Well it was a pleasant Sunday and I finally decided to undergo a gastronomical Challenge,thankfully it turned out really nice,Good beginning for a bachelor or rather too early.Though i do like the Masterchef series and i will admit that some of the moves are inspired by the chefs who come on AIR. Having cooked earlier during my 2 year stint@kota I did not face too many challenges for the task as being a foodie I
keep intervening in the household chores of cooking and on Sunday when the task
was to cook a full meal,I was pleased, apart from doing most of the cooking
for lunch I even prepared the breakfast.
The simplest and the best-light fried bread Pakoras with curd and
tomato sauce.
For the lunch I thought of preparing beans(sabzi) as they are rich in
lean vegetable protein, tamarind flavoured daal(lentils), Roti (the indian map shape),Rice and Mango flavoured curd
shake for dessert.
Challenges:
1.Something that has always been challenging for me is making a round
or at least close to any geometrical shape of chapati, but I always end up
forming a new Indian map out of the dough. However with little help from mom I
was finally able to bake them till golden brown perfection.
2.Early morning I had a burnt tongue due to immediately sipping hot tea
and thus couldn't pre-taste my food so instead of salt I garnished the
vegetable with tomato sauce which already comes with a balanced blend of salt
and spices .Furthermore if anyone later wanted salt like my mom did, they could
add salt according to their tastes but finally it was just my mom!
3.My younger brother doesn’t like eating mangoes but he loves milk
products like cheese, youghurt and ice-creams so just to feed him both healthy
as well as his favorite ice cream, I amazed my brother by mixing curd with
mangoes and finally fed him by calling it melted mango ice-cream. Everyone
liked it and it really complemented the entire meal instead of the raita
everyday.
Looks and Taste:
●
Being a vegetarian, I always love anything
green served on my table and so today’s main vegetable ,the bean-potato sabzi
looked really well and more importantly it had a rich carbohydrate content so
good in the early winters
●
I love my Mom’s regular daal(lentils),but
today I gave my own touch to the taste by adding tamarind water similar to the
one used in sambhar ,afraid earlier but father later said-”It’s tastes really
good for a change” fuming mom.
●
I kept the rice rather simple as after many
experiments I conclude that keeping it simple in itself is the biggest
challenge as a little overheating can make it sticky and spoil the mood.
●
Dessert: Europe shouldn't remove its ban on
import of the king of fruits: Mangoes from our country as then we will be
spoiled with lots of mangoes at cheap rates. I love mangoes and think of them
as a Synonym to summers. It is something one can use in many different forms
,even the seed doesn’t go as a waste as pickles are made from them. Today I
made a mixture/shake of curd and mangoes instead of Raita to tease the
scrotching summer heat. It perfectly complemented the simple lunch and everyone
was happy and later busy finding a nearby place to rest their tummies.
●
A perfect Sunday!
