I call myself a foodie yet I hate cooking. Or so I thought. Like a hundred different things which changed my life or were changed overnight in my life in 2017, I took to the kitchen and began to try learning this life skill. Before you think of me as some "ultra-modern feminazi" or whatever terms you have of the kind, let me tell you that I know a lot many people who are foodies but not good cooks. And the reason why I hated cooking was because of
1. My lack of patience, and
2. I don't subscribe to the notion that cooking is a woman's job.
If Gen X people want to get us interested in cooking, they should not bring in the dreaded "sasural" (in-laws place) in the middle. Maybe, then, most of us would take a keen interest. Every other thing in a woman's life is not to be related to her life post marriage. In my case, that attitude is what kept me away from the kitchen. Not gonna do it just because all women are supposed to do it.
Anyway, now that I have begun, I, like many of my friends, find it good enough if not yet a "cathartic experience". Of course, I am still not patient enough to understand which masala has to go first and which later. I am yet to diffrentiate between the spices. And I am always extra careful with salt. Yet, it is a start. The last time me and my partner had a good chat over drinks, he told me it'd be better if, as a food blogger if not anything else, I learn a bit of cooking. He cooks well; his family prizes self-sufficiency over everything else. And the result is astounding!
Below are the simple yet amazing dishes cooked by none other than fashion designer Lipsa Hembram, founder of the label Galang Gabaan.
Like pretty much everything else in life, one has to start small and not invite the whole khandan over when you cook! I started with something as mundane and simple as Anda Bhurji. I was using all of my strength to break eggs. Thanks to the overtly sexist society, I am habituated to compete with men everywhere. So, I began treating brittle eggs like solid bricks. Almost all things break when you are a little gentle! Yeah, I know! Cooking gives you life advice too.
My next stop had to be Fish - my all time favourite. Though my mom still had to supervise me over spices and the deep frying that refrigerated fish needed, I completed it all. To complement it with some fried rice, I managed to convince mom to allow me to cook that too. Cool enough, no? Someone who'd run away from kitchen the moment she was asked to help is now insisting on cooking herself.
I have always found men who cook to be amazingly sexy! Its the biggest turn on. And I find they cook with such passion and talk about it the way one talks about their profession or the person they love. And men who cook rarely disappoint women.
My food partner loves to cook. So does my dad. My brother can cook too. And hence, if I meet a guy passionate about cooking, I get easily attracted to him. Though I am yet to taste anything cooked especially for me! That can supersede love-making too, I suppose. Putting in that much effort in cooking for someone you love supersedes everything!
So, what's cooking in your kitchen?