Ripples N Reflections

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Shaken and Stirred.”

This is an interesting prompt because I do like cooking and it is part of my day and life in many many ways.

My affair with cooking started after marriage. As I was just out of Medical College , I had no clue about cooking and had apprised my fiance about this fact. He and I had a pact that we would learn cooking together.  It goes without saying that this momentous decision  was never translated into reality. But I realized that he loved food and home-cooked food at that. To give him his due, he was extremely of my initial “disastrous” attempts.

There was no Uncle Google then and my first culinary teachers were the various cook books that came with my first pressure cooker, food processor etc. The results were sometimes pathetic and would have been funny if they had not brought tears to my eyes. I did not have even a gas stove and toiled over a Kerosene wick stove and a pump stove for my first productions in the kitchen.

It was under these trying circumstances that one fine day, I was told of an impending “party” at home for “just 10 -12 ” people. I was aghast but my husband was confident that I would do just fine. I did not share his enthusiasm or his confidence and had huge butterflies in my stomach. The big day dawned. I started at around 9 in the morning and worked till  5pm when I realized that I was far behind my schedule.  The kitchen looked like a hurricane had visited it, my table was not laid and the house was in a mess. Hubby dear was busy in office and when the bell rang at around 6 pm, I opened it and promptly burst into tears. He was stunned.  Anyways I controlled my tears and made the house and kitchen and myself look as presentable as I could.

The guests arrived. They were all bachelor officers with healthy appetites. Now, one of the dishes on the menu was “Dosa “. When it was  time for dinner , I was told by my enthusiastic guests that all of them wanted only dosas!! The end result was that I made Dosas continuously for over  2 hours. By the time it was my turn, the batter was finished!! But I had some  very happy guests and a very proud and happy husband as well.

So I would rate that as my best attempt at a meal,  given my inexperience at both cooking and hosting guests.

As years went by, cooking assumed several roles for me.

One it is a good way to keep my family happy. It gives me a lot of personal satisfaction when I cook a meal for my family and I do it almost every day. Till date no day is complete unless I make a meal or at least a dish for them. When we entertain, almost the entire meal is usually made by me – I do have help for the preparations but the cooking per se is something I prefer doing myself.

Second I find it a good hobby – I love cooking new dishes and trying out the various cuisines India has to offer. I also try my hand at  a few other cuisines as well. It de-stresses me.

Third, it keeps me in touch with my home and kitchen. It helps me to bond with my children when i make their favorite dishes be it a regular meal or “junk food”. Their sleepovers and get-togethers with friends are more fun when I add my dishes to them. I feel so!! Not very sure  whether they agree!!

These then are a few pics of what I love to make.

Bon Appetit!!