Tuesday 21 January 2014

Cooking and me

I never learnt to cook until I got married. Took a while to realize that noodles, dal rice and dosa making don't account for cooking. My amma used to say that  I can always learn to cook so why bother now. Learn it when you need it. The brunt of my cooking experiments were fondly borne by my dear and near ones. Those are few advantages when you are newly married. My mil totally supported me. All I did at my inlaws place then(even now) was scrape coconuts and pray that no one drops in when my MIL isn't home.
But I love to cook. Picked up a lot of recipes and tips from amma, mil and of course the internet. Have to thank my better half for teaching me to make phulkas. (He doesn't cook anything else). I still cannot make them round, but they are decent and soft.  My cooking became more regular (and bland) after Sid was born.

 After a few months of marriage, we invited our close friends for dinner. I decided to experiment chicken curry for the first time just then! It ended up with shreds of chicken pieces in a pool of water with some onion and tomato pieces to add color. Some of our friends really thought it was some kind of chicken clear soup. They tease me to this day. Once bitten, twice shy. Never ventured chicken on guests.

The first time I made puttu - it came out the way I added it to the puttu-mould - all crumbled and no where holding the cylindrical shape. The first kitchdi made for 4 - it was more of yellow rice with nothing in it. The sweet I first attempted was quite memorable. Asked my dear husband to close his eyes, taste and tell me what it was. He (who generally eats anything I dish out without complaints) was confused as to why I was forcing him to drink ghee. Took a while to convince him  that it was mysore pak.

The tea I brewed(!) first time at my inlaws (and this a good 2 years after marriage) was when my MIL was busy talking to some guests. I decided to help her by making tea for all. The decoction turned out so completely black that I was sure it wasn't tea powder I added. Enter mil to my rescue. She, being the kind person that she is, just smiled and sorted things out. Took one fourth of the decoction and made tea for all. Later she patiently told me that those were tea leaves and quite strong.

I can dedicate a blogathon to my cooking disasters. But let me stop here. Have come a long way from those days. I cook better (or so I think) and definitely do not attempt anything new when guests are around :)


 

4 comments:

  1. LOL at drinking ghee. I first time I made tomato chutney, AV asked why I have made Kesari as a side dish for Idly.. Sigh!!

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    Replies
    1. Ha.. remember reading that 'kesari' post ;-)

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  2. lol on the drinking ghee episode.. have been there.. when I declare saying I am going to try "this" dish today, M never fails to say "you first make the dish and we shall name it after tasting"

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  3. You too? But your Diwali sweets definitely looks tempting!

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