The Reluctant Cook

As a housewife, I consider it my duty to cook. No, no it is not an archaic belief that I have, it is my way of contributing to the household income! Just so you know, the Boy thanks me every time I serve him a meal. He makes all kinds of yummy noises and rewards my efforts. At my workplace, I am priceless, treasured and sometimes, feared!

How am I feared? - one may ask. If the Boy deviates from his normal code of conduct, he is told that if he doesn't know how to cook, he is not allowed to comment. If he does say a thing or two, I tell him to leave the food and order for himself next time. My sulking at his slightest criticism makes him a mere employee who takes the used dishes to the kitchen or microwave the leftovers and me, the boss who doesn't take any shit!

Hmm.. he is indeed a bechara like the world calls him.

Before you do make that assumption, let me also tell you that I am a decent cook. I never entered the kitchen before I got married. One day my mother forced me to sit with her and write the recipes for basic vegetables. Since she is a vegetarian, she hardly made chicken. I use to eat meat gravy in restaurants and called myself a non-vegetarian. To cut the long story short, I had no clue how to make dal, aaloo, roti, chicken or even rice.

I did have one advantage - the Boy had lived in the hostel for 7 long years and had developed taste for everything in the world. From the chefs of Kharagpur to the cooks of Lucknow, he had tasted food fit for the patients and patients-to-be.  And so, when I started to cook for him, he congratulated me on begining on a fantastic note.

I must say that it is his patience and humility has that made me the type of cook that I am today. After 5 years, I can now churn out a dish with confidence. I can look at a recipe and tell if it would work for our taste buds. Every week, I try to make one new dish to keep myself motivated. Since I am that person who doesn't leave any opportunity to be lazy, I need to make things which are interesting. Regular food bores me to no end. Just to keep some passion alive, I keep experimenting.

That's a lot of I, I , I! I really hate to brag but I can now make a lot of Indian, Italian, Mexican, Chinese - both Veg and Non-veg. I am not the type who has the patience to click pictures before I eat and so, the ones below are a work of a cook and not a photographer. These dishes work much better on the taste buds than are pleasing to the eyes. Frankly, I don't believe in presentation. It is my way of saying that looks are not important. Anyway, I'm putting these pictures just to prove that I am not bragging and that my Boy is not a bechara!

All great meals start with a well-stocked fridge. Ever Saturday we shop for groceries. I have a very small fridge to accommodate a week's stuff. But I manage.

That's how an awesome Tandoori chicken is made.

I can make dosa too!!

That's my famous pizza with home-made sauce and Crust. Yes, I bake the crust with the toppings!

Chicken meatballs in spicy curry. This is the latest addition.

My favorite, favorite salad. Lettuce, cucumber, carrots and feta cheese with Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing.

That's a Khalua cake. I don't make cakes without alcohol ;)

Fish tikka with sauteed veggies and yoghurt mint chutney. Slurppppp!

Steamed brocolli, babycorn, peas and corn - ah, well, we do need to diet, no?

That is how I am rewarded on Valentines day. Yummy yummy aaloo paratha!!! The Boy will kill me for making this public. Now you tell me, if he was a bechara would he do this for me?

I make pepper chicken and mutton kebabs that are to-die-for. I'm not kidding! I get requests to make them for people! I do make gobhi, bhindi, methi, palak, beans, capsicum, dals, etc, etc, etc. But really, who likes to make all that out of interest!? So, anyway, are you like me? - Reluctant yet passionate? Lazy yet hyper when something turns out awesome? More than anything - Not very confident yet extremely talented?

And then I say I don't like to brag :)