cooking n me

I have a love hate relationship with cooking. I thoroughly enjoy cooking when,

• I'm trying out a new recipe, 
• Creating a new dish, 
• Making or baking things I've never ever tasted, 
• I want to blog a recipe
• I want to bake or make a special meal for the special people in my life

The list is not exhaustive, if I think harder I might add a couple of things more.

I don't enjoy cooking, when there is nothing to eat and it's dinner time. I don't even have the option of ordering a Pizza, which is pretty much non existent in the small village I live in now. I don't enjoy cooking the usual meal everyday.

Unlike most girls, who start cooking after moving out of their parents place or getting married, I started quite early. I remember making gajar ka halwa standing on a stool, as I wasn't even tall enough to reach the counter top. The halwa, as I remember was loved by all. The truth is I just stood there stirring, while Mum kept adding the ingredients. She, made me believe that I made the halwa. There must have been infinite occasions where this happened and still continues to happen. Though I've graduated from just stirring to actually preparing the whole dish, you will find me calling her up to confirm, how much coconut should I add for Avial etc.

As clichéd as it may sound, for me my Mother is the best cook. You can never get me any sambar, aviyal, mathanga payar erissheri, unniappam, murukku, aloo-gobhi-matar ki subzi, baingan ki subzi... (I can go on and on...) better than what my mother makes. I strive to cook like her, which probably will take me a lifetime to achieve.

She is a self taught cook, like most girls she started cooking after she got married, and she had no clue. She had no internet to refer to, not even a phone to call her Mum and ask. Though she learned things the hard way, she now has a distinctive style of her own. She made sure that we (my sis and me) don't go through any of the trouble she had to go through.

Today when I decided to start a separate Food blog, I thought it should be dedicated to her. She taught me and still continues to teach me, each and everything that I know about cooking and life. The original recipes you will find here, will be mostly her recipes.

Now that you know how I learned to cook, let me introduce you to the person for who I cook- my husband Ranjit. Without his support and encouragement, I wouldn't be sitting here writing this. He is my best critic, sometimes harsh, but that is what helps me improve. He has extraordinarily sharp senses. I wonder if its a boon or a bane. The sense of taste and smell are really hard to fool around with. Every time I cook something, it passes through the strict ( I feel it's too strict)  taste test from Ranjit to show up on the blog.

I signed up for a course in Nutrition in January this year. This was more out of need, as my students at Yoga class have asked me to give them a diet plan to follow. With my formal education in Engineering, I was the wrong person to plan a diet for my students. After a while, I just decided to study Nutrition. Now that I know the basics, I would like to share it with everyone. It is simple and easy, and would help you plan nutritious and healthy meals for your family.

I'm not a nutritionist yet, so please don't take my word as final.

All the content here if not original, will be given credit, with the links to the source. I encourage you to try out the recipes and give me honest feedback, so your comments might prove helpful for others who want to try the recipe.