Cook books, Coffee Spills, Oil Splatters, Scribbled Notes and Life!
Here I am with this picture which beautifully captures the sum total of my unending love for cooking. I think I was 12 when I watched my first cooking show on DD, guess it was called Daawat. It was love at first sight, as to how simple ingredients came together to make something that looks and tastes delicious. My sisters and I started to change our play to include a mic, tiny vessals, spoons and bowls of ingredients and thereby creating pretend cookery shows. We took turns to be the cook and the anchor. Mom used to chuckle at our creativity, little did she know that we were taking it seriously.
Slowly we secretly got into the kitchen, when mom and dad stepped out. We started off with dosa, maaladu and some safe play recipes like the humble but deeply satisfying potato fry (which would be edible however badly cooked!) The spilt milk, flour, oil stains on the kitchen floor often gave us up and made mom go mad, but she never discouraged us after. We slowly graduated to reading cooking tips and recipes on magazines and newspapers.
Dad’s work required us to relocate every 3-4 years to different towns to different branches of his organization. We met new people and tasted different cuisines, which spiked our cooking interests and creativity. As we are three girls at home and we always had guests at home, we had all the opportunities to help mom cook, set the table, help in cleaning up and act like mini hosts.
We lived in Madurai for the longest and settled down there when we were in senior school. Most of our relatives were in Tuticorin, and the nearest big town is ours, so from medical consultations, school/college admissions, job relocations, wedding arrangements and Diwali shopping, this is where our folks were headed. This also meant overnight stay or at least a meal in our home. However small our home was, our parents made sure our guests were treated well, fed well and felt at home . We three watched and learnt it from them. I think till today, we three are known for being great hosts and decent cooks, all thanks to them!
We grew up and so did the opportunities to fine tune our cooking skills. From Star TV, Asianet and Sun TV (and its offspring channels), we saw more cooking shows not giving a damn about the language it was presented in. Mom became an entrepreneur and Dad was working full time, which meant more responsibilities for us kids. Akka and I started preparing meals and sharing household chores and baby -sitting our little sister. Family started eating our food and it gave a huge boost to our confidence and we started to experiment.
Akka got married right after her B.Sc and lived in a big joint family. She had to learn /unlearn and adapt to the cooking in her new household. Her cooking took a huge turn there. Now I had the kitchen for myself when mom wasn’t around. I watched mom cook the most perfect non vegetarian dishes and what she secretly added to give that perfect finish was all getting evident to me. Through all the years of graduation and post graduation, I learnt it all from her, akka, my aachi and aunts. It is indeed our family’s way to teach girls cooking before marriage and mom very rightly did that for us. I am thankful for all the trust she had in us to feed the family and guests.
I moved to Chennai soon after and was residing with my grand uncle and aunt. Aunt is from SriLanka, and that made me say hello to Ceylon cooking! I was blown over by her culinary skills and the deliciousness that emerged from her hand. This is where I was introduced to the super thin and silky string hoppers, prawn and drumstick gravy, sambal, coconut based gravies and the most aromatic pandan leaf (ramba elai) dishes. She even had a plant I recall.
I switched jobs and said Namaskara Bengaluru! Rented a flat for the first time, shared it another friend. Cooking now meant, planning – from buying groceries, veggies, meat, cooking, cleaning up and saving money in this entire process. Now this was a whole new paradigm, from the spotless kitchen at home along with a filled fridge and larder, we are now talking about budget, limited vessals, time crunch and sharing chores. Every day was a learning process, especially on how to use up left overs, transformation dishes aka start with a dish, lose track midway (screw up) and end up in another, etc.
As I was getting used to this life, marriage was arranged! Next big milestone. Thankfully it was my second cousin, so he wasn’t a stranger after all. He was with a bank had travelled far and wide within India, which meant he knew how to cook! So we shared the cooking, his time in Hyderabad and Calcutta impacted our daily menu and he also enjoyed eating out, experimenting different cuisines. Thanks to our strategically placed home in Koramangala, most eateries were just a stone’s throw. Our tummies were that deeply satisfied with all that food intake that they grew in size happily!
