To cook or not to cook

(This article is dedicated to my Mother and all the live human beings who had to eat what I cooked.)

Since the time I was in college, my Mom was after my life to teach me cooking. And I was always finding an excuse to procrastinate it. Well, I always used to think that it isn’t such a big deal to cook something. Plus, I had this snobbish attitude that I would be so well off in my career that I would always afford a cook. You just have to cut some vegetables, fry some onions in oil, throw in a variety of masalas, some salt to taste and voila – the vegetable is readyJ. Making rice was even simpler – just wash the rice, add water, keep it in the cooker, and do not forget the whistle. In about fifteen minutes, the rice is ready. Making chapattis is a bit more difficult – but manageable. You take some flour, mix some water in it, and make the dough till it is not too sticky. If it does become quite sticky, then you add more flour, and then if there’s too much of flour you add more water, more flour, more water, repeat the process till the dough is perfect. Caution: Make sure you have enough flour left for the next day.

Well, all my theories about cooking came crashing down when I tried my hand at it. I sometimes blame my sharp memory, for it remembers all my cooking misfortunes. When I made chapattis, my brother studied Geography. He used to identify the country from the chapatti map. Or the chapatti used to turn out similar to a papad and used to make a horrible cracking sound. Once, my Mom had asked me to keep the rice in the pressure cooker. I blindly kept the rice inside without checking if there was water in the utensil. We had to settle for brown rice. My Dad always supported me by eating whatever I cooked. But even he had his limits. Mom had enough with me. She had almost given up. She used to fret a lot about my future after I got married.

Luckily, I met my Mr. Right who was very caring and understanding. Immediately after marriage, I convinced my husband that it will be difficult for me to get up early in the morning and cook. And so, we hired a cook. When the cook took a leave, we settled for Maggi noodles. And yes, we even took a life-time membership of a nearby restaurant. Well, I am not totally hopeless. I did cook some nice dishes for my husband. But still, cooking never was my passion. I had never imagined that I would ever cook on a regular basis. But, fate had something else in store for me. My husband had to come to the US, and I was supposed to join him after a month. We had decided to share an apartment with another couple.

I arrived in US with a dread in my heart about my cooking skills. Unfortunately, there’s no concept of a cook, and everyone has to take turns to cook. I don’t exactly remember the first dish that I cooked here, but I do remember that nobody liked it. Everyday, I tried in vain to do something right. But, I was good at nothing. For starters, I was not comfortable cutting vegetables with a knife and used to spend hours cutting it. The vegetables I made either contained too much spice and salt, or were very bland. Once, I spent close to two hours cooking the pulav only to find out that the rice was under cooked. Even the tea I made was never right. My husband always used to praise whatever I cooked, but that was only because of his love for me. I was filled with shame and anger at myself for having wasted all the years when I could have learnt cooking. I resolved that I would take an interest and improve my cooking.

It was not that I did anything differently, but since the day my heart decided to have a passion for cooking, things happened differently. I improved my cutting speed and became careful while using spices. I tried vegetables with paneer, mushroom, sprouts, and some simple vegetable recipes. The daal I made started to taste decent, if not delicious. I ensured that whatever I cooked pleased me before serving it to others. After I started cooking good vegetables, I turned my attention to making chapattis. I observed my male friend everyday, making perfect-round chapattis in no time. I saw to it that I mixed the flour perfectly. I practiced making round chapattis. My friends started liking what I cooked and this gave me immense encouragement. I started reading cooking blogs and books. I studied tips and tricks to cook faster.

It is not true that I became an expert cook overnight. It’s just that I am improving day-by-day. I still fail at some of the things I make. But, there is a definite improvement. For someone like me who hardly used to enter the kitchen, I look forward to spend more time, experimenting with new stuff. I love it when my kitchen is filled with different aromas. My message to people like me would be – it doesn’t hurt to take an interest in cooking. You can manage a career and be a great cook too. For those who have not yet learnt cooking, it is never too late to start. Believe me, you will feel like a magician when a simple, innocent-looking vegetable turns out to be a delicious meal.

It is true that the path to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Since the day I started cooking delicious food, my husband loves me double!