My kitchen rules!

Being a creative mind in the kitchen with the motivation to cook up a feast is tough, specially when it comes to choosing the right recipe

DEEPA GOPINATH

Ilove to cook. Different cuisines, traditional dishes, modern dishes, traditional dishes with a modern twist. Entrees, mains, desserts….even cocktails! Cooking, in particular baking, is for me not only a release when I’m stressed, but also an excellent procrastination tool when what I really should be doing is proofreading a paper that was due yesterday or cleaning the bathroom. I own a shelf full of cookbooks which are strategically positioned close to the kitchen for convenience. From your basic $5 pasta bible bought at the discount table in a shopping centre to spectacular hardbacks written by celebrity chefs with photography that is almost as delicious as the recipes themselves. From Madhur Jaffery to Masterchef, it’s all there on that shelf, in pristine condition and waiting to be used.

One thing that strikes me about these recipes is the names of the dishes: Spiced Lamb Rack with Herbed Couscous and Pomegranate Dressing; Soy and Sake Scallops with Fuji Apple and Taro Chips; Lemon and Garlic Chicken with Green Beans. My question is, why do the authors feel it’s necessary to include all the main ingredients in the title? I mean, we don’t do this in Indian cooking! I have never, ever gone to my parents’ place and been greeted by my mum saying, “Hello! I have made rasam with tender tomatoes, lentils and coriander!” Nor have I made korma and greeted my husband with, “Today I have made Mixed vegetable curry in a ground cashew base with spices and chapattis”. I guess if us Indians tried to incorporate all the ingredients that go into our intricate dishes in the title of our recipes, our cookbooks would take up more than just the shelf by the kitchen! But I digress……..

Somewhere in a parallel universe, there is a me who has the time to attack this collection of recipes with vigour. That highly organised, efficient me has a 9-5 job that allows her to try a new elaborate recipe every night, master the processes that accompany the more complex recipes, and maybe even cook a fabulous three-course meal for her husband twice a week. Sadly, like many other enthusiastic but time-poor home cooks who are happy enough to put together a wholesome albeit unadventurous meal every night, that me is a pipedream. So I satisfy myself with the occasional burst of experimentation on an infrequent and precious free evening. I generally start by flipping through at least 4 of my favourite cookbooks as well as back issues of food magazines. I look through each book from cover to cover, drooling over the pictures and imagining the flavours in my mind. I linger on my personal favourite, the desserts sections, knowing full well that I have no intention of cooking dessert that day. I run through each recipe in my mind, rejecting many for being too difficult, timeconsuming or requiring ingredients that are hard to find. I do a thorough stock-take of the pantry, and inevitably by then I am quite peckish and hence get distracted by the things I come across. Eventually I make a short list of 3-4 recipes that are not only do-able but satisfy whatever food craving I happen to have at the time, as well being sure to delight my husband. Usually by this time, the sun has set, as if even it can no longer bear to watch me procrastinate.

On these nights, the hubby comes home, fishes me out from the piles of cookbooks on the couch, and stifling his laughter asks, “Takeaway?”

And I, sheepish but always grateful, say, “Okay!” i guess if us indians tried to incorporate all the ingredients that go into our intricate dishes in the title of our recipes, our cookbooks would take up more than just the shelf by the kitchen!

Eventually i make a short list of 3-4 recipes that are not only do-able but satisfy whatever food craving i happen to have at the time, as well being sure to delight my husband.