I am a working mother and I find cooking therapeutic and often take refuge in cooking to bring balance to my life and work. I try to use easy to get ingredients, and cook those in a healthy way, with spending as little time as possible.

Here are just some of my recipes. Bon appetit!

MOONG LENTILS WITH NEW POTATOES

Slow cooked with turmeric, garam masala, salt, onion, garlic, chillies and olive oil.

I usually do not have time to soak the lentils, so instead, wash one cup of yellow lentils, and put it on stove in a medium pot with lots of water. Skim the white foam out and add a teaspoon of turmeric powder, another teaspoon of garam masala, some salt and let it simmer. Skin new potatoes and put them in the pot. Then peel a whole garlic head and add the cloves, lightly crushed with the back of a knife to the simmering liquid. 30 minutes later, add chopped green chillies and a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil, and voila, the lentil soup is ready.

EASY CAKE

After years, if not decades, I baked a German pound cake with cranberry topping, from scratch. Molly, my 30-year-old small electric oven, baked this soft, fluffy and mood uplifting cake in 35 minutes. Use two large eggs, a pinch of baking powder, half cup sugar, a cup of sunflower oil, a cup of flour, pinch of salt. Mix the oil and sugar in a bowl with a fork, add eggs, then sift the flour and baking powder over the bowl using a tea strainer. Scatter a handful of dried cranberries on top. I was not sure about the taste, so I cut it before taking a photo!

INSTANT MOOD BOOSTER NOODLES

Nothing compares to the joy of eating a bowl of instant noodles on Christmas eve. For this, use olive oil, garlic slivers, green chilli, lime juice, shredded cooked chicken, fresh peas, all cooked together over moderate heat. Boil 300ml water, add aforementioned ingredients, and a pack of noodles.

A DORM FRIENDLY LIFE-SAVER

TUNA WITH SHALLOTS

My child always asked me for easy things to make with canned goods when he lived in a dorm. So this was tailored for his convenience.

A can of tuna in water, or brine, a cup of lengthwise cut shallots or spring onions or green onions, slivers of garlic — two teaspoons, salt and chillies to taste, and 2 teaspoons of olive oil.

Drain the water from the tuna, add everything together in a wok, cook for 15 minutes on medium heat, and its done. This goes extremely well with steamed rice.