Statutory warning: The article is meant for people with tolerance…towards hot and spicy food.
I am a bi-city-resident. During the week, I live in one city where I work and on Thursday nights I return to another city, where I live untill Monday morning. Whoever discovered the ´WFH (working from home)´ concept, I bow down in front of him/her. Working from home on Fridays makes it a little better for the bi-city-residents like me. After living in a hotel during the week, I can´t wait to wake up at my home on Fridays, well, I don’t really wait to wake up, but you know what I mean. Waking up is invariably greeted by 2 statements from the husband:
- Good morning
- What´s there for breakfast?
I am not sure which comes first. But the enthusiasm surely comes with the breakfast question. Of course it does not stop here. This golden question repeats itself for Lunch-time, snacks-time and Dinner-time. Food! I don’t agree with Maslow´s hierarchy of needs when it comes to Food; in my pyramid, it resides in the bottom, makes its presence felt strongly in the middle and also forms a part of the self-actualization, right at the pinnacle.
If Food is a fence, the eater and the cook fall on the either sides, they also can be on the same side, but not the novices like me. Pampered at (parents´) home, backed by a strong excuse of studies, parents kept me away from the kitchen and I happily stayed that way. Later in life, dating my then boyfriend and now husband got us relishing various cuisines in different restaurants in the city. I loved to eat, he lived to eat. I bonded with the best. Marriage introduced me to the passionate-cook-side of the husband. My cooking (up) was limited to stories. And then I began to cook. Calling up mom, aunts, recipes on the internet came for rescue; measures like tea spoon, table spoon were instrumental in making the basic Daal, rice, potato curry palatable. Visiting my in-laws´ place in Kerala was a treat to the taste buds and heavy on self-expectations. Mom-in-law is a fabulous cook, whatever she makes tastes exceptionally good, every time. ´Kaipunyam´ (meaning ´magic of hand´ or ´golden touch´ in Malayalam) defines her cooking. The benchmark of her cooking is so high, that I gave up even the thought of reaching it with a sigh! I am good at mathematics and my cooking vouches for it, there´s no art in my cooking, but it ensures that the one living with me does not sleep hungry. Period. But wanting to savour tasty food has nothing to do with the capability to cook. So, the exotic dishes like Biryani see me doing the sous-chef tasks, while the Husband dons the chef´s hat.
Indian food! Be it meat, seafood or vegetarian, when blended with spices, takes it to another level altogether.
Mustard seeds crack up with the hot-tempered oil,
Cumin seeds blush and turn pink,
hing (asafetida) plays a remarkable cameo,
Clove spreads love,
Cardamom and Cinnamon, inform even the neighbours about what´s going on,
with Curry leaves, the fragrance seldom leaves,
Crushed black pepper, you are so hot, my dear!
A good Teamwork always gets the best out of the individuals and here we are talking about the symphony of these spices, the end product is no less than a melody. I recently watched a stand-up comedian on Facebook making fun of Indian tourists carrying their ´dhana-jeera´ (Coriander seeds and cumin seeds) even to the foreign countries. Roger that. We love our spices and they follow us wherever we go, just like one telecom service provider promises. These spices also got our country into trouble for 150 years, as they attracted some foreign rulers. In my first blog, I wrote about how difficult it is to speak on behalf of all Indians, since we are so diverse. But if at all I can find some commonness in the diversity, it is the love for Food and spices. The cuisines are prominently varied across India. But ´delicious´ sums up each. Festivals are synonymous to feasts. Food time calls for family time. Neighbours pass on special dishes. Pizzas, pastas, noodles, burgers are ´indianized´. Some take lunchbox to office from home, Dabbawalas ensure that home cooked food reaches some and nearby canteen/mess takes care of the rest. A good spread of buffet in a restaurant attracts office team lunch; icebreaking sessions happen over drinks and dinner. Five star hotels are known for their specialty dishes, street food stalls are more famous catering to a larger crowd. Banana leaf is the bio-plate, no fork-spoon, relish the food with hands instead. A newly wed girl tries to learn MIL´s recipes, also impresses her new family by her grandmother´s recipe. Food breaks ice, bonds people, makes memories, makes one nostalgic, spreads happiness; feeding the stomach seems just a coincidence!
By the way, while I was doing Yoga last morning, I overheard the husband getting ´prawn-pickle-recipe´ from MIL. It´s a ´family-secret´, so I am not allowed to leak the recipe. But with due permission, posting some glimpses of the whole episode. I did Yoga, but he´s the one who achieved Nirvana. :-)
