Me and Cooking...

I have always been asked this question - why don't I cook? It’s not like I don’t like cooking or I cannot cook, just that I am not built for cooking.

My elaborate cooking procedure usually begins with getting the menu straight for the evening. The list invariably includes potato fry and tomato rasam with rare inclusions of other curries. If I am not permitted to work with potato or the rasam, then the menu automatically transforms into my personal wish list that includes chana choley and fried rice. No other items will be entertained or be included for that day anymore.

After the menu is finalized, I begin with the cutting and peeling activities. This is always accompanied by Reshammiya's Jarring soundtracks on my PC or ESPN football commentaries on the TV. Every peeler and knife, of every size possibly available in the kitchen will be used for this process. When this process nears its completion, I begin with checking for the right utensil to cook. I can never guess the right one for the quantity I am working on. I end up using almost everything that’s not already in the sink for washing. My idea of frying is that you should know that it’s fried even without looking at the item. The burnt smell should give you an idea of how fried the potatoes are. At a strategic point of time dumping a few teaspoons of rasam powder in tomato paste or diced tomatoes boiled in water for more than 15 mins gives you an apetite that you will remember for years or the next day morning for sure.

So after all this is over in about 2 hours time, the kitchen loses its charm and appeal and no longer resembles what it used to be when I started cooking that evening.

Now with all of this said, do you still think I am built for cooking. I wouldn’t think so. Instead I always offer my help outside the kitchen, over the dining table where you give the cook the satisfaction of the greatest meal ever cooked by finishing off everything that is being served that evening.