Good Start...

We were just thinking how we can celebrate the start of the new year!

We are totally nine in number including me here out of which three are married. Six of us are staying in two adjacent apartments. We thought, why not we arrange for a "PotLuck" gathering!? It sounded good! We had an agreement to meet in one of the bachelor's apartment on the New Year afternoon for lunch. Each person must prepare some dishes and bring. And then we would have a collective variety of lunch.

From our apartment we had agreed to prepare Aloo Bajji, Drumstick Sambhar and Vegetable Khurma. It was a different experience. I googled the recipe for Aloo Bajji (Google for Aloo Bajji....sounds funny huh!?) and tried that! Beginner's luck! It came out good if not excellent! Actually it was a collective work with all my inmates involved. More or less, I have become a master in Sambhar these days and it was a cake walk this time. My other colleague prepared the Vegetable Khurma.

The other dishes from other apartment included Vada, Gobi Manchurian, Puri, Vegetable Pulao, Vegetable Biryani, Tamarind Rice, Paratha, Papad and Kesari. It was fully a vegetarian menu! It may sound crazy to write the dishes here, but it would make me feel content when I read this after some time especially when i am lazy to cook and I end with ONLY dhaal and rice! He..he!!

It was a different experience. Not only the variety in dishes, but the variety in persons involved - families, kids, bachelors. Its also like South Indian states coming together - Karnataka, Andhra, Tamil Nadu & Kerala. The families had a chance to taste the bachelors' preparation. And we had a chance to taste theirs. It was fun altogether.

We had a good start! Happy New Year!

Cooking Confessions !

Its been a great cooking experience these days, though painful sometimes. I have been cooking almost all evenings since I landed here last month and I used to cook for the next afternoon too. Its all new for me. I have never been like this. Usually, I dont eat the food cooked the day before. Things had to change now. If I want my native lunch, I had to cook. Well most of the days, I prepare rice and sambhar. Sometimes, I go to a lighter version, Rasam! I have almost tried dumping most of the vegetables in sambhar. One reason is I dont want to waste time cooking a side dish or I am lazy rather. Sometimes, I start cooking sambhar and end up in dhal. Being my only judge, my colleague has no other option...be it tasty or not, he has no way to go. Mostly I get a positive rating on my Sambhar though, the taste is unique each time I cook. :)

I am getting used to the open-heat-eat concept. Whenever I go to the stores, I look for the most possible ready-to-eat dishes that are available. It actually helps when I am very very lazy. :) I now wonder, how my mom got used to this all time cooking activity. Its indeed a tough task in the long run.

Above all, whatever it is, I feel satisfied and content when I eat what I cooked. Its because, when I do something and expect an outcome, my mind tries to console and also appreciate it .

Happy Cooking!

My Experiment with Oats!

Last week, was my first mission towards exploring the culinary skills of mine. Being a lazy bachelor, thought of trying Oats. Bad choice!? Phew…I have never eaten it before. I would have just added Oats with milk and would have tried that. But a thought provoked when I just saw this recipe of making Oats Upma on the cover.

I just blindly followed the instructions given there and I was at the final stage. The Oats Upma was about to get prepared. I just closed the pan with a lid and was waiting for a few minutes to get it cooked. My alter ego was appreciating the way I had started cooking. What a start! It was like inventing a new dish as if the whole world has never heard of. Silly! 3 minutes over, I was back to the cooking world. I had opened the lid to see my product. It was like waiting for the results. Did I get an arrear or cleared off?

I don’t know what should I comment now, Shocked at the first look of my product, was re-looking the recipe. The outcome was kind of a “hygienic gum”. No words to speak or rather I am mute when I tasted it…so sticky!

Mission Success, Launch failed!
Crazy moments!