Another job, back to Chennai. Blessed with children and life experiences. From cooking for kids, and eating up left overs, making their food as ours, our journey continued. In between all these years, I travelled a lot, to different countries for work. When I travelled, that was when I got introduced to the yummy world of global cuisine – Mongolian kitchens, steak houses, red lobster seafood , chipotle mex cuisine, p.f.changs lettuce wraps , chick fil a chicken, cinnabon cinnamon buns, deep dish Chicago pizzas, tiny restaurants in wineries, street food in NYC, the Korean Bibimbap, Chendol, Chilli crab and Curry Puffs in Singapore, Nasi lemak , roti canai and the most delicious tea served in almost beer mug sized glasses in roadside shops in Malaysia, Shawarma, Manakish, Knafeh in the Middle East, etc. There is so much to mention, as it is ,this is a long post, still mentioned those that are top on my list.
As much as I enjoyed the local food wherever I was stationed, I must admit that I carried my pressure cooker, kadhai and cooking staples in my check in baggage to not lose touch and satisfy the humble cravings like paruppu saadham and channa masala. Travel made me what I am today, the learning of the world and above all learning about oneself and how we can manage challenges in life alone.
Just when we thought, we should move to the US, came the offer to move to the UK. Also hit the year 37 milestone and started thinking I should eat what is good for our soul and body rather than just what tastes good. Healthy cooking side of me took over and started little by little and still going on! Thanks to God, all along, touch wood, family and I have had good health! Husband and I take turns to cook and we are also teaching our boys (aged 14 and 4).
In this incredible journey of life, filled with surprises and expectations some met and some not, came the habit of scribbling down recipes, cooking tips, photocopying magazine recipes, blogging my recipes, food photography, watching master chef, food network, khana kazana, youtube recipes, instagram recipes, collecting cooking books, eating healthy - podcasts, TED talks, sharing my recipes, I have grown!
P.S. Some of the recipes in the pic, are more than 15 years old. I have many more cook books in India, this is just a fraction of the collection.
Here I am with this picture which beautifully captures the sum total of my unending love for cooking. I think I was 12 when I watched my first cooking show on DD, guess it was called Daawat. It was love at first sight, as to how simple ingredients came together to make something that looks and tastes delicious. My sisters and I started to change our play to include a mic, tiny vessals, spoons and bowls of ingredients and thereby creating pretend cookery shows. We took turns to be the cook and the anchor. Mom used to chuckle at our creativity, little did she know that we were taking it seriously.
Slowly we secretly got into the kitchen, when mom and dad stepped out. We started off with dosa, maaladu and some safe play recipes like the humble but deeply satisfying potato fry (which would be edible however badly cooked!) The spilt milk, flour, oil stains on the kitchen floor often gave us up and made mom go mad, but she never discouraged us after. We slowly graduated to reading cooking tips and recipes on magazines and newspapers.
Dad’s work required us to relocate every 3-4 years to different towns to different branches of his organization. We met new people and tasted different cuisines, which spiked our cooking interests and creativity. As we are three girls at home and we always had guests at home, we had all the opportunities to help mom cook, set the table, help in cleaning up and act like mini hosts.
We lived in Madurai for the longest and settled down there when we were in senior school. Most of our relatives were in Tuticorin, and the nearest big town is ours, so from medical consultations, school/college admissions, job relocations, wedding arrangements and Diwali shopping, this is where our folks were headed. This also meant overnight stay or at least a meal in our home. However small our home was, our parents made sure our guests were treated well, fed well and felt at home . We three watched and learnt it from them. I think till today, we three are known for being great hosts and decent cooks, all thanks to them!
We grew up and so did the opportunities to fine tune our cooking skills. From Star TV, Asianet and Sun TV (and its offspring channels), we saw more cooking shows not giving a damn about the language it was presented in. Mom became an entrepreneur and Dad was working full time, which meant more responsibilities for us kids. Akka and I started preparing meals and sharing household chores and baby -sitting our little sister. Family started eating our food and it gave a huge boost to our confidence and we started to experiment.
