The Meal Algorithm: About

I am Preethi and Scarlet O' Hara is my all-time favourite female literary character. Hence the alias you'll find in many places :-)

As you might have already guessed, I like to cook, read cookbooks, plan for meals and make some decent meals for the husband, family and friends. But above all, I love to eat. I make anything and everything which appeals to my tongue and ignites those taste buds, and at those rare times , the husband's also.

I am a vegetarian by birth first, and now by principle, and refrain from using even eggs. So all the recipes you find on this blog are eggless and vegetarian and sometimes vegan also.

I have a full-time day job, and I do not cook daily. Most of these recipes are cooked over weeknights when I am both tired and stressed, precisely when I get myself into the kitchen and concoct something to relieve me of all the stress.

I live with S, my husband in Hyderabad, India.
S is a survival cook who gave me my first kitchen lessons, like how to identify if the salt in a dish is right or not etc, and all such tips.
He is Telugu and loves his annam-pappu-avakaya and despises desserts, but still makes concessions for me by tasting the one odd muffin or a slice of a cake and thoroughly believes that he should give me honest feedback to make me better at what I do, even if it means risking the safety of his head.

I am a Mangalorean (from Shivalli, to be precise) , grew up in Kurnool, a small town in AP and now living in Hyderabad.
It took a lot for me to be what I am now, an extremely fussy eater to someone who sometimes gets up in the middle of the night craving for a particular dish. It is a never-ending journey, and I am rediscovering my roots, both the Mangalorean and the Telugu ones.

I was always interested in photography, but I prefer to not lug around the big camera bag all around town when I go travelling . I shoot all my food photographs with a Canon Rebel XSi. I also plan the styling, lighting and set up myself of each of these photographs.

I try my best to cook something new every week, so keep dropping in here every now and then. You can also get in touch with me at -