What happens when a really bad cook has to start cooking on a daily basis? Chaos, some disastrous attempts and a whole lot of learning. When I was staying with room-mates in Hyderabad, I used to barely get by with some amateurish cooking until we finally gave up and hired a cook to save ourselves. Cut to February 2015... away from India (and along with any prospects of professional cooking help) and faced with having to provide meals at least two times a day not only for myself but also for another hapless soul. What followed was often badly cooked meals, rotis that were more like papads and salt that was sadly missing. Thankfully there were a lot of experienced (not to mention helpful) cooks among my friends here who gave me culinary lessons for which I would be ever grateful. Coupled with ever-dependent Google and the many many cooking blogs, I was finally able to better myself and come up with some dishes that I could be proud of. Luckily, Ashish never complains even if something is not cooked well and the best part is that he is willing to taste all my experiments! So this blog is not about recipes and self-praise, it is merely a collection of some of the dishes that have become favorites over the last year and some stories behind them.
Please forgive the photos... they were not taken with the purpose of being in a blog!
- Peas kochuri... This one is a favorite from my childhood and brings with it memories of home, my Mom and those times when food would magically appear on the table. It reminds me of rainy days which would get brightened up by a plateful of these "kochuris" accompanied by "cholar dal" and "adda". One day while I was feeling particularly homesick and reminiscing about those deliciously crunchy "kochuris" filled with a stuffing of green peas, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Since it was nighttime in India, I could not get my mom on the phone to tell me the recipe so I had to depend on the internet to find a recipe which I would be able to manage. My first attempt wasn't perfect but boy was I excited! The cherry on the cake was definitely the fact that Ashish, who was tasting this dish for the first time, absolutely loved it. Now he often makes special requests for it!
If you want a go at it yourself, you can check it out here.
Peas Kochuri... - Kosha mangsho (Mutton curry)... For Bengalis who love mutton (goat meat), this is a hot favorite preparation of goat meat cooked in onion-ginger-garlic gravy with tomatoes, yogurt and spices cooked in mustard oil. It is understandably extremely rich and very possibly would send you into a meat-coma. Our favorite time of enjoying it is as a Saturday afternoon meal served with plain Basmati rice after which it is almost impossible to remain awake. In another of my childhood food memories, a version of this rich mutton curry used to be prepared in huge quantities on the day after Kali Puja as an offering and its delectable taste still lingers in my mouth. On that occasion, we would eat it with delicious sweet pulao and we would wait year-long just for this amazing dish. This curry is definitely not for those watching their weight... the taste of this dish also lies in the dripping golden mustard oil which is imperative to its taste.
For those who would love a rich, spicy mutton curry, here is your recipe.
Mutton Curry with Jeera Rice - Shrimp fajitas... This one is from my adult life, more specifically from Ashish and my dates in Hyderabad at Chilis' where we would have these delicious sizzling shrimp fajitas. Now I have always been a fan of Mexican food because it is spicy and also because it it served with tasty guacamole and salsa! Florida with its amazing seafood and Mexican options is also a great place to try out fajitas. We had some nice ones at "Two Drunken Goats", a small restaurant by the lovely Riviera Beach. So finally I decided to try it out at home complete with the sides of guacamole and salsa and it has quickly become a favorite. Its also a great option which can be cooked fast and is not too heavy so I run to it when I'm too tired to cook an elaborate meal. Pair it with some chilled beer or a glass of wine and a lovely evening is guaranteed.
Try this out if you are in a mood for some tasty Mexican.
Fajitas with Guacamole & Salsa - Pomfret curry... Every Bengali worth his salt is attached to his daily dose of fishes. In fact, fish is the main thing I was missing from home till I discovered the nearby market where I could get fresh fish. You might wonder why I chose Pomfret (known here as Pompano) over more authentic Bengali fishes. This is because Pomfret is the first fish I bought from that fish market and more importantly because Ashish, who has never liked eating fish, has actually started loving this! The way I enjoy making this is in a light tomato curry which does not overpower the taste of the fish. Also, it is delightful to see your non-Bengali husband struggle with fish-bones. I still help him out by separating the fish from its bones but now he is starting to enjoy chewing the bones and even asks for the head of the fish :)
You can have a go at this simple but tasty dish here.
Pomfret in light tomato gravy - Cakes... From mains to dessert, we have indeed come a long way! Now I have an incredibly incurable sweet tooth and I love cakes and pastries. Though I had made cakes back in India, I mostly had help with them. The first few times I made cakes here, they did not turn out as well as expected (though I still licked the dish clean). I specifically mention cakes here because that is one thing I have practiced many many times during the last year and have finally got the measurements correct! The first cake I made was a marble cake for Ashish's birthday and it wasn't a very good result though I managed to salvage it a bit with some chocolate frosting. Thankfully I have gotten better over the last few times.
For the marble cake, here is the recipe I use.
My most recent attempt was a New Years' cake which I made using cake mix (yes I cheated) and it was delicious!
First attempt at marble cake... 
Red Velvet cake for New Year...
So here was my stories of some simple but tasty dishes I attempted over the last year. It was not professional cooking by any standards but in my book what makes a dish tasty are the memories attached to it. The taste of the food might fade over time but those memories and silly stories last forever.
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