Cooking!! What?

Through my teenage days, I have been good at different things. Cooking was never one of them. I wouldn't really say I wasn't good at it. The truth is, I never felt the need to cook. Growing up in a house where mummy cooks the yummiest recipes and to have an elder sister to fill in when mom isn't around is a perfect setting to escape the kitchen. 

Of course I knew how to make the eternal maggi noodles, dal(pulses)-chaval(rice) or the special omelette. And my dad always claimed that the tea I made was excellent :) With his encouragement, and thanks to 4 years of the occasional hostel and the 5 years of living on my own I slowly did start to learn the basics. But again, I always got super experienced "cookers" as my roomies and thus never felt like exploring my cooking skills.

And then came marriage... No more roomies, no more mom and sis. Just one hungry husband :) 

It has been almost 1 year since I have been married, and I have to say I now actually LOVE cooking. I regularly experiment with desserts and mallu (kerala) dishes. And I am amazed that this is the same girl who would prefer cornflakes for dinner rather than having to cook :)

Here are my quick tips for any beginner :)

1. Always keep the following handy

a) Chat masala: This adds the yummiest tangiest flavor to any dish. Chat masala is normally associated with masala papads and bhel/chaats. But add this masala to bhaajis (vegetable dry dishes like pulses or potato/cauliflower) to transform it. 

b)Pepper Powder: Sometimes you feel like having something spicy and end up adding so much of chilly powder that its tough to digest :) Pepper is great and can be added in increasing quantities to any cooked dish according to spice levels.

2. Add less salt while cooking. The level of salt required depends on person to person and you can always add more salt later. But it is very tough to make a dish less salty!

3. The base to most of the Indian dishes is a variation of sautéed onions with mustard seeds, green chilly, ginger-garlic and curry leaves. It is as simple as that!

4. Coconut milk is a rescuer especially for meat preparations. Add tomatoes and a little extra masala with the base in step 4 along with the milk and meat to make one of the yummiest curries.

and finally

5. Never stop to experiment. Cooking is an art. You are either naturally gifted or you acquire the skills. Either way, experimenting and tasting your innovations is very rewarding. 

Oh, by the way the picture above is that of the chicken biryani I prepared with the help of my dear Gubbu :)

Hungry?? Get some fun and healthy recipes at http://yaylearner.blogspot.com/2012/10/homemade-pizza-yum-healthy-toppings_10.html

Enjoy! :)