The "cooker" in me!

"How many whistles?"
That would always be my question, when my mom told me to turn off the gas. I never remembered how many whistles for the damn yellow, black or green daal or rajma it took.

Eventually, after not having mastered the "whistling act", i packed my bag, with my numerous black tees, a pink floyd frame and 2 plates, 2 kators, 3 spoons and 2 pans, all ready to conquer Bombay.

Well i got into an appt in Andheri with a Bong for a roomie and 2 christian girls and a Bihari girl for flatmates. I was feeling pretty good with all the recipes i knew (precisely 2, egg bhurji and maggi). Everybody cooked and felt feminine on Sundays, while i scrubbed the pots later, to add my two bit. My egg bhurji wasn't quite the dish that rocked anyone's world and Maggi apparently is embedded into our DNAs. Well well, thank God, they only cooked on weekends, don't think i could have taken the "pressure".

My Sacred Recipe Book

3 years later, a flat to my self and a new boyfriend in hand (my husband now), i had made quite a stride and was now also cooking, hold your breath, K H I C H A D I, which incidentally also takes whistles. So we spent weekends drinking, eating khichadi of the varied kinds, drinking with friends and also feeding them khichadi. Since roting apparently works, in time my ears were tuned to whistling.

From khichadi to now its been an adventurous journey - coming far enough to feel at home with cooking...It not just a hobby but a passion!!

This blog is dedicated to my husband, Faisal, for cutting diagonal and diamond shaped vegies, for making the perfect morning tea everyday, for watching cookery shows with me, for being ever enthusiastic deciding what i should try this weekend and most importantly, for eating the horrible lemon chicken i made. A small part (about 5 %) is dedicated to my friends, for being crazy about the punjabi daal and Chicken pie. Thanks for being so drunk when you eat at home, you donno how much i experiment on you guys!

So my final take is, "There is a cooker in all of us, some just take more whistles to eventually release the aromas!!"