Trumpet time - On love for cooking.

Fruit Kesari

Sambar

Tomato Chutney

Fried Rice

Eggplant

Plantain with mustard and tamarind

My dad is self employed and slogs till date to pay his bills. My mom is self employed too and slogs to just to do what matters to her - But I, the second among three daughters and a son, along with my other siblings, was brought up like the only child and heir apparent to a vast legacy notwithstanding my parents' working class status. I tell this cause this has relevance to my cooking skills. So till a good decade ago, I did not know much about cooking cause being the Royalty I was, I did not peek into the kitchen when my mom was cooking three meals a day for a brigade that ate like pigs! Not until I was on my own in a foreign country and my innocent husband thought I was as good at cooking as I was at writing baloney in lengthy love letters.

But to his good fortune and my utter surprise, cooking came naturally to me. I realised that I have a culinary intuition and can cook without making an effort to look into a recipe. Thus, I heard my calling - My undiscovered passion which happens to be cooking.

Around this time last year, my long lost and reunited friend Usha visited me and said "you are very lucky because I approve of your cooking." Now we are dealing with a wacko like me, but I being the wacko I was, thought "you are very lucky because you have the fortune of eating what I cook" I am sounding snobbish and full of myself? Aren't I? But I cannot help. I am good at cooking and I know it and am not going to be falsely modest and say I am going to slow-poison you with my preparations. I might have an occasional bad dish to my credit, but I am a lucky cook and 99.9% of the time it clicks.

I also notice that I am not much for simplicity when it comes to cooking. I cannot steam white rice and eat it with curd even if I am dog tired and ready to collapse. I would vote for take out but never compromise for home made maggie noodles or left overs form last weekend. Those left overs become science projects and go into the green waste eventually by the way:-))

So, when I cook it has to be a stuffed paratha, or a pizza made form scratch or a healthy salad doused with processed mustard and vinegar. My sambar should have rightly steamed zucchini and pearl onions and the sambar powder should be a home made one - not the MTR or MDH that is readily available on the grocery isles. My idlis come with two chutneys made of fresh coconut and ginger respectively and piping hot sambar. My stuffed egg plants are all evenly roasted with a homemade stuffing and can be eaten by themselves. My Russian neighbor and best friend Valentina will vouch for this.

Whether it comes to combining cauliflower and okra or making Thai rice just like the take out in Hacienda crossings - I am blessed with the culinary intuition. I take an effort to make them look as good as they taste. I believe that the way veggies are cut effects their taste and cooking is a serious art form - much more complicated and serious than singing, painting or dancing and I love Remy the rat and the whole ratatouille movie since I can so relate with Remy. In fact, I think I am the human version of the rodent.

Ask my friends, my mom in law or just invite yourself over for a meal. I promise, I won't disappoint and you are free to tell me I am lucky since you like my food. I, however, will think you are lucky to have tasted it - but I will not say it aloud. I promise:-))

Picture courtesy - Aarti's mom's Nikon D40x.