---THE COOK---

I have off-late started cooking...not because I wanted to, but because I had no other option mainly because I was now living as a bachelor in one of the fastest growing cities in the country ie.Hyderabad. I moved into this city a little over a month ago and since then have been living in a flat with a very good ad old friend of mine.Since I am not working anywhere as of now (but I intend to as soon as I am done with my coaching), buying food outside everyday makes it a little heavy on the wallet. Initially it's all good but then as we start figuring out how much we are spending on food alone each month- it comes as a small shock...and after a few mathematical calculations (thanks to my engineering background without which I would have required the aid of a calculator ;-) one can easily figure out that cooking our own food is much more economical.So there I was, holding the 'kadhai' in one hand and the lighter in another. I knew the basics of cooking of course...that a chopped vegetable thrown into a mixture of heated oil and some masalas can be cooked into what's called the 'sabzi-fry'.My first attempt to make the ever-favourite ladies-finger fry (bhindi-fry) ended up in a disaster as I ended up adding so much salt to the dish that one small helping of the sabzi that I managed to force down my throat almost made me puke and swore at the various cookery-shows on T.V where the ever-smiling chef always seems to only say 'Namak swaad-anusar' and leaves rookies like me guessing how much that 'swaad-anusar' amount might be. I have since tried several 'veggie fry' dishes and have gradually gotten better and better and even can claim to be an expert in that category now...although only my roomie and I have tasted the food that I cook. Next on my list was the veggies with some gravy. I had absolutely no clue as to what constitutes the gravy. So, I dialled the emergency cook-advice helpline (ie. my mom :-) and she enlightned me on the contents.I am still perfecting my gravies...I'll let you people know when I master that too.Cooking has turned out to be an interesting way to pass my time. And I realize that I kinda enjoy it too. All one needs to cook good food is a little bit of what I like to call the culinary-factor (which almost all mortals possess) and good amounts of patience. Cooking unlike many other tasks takes time and requires patience- the lack of which might only lead-up to a botched dish. So keep rocking and until next time.....
peace out!