Monday, June 13, 2011

My journey as a cook

I was the youngest in the family and my mother never let me cook. When I was in college my mother tried me to teach cooking but my father resisted me to do that. He told me not to waste my time doing other things apart from my studies. At home I had experience of cooking only couple of times. According to my father the foods were delicious. I remembered that when I cooked for the first time he became so overwhelmed that he called our relatives to tell them that for the very first time I happened to cook so well. When I was working in another city far from my hometown I used to live with my elder sister. She never allowed me to cook. She always feared that I would burn my hands. So I’ve never been an expert cook.
First attept to make biriyani

I started to cook seriously after my marriage. I came to USA just after 15 days of my marriage. I could still remember the very first day when we shifted to the apartment from the hotel my husband suggested cooking himself. I readily agreed with him as I knew he was a very good cook. I offered him to help, so he asked me to cut a potato which was the easiest thing to do. But for doing that I cut my finger. That time there was no antiseptic or cotton at home. So he put his aftershave on the wound and bound that with tissue.  That was the very first experience in kitchen after marriage.  I still remember the day was 13th December, 2007. My husband ridiculed me on that day. I didn’t tell him anything. However I knew that one day I could cook delicious dishes.  From very next day I started cooking though I couldn’t cook good dishes that time. Those days I used to cut my own hand every day while cutting vegetables. Also every day while eating I could find the flaws in my cooking.  But every day I used to try my best to improve my cooking. I used to discuss with my best friend about cooking. We used to exchange recipes. Even today I discuss about cooking with my best friend. My friend and I always share our good and bad experience about our cooking.  We used to exchange kitchen tips every day. Now I moved to another area far from the previous. Now we talk over the phone once in every week and discuss about our cooking. We used to become very excited when any of us cooked any delicious dish. By this way I learned many recipes. In early days I used to ask my mother or my mother-in-law for preparing some typical Bengali dishes. Gradually i started consulting the cooking sites in internet. By this way I learned cooking.
For party at home


Green banana Kofta

When I came to USA my husband told me that sometimes there would be a need to invite friends for parties. First time I was not at all confident to cook. That time my husband used to help me in cooking. In fact he cooked mutton. I cooked the other dishes. That was in December 2007. Though first time i faced difficulties in cooking for many people, but after that there was no looking back. I remembered once my best friend threw a party on her husband’s birthday and she cooked for 24 people. After the party my husband asked me whether I could do the same. I couldn’t answer that time because I was not confident to do that. Although that time I couldn’t answer to my husband but I made up mind to achieve that.
Samosa

Four years have passed after marriage. Now I can cook almost everything. Not only Indian Dishes but also some dishes from other countries. Now when people appreciate my cooking ability I feel very pleased. I wanted to become a good cook and I achieved that. I don’t face any problem now for cooking for many people, rather sometimes my husband asks me not to take loads. But now I don’t feel any load to cook for many people.
After my marriage I tried to cook my husband’s favorite dishes. All red meats and all spicy foods are always my husband’s favorites.  However with time I made many changes in our eating habit. Currently I rarely cook red meat. I introduced fruits and other healthy foods. I have cut down eating and dining out. Though my husband always complains for these restrictions but I know for healthy life style I need to do that. As my husband is a complete foodie sometimes I cook spicy dishes.
I love cooking and I love to experiment different dishes and I hope I will continue to do so in future.
Paatisapta(Sweet dish)

6 comments:

manideepa said...

krishna , khub sundor likhecho..

Linas said...

Congratulations! It was quite a journey- but you succeeded very well. Hoping that your kitchen fires will burn brightly for ever!

Shila said...

Good food will improve your emotional health...

khabar janyo baNcha, not a vice versa.. :)

Unknown said...

dekho re nayan mele
khabar er ki bhahar....
Proud of u my darling sis......
remember,in Mumbai we used to cook together....

Munai said...

khub sundor lekha hoyeche krishna,,,,,

Suma Gandlur said...

I think everyone start their culinary journey in a similar fashion. :)
And regarding your question about the readymade dosa flour. I have never used it but guessing that rice and urad dal are the main ingredients. If that is the case, you can probably add water and salt and prepare a batter of dosa consistency. Let it ferment overnight and prepare dosas the next day.
Or you can prepare dosas without fermenting the batter and see how it works.

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