Akka got married right after her B.Sc and lived in a big joint family. She had to learn /unlearn and adapt to the cooking in her new household. Her cooking took a huge turn there. Now I had the kitchen for myself when mom wasn’t around. I watched mom cook the most perfect non vegetarian dishes and what she secretly added to give that perfect finish was all getting evident to me. Through all the years of graduation and post graduation, I learnt it all from her, akka, my aachi and aunts. It is indeed our family’s way to teach girls cooking before marriage and mom very rightly did that for us. I am thankful for all the trust she had in us to feed the family and guests.
I moved to Chennai soon after and was residing with my grand uncle and aunt. Aunt is from SriLanka, and that made me say hello to Ceylon cooking! I was blown over by her culinary skills and the deliciousness that emerged from her hand. This is where I was introduced to the super thin and silky string hoppers, prawn and drumstick gravy, sambal, coconut based gravies and the most aromatic pandan leaf (ramba elai) dishes. She even had a plant I recall.
I switched jobs and said Namaskara Bengaluru! Rented a flat for the first time, shared it another friend. Cooking now meant, planning – from buying groceries, veggies, meat, cooking, cleaning up and saving money in this entire process. Now this was a whole new paradigm, from the spotless kitchen at home along with a filled fridge and larder, we are now talking about budget, limited vessals, time crunch and sharing chores. Every day was a learning process, especially on how to use up left overs, transformation dishes aka start with a dish, lose track midway (screw up) and end up in another, etc.
As I was getting used to this life, marriage was arranged! Next big milestone. Thankfully it was my second cousin, so he wasn’t a stranger after all. He was with a bank had travelled far and wide within India, which meant he knew how to cook! So we shared the cooking, his time in Hyderabad and Calcutta impacted our daily menu and he also enjoyed eating out, experimenting different cuisines. Thanks to our strategically placed home in Koramangala, most eateries were just a stone’s throw. Our tummies were that deeply satisfied with all that food intake that they grew in size happily!
Another job, back to Chennai. Blessed with children and life experiences. From cooking for kids, and eating up left overs, making their food as ours, our journey continued. In between all these years, I travelled a lot, to different countries for work. When I travelled, that was when I got introduced to the yummy world of global cuisine – Mongolian kitchens, steak houses, red lobster seafood , chipotle mex cuisine, p.f.changs lettuce wraps , chick fil a chicken, cinnabon cinnamon buns, deep dish Chicago pizzas, tiny restaurants in wineries, street food in NYC, the Korean Bibimbap, Chendol, Chilli crab and Curry Puffs in Singapore, Nasi lemak , roti canai and the most delicious tea served in almost beer mug sized glasses in roadside shops in Malaysia, Shawarma, Manakish, Knafeh in the Middle East, etc. There is so much to mention, as it is ,this is a long post, still mentioned those that are top on my list.
As much as I enjoyed the local food wherever I was stationed, I must admit that I carried my pressure cooker, kadhai and cooking staples in my check in baggage to not lose touch and satisfy the humble cravings like paruppu saadham and channa masala. Travel made me what I am today, the learning of the world and above all learning about oneself and how we can manage challenges in life alone.
Just when we thought, we should move to the US, came the offer to move to the UK. Also hit the year 37 milestone and started thinking I should eat what is good for our soul and body rather than just what tastes good. Healthy cooking side of me took over and started little by little and still going on! Thanks to God, all along, touch wood, family and I have had good health! Husband and I take turns to cook and we are also teaching our boys (aged 14 and 4).
In this incredible journey of life, filled with surprises and expectations some met and some not, came the habit of scribbling down recipes, cooking tips, photocopying magazine recipes, blogging my recipes, food photography, watching master chef, food network, khana kazana, youtube recipes, instagram recipes, collecting cooking books, eating healthy - podcasts, TED talks, sharing my recipes, I have grown!
P.S. Some of the recipes in the pic, are more than 15 years old. I have many more cook books in India, this is just a fraction of the collection.
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