I Can Cook..

When I was small, my mother used to involve me in her cooking. As a “Puppet” that I would call myself when helping her, my skills were restricted to chopping of vegetables and following the strict instructions of my mother. I would demand the responsibility of cooking an entrée but she would be busy with her own.

So being left with no chance of cooking something for the main course, I would try cooking some sweet dishes or some snacks. Sometimes they would turn out good and my brothers would praise me. The other times I had to finish ‘em myself. I remember this one particular time I attempted to make something called "Mango Fool". It was a recipe from my favorite cookbook (actually the only one I had) which instructed me to whip together fresh Milk cream, Mango puree, sugar and vanilla essence. I used my mom’s mixie and poured the contents into few finest Glasses. I served my brothers but they were not interested in relishing the mango fool. When I tasted it, I didn’t like its thick creamy consistency and finding nobody to buy it I decided to drain it into the wash basin. But then came my father, who seemed to have got a perfect opportunity to teach his daughter the lesson of how not to waste food and how to cook sensible recipes that would actually make good food. So he made me drink that “fool” glass while I was weeping and my brothers laughing at my foolishness. Now when I think of it, I guess it was a good learning experience coz I learnt to mentally visualize and taste the food cooked according to the ingredients and the instructions.

With all the lessons learnt, my culinary passions continued till the end of college by which I had mastered steaming puddings, baking cookies and cakes and frying parathas and pancakes.

Then came a time when I came to Mumbai on my first job posting and I took accomodation in a PG. Here all girls used to cook their own food. And I being alone and new amongst this Mumbai crowd didn’t know where and how to start cooking. I started with simple vegetarian recipes I knew because now I was introduced to a new concept of Vegetarian people who would not eat meat or eggs and could not either bear the smell of it(so unheard in Goa). Later I teamed with another Goan girl who had joined me in my company as a colleague and in my PG as a roomie. Remembering my mother’s basic cooking tip we could cook any vegetable altering either the masalas or the vegetables: “Heat Oil, Add Mustard/Cumin, Add Green chilies and onion, When Onions turn brown add tomato and masalas, Finally add the vegetables”.

My PG roomies in Mumbai and my company colleagues staying with me during my stay in UK also helped me learn multiple Indian recipes which were added to my Indo-Goan cuisine.

On this post, I think it is worth mentioning few words about my famous “Dal Makhani” that I happened to cook once in UK on some random thoughts. My colleagues-cum-friends liked it so much that they did do anything to make me cook it. I was new to this kind of flattery that I received and I must agree that I liked it so much that I would cook it on every request of theirs.

Now when I see my journey as a cook, I believe I can cook. Cooking is something I enjoy doing and forget my life’s tensions and worries. Finally thanks to the notions of my friends who believe I can cook and show others to cook, I am planning of publishing a cookery book “I Can Cook”. I will post a few recipes and wait for your comments to know whether I should really go ahead and give it a try.