Cullinery Delights

Food makes me happy…. Food is my anti-depressant, my means of celebration, my eternal support. I live to eat… I can’t ever get enough when it comes to food… I am not ashamed of admitting my addiction to food. I believe one can only enjoy food when it has pleased all your senses. Well its actually common sense… You can never resist food that looks delicious, with an aroma that turns you on, which melts in your mouth and tastes like the best thing you have ever had….

My craving for food changes with my mood… Coffee and pakora on a rainy day, mashed potatoes and roasted chicken to boost up my morals, creamy chocolate cakes to celebrate, or simple daal chawal for comfort.

Incidentally, I also enjoy cooking. I learnt to cook completely by the use of common sense and memory. Growing up, I had watched my mother cook everyday. And when I myself started cooking, I found myself doing what she does. Of course, I am not as good as her… Not yet… But like my husband often remarks, I am unbelievably confident about my cooking. You will always hear me saying, oh I make great pulav, or chicken, or mutton, or garlic bread and pasta … So you can imagine the unpleasant surprise I had to bear not once but repeatedly when I goofed up again and again while trying to cook for my in-laws. Yes, it also creates performance anxiety for me.

I guess comparing cooking to performing arts is quite cliché… But that’s how I have always found the exercise of cooking to be… A piece of art brought together painstakingly… It requires tremendous patience, an eye for details, and the courage to walk off the beaten path… What can be more inspiring than creating art which is also edible?

When it comes to cooking, I enjoy the entire process immensely. I have often used it to relax at the end of an exceptional tiring day, or as a source of utmost pleasure in an unbelievably dull time … I find it fascinating as I witness completely unrelated things being concocted into a tasty meal in a matter of a few minutes or hours…. The sight of chicken curry shimmering on the stove, the smell of ghee in peas pulav, the feel of fish fillets as I marinate them for frying… The entire process, right from gathering the ingredients, preparing them, watching over the pot while they blend, fretting over the concoction till the time it is served, is ritualistic for me. And once served, the aroma of spices, the sheer sight of colours starts creating havoc in my brain…. And its time to let loose… And finally, when I have served it, watching my blissful audience lick their fingers gives me that high… yes, nothing pleases me more than to serve or to be served with some mouth watering cuisine on a platter…