the smell of tadka hitting hot oil on a winter morning. A steel dabba packed with sabzi and roti for school lunch. Diwali mithai made from scratch while the whole family sat around and "helped" (which mostly meant eating). Sunday biryani that took half the day and was worth every single minute.
Then we moved to the US. The grocery stores were different. The kitchen was different. The time we had was definitely different. Between school pickups, homework help, and everything else, there was no way we could spend all day cooking anymore.
So we figured it out. We adapted our moms' recipes, our nanis' recipes, the recipes we grew up watching but never wrote down. And we made them work in under 45 minutes. In an American kitchen. With ingredients you can actually find here. That is how The Belly Rules The Mind was born. Not to reinvent Indian cooking, but to prove that the real thing is absolutely possible on a weeknight.
What We Promise You
Everything on this blog is authentic. We are not watering down the flavors or taking shortcuts that mess up the dish. What we are doing is simplifying the process. You will find the same spices your nani used, the techniques that actually make a difference, and the tips that save you time without costing you taste.
From everyday dals and sabzis to weekend biryanis and festival sweets, every recipe has been made multiple times, tasted by our families (including some very honest kids who are not shy about saying "this is not good, Mama"), and adjusted until it is right. If it is on this blog, it works.
About the voices of The Belly Rules the Mind
Meet Anvita
Hi, I am Anvita
Hi! I am Anvita, the one who started this whole thing. Mom to a tween who thinks he is already a food critic, wife of a scientist who can eat the same dal every day and be happy about it. I was born and raised in India, but I have lived in Australia, Germany, and now the US. No matter where we moved, the first thing I set up in every new kitchen was my masala dabba.
I started The Belly Rules The Mind because I was calling my mom every other day asking "how much jeera goes in the tadka" and "did you use hing or not in this recipe?" I figured if I am going to write it all down anyway, I might as well share it. Then Soniya joined me, and honestly, the blog became so much better because of it. We push each other to get the recipes right, not "good enough" but actually right.
Meet Soniya
Hi, I am Soniya
Hello! I am Soniya, the co-founder. Originally from Mumbai, settled in Virginia with my husband (R1 on the blog) and two boys, R2 (19) and R3 (13). I am Punjabi at heart with family roots in both Punjab and Maharashtra, so my kitchen swings between rich Punjabi dals and spicy Maharashtrian sabzis depending on the mood.
My hubby and I were born in Mumbai, India, where we were spoiled by the wealth of food choices available to us. We could enjoy everything from yummy street food to multi-cuisine restaurants and we became very picky about what we like and what we don't.
Food was everything growing up. It was how my mom showed love, how my nani passed down traditions, how we celebrated every festival and survived every exam season. When my boys were born here in the US, I made a promise: they would grow up knowing these flavors. Not from a restaurant menu, but from their own kitchen.
Our Kitchen Credentials
Between us, we have tested over 500 recipes in our American kitchens. Soniya grew up in Mumbai with relatives across Punjab and Maharashtra, so she can tell you exactly how her Punjabi masi makes rajma differently from how her Maharashtrian cousin makes misal. Anvita has lived and cooked across four countries, picking up techniques and flavor combinations at every stop. Every single recipe on this blog has been made multiple times, adjusted for ingredients you can actually find in the US (we are talking Patel Brothers and Trader Joe's, not some specialty shop you need to drive 2 hours to reach), and passed the real test: our families asked for it again. Some recipes, like our Instant Pot rajma and our sooji halwa, our families ask for every single week.
TBRTM Family
Meet The Belly Rules The Mind (TBRTM) Family from 2016, when we all came together to make this blog into a thriving community. Our kids and husbands are our taste testers critiquing and approving every recipe that is shared on this blog.
Regional Indian Cooking. Because India Is Not One Cuisine
One thing that drives us a little crazy is when people say "Indian food" and mean butter chicken and naan. India has 28 states and each one has its own cuisine. Our blog has Gujarati dhokla, Tamil Nadu rasam, Maharashtrian pav bhaji, Punjabi chole, Bengali mishti doi, and everything in between. Soniya can tell you firsthand how a Punjabi thali looks completely different from a Maharashtrian one because she grew up eating both. This is the full picture, because that is the India we know.
Our Take on Authenticity
We use real Indian techniques. We use real Indian spices. We do not swap turmeric for "curry powder" (please don't do that). We do not apologize for using ghee. What we do is tell you exactly where to find the ingredients, whether it is your local Indian store, Amazon, or the international aisle at Walmart. We tell you what you can substitute without ruining the dish, and what you absolutely cannot skip. And we use tools like the Instant Pot and air fryer to cut time without cutting corners. Authentic and fast are not opposites. We are living proof.
Come join our tribe
- Connect with us on Facebook.
- Come and join vegan and plant based Facebook group.
- Check out our Pinterest boards for all the healthy eating inspiration you'll ever need.
- For an unending buffet of healthy photographed food, follow us on Instagram.