Cooking for Dummies

I never imagined myself teaching someone how to cook... and then, offcourse my early days came to my mind. I remember my mom used to make mixed vegetables and boil pasta, fry eggs and mix everything and voila the pasta was ready. and it was one of the yummiest thing in the world. I eternal love for pasta and one of the easiest recipes.. and then, offcourse we (my sis and I) started my hands on Chinese, yet another easiest recipe in the world, boil rice, fry vegetable, boil the curry, add vegetables and its ready... the soups, the donuts, pizza, cakes, brownies, biscuits, nan khatai and now everything is coming back to my mind. The various kitchens I have worked with... and offcourse my mom was always there... she said add this, subtract this, now do this, cut it like this, beta ungli nahin katna... and blah blah.

I remember I was so young and my first lesson in the kitchen was to cut the corriandar, not too small, not too big with no "dandis" and then hand-pick the leaves if need be. And offcourse peeling the peas, cutting tomatoes, onions, and blah blah blah.

I still do it often for my mom, blend this, mix this, add this, and I have done it so many times... "yeh iss main nahin iss main dalna tha..." hahahahaha... I am still a pain for my mom...but she loves it when I help her in the kitchen.

With all these blunders, I have learned alot from the kitchen, what looks good in taste, what shud be added in what quantities, what is the best way to present this, how to cook this.. and with the internet world on my finger tips, the wireless connection and laptop... the laptop goes with me in the kitchen...I add things to my taste and check 3-4 recipes before I do something. The bad experience of cup cakes has made me realize may be my cheese cake wont turn out to be too good.. so it goes until after the weekend.. so I can check the recipes and consistencies properly before I try my hands on it.

The best way for cooking for Dummies is to stand in the kitchen and understand all the masalas, this is the first lesson... you shud know that salt has to be only 1 tea spoon...no matter what u r cooking... and pepper has to be 1 tea spoon too... and please, dont be too generous with chili pepper and red chilies, you may like it but not the others. and vinegar... hmmph... just a drop of it.

You shud be mentally prepared with what U wanna cook and how U want the final product to be. Have a picture in your mind. I like colourful... I like loads of colour and offcourse less oil with less calories, so I keep a check on it. I want it to taste good.. I dont like bland food. I want to feel what I am eating, hence, I keep on checking the taste, while I cook.

Dont over cook, and have patience and time for what U r cooking. Its really important. If U do not have patience, it might not turn out to be great. If you are short on time, avoid cooking or U shud be that good that U can play with the ingredients.

And yes, u shud know how to cut the veggies. Offcourse, have ur knife... you shud have your own chopping board.

Last but not the least, you need to shop ahead and plan ahead. You need to ensure that you have all the ingredients with you.

and best wishes... :)