Well, I'm back after a long time...Its been a hectic month...almost done with my first semester(finnaaallly!!)...time flies...hmmmm
Well coming to question of being busy for such a long time...U might ask any student in grad school about the work load...all of them will say, "iv got too many assignments!", "im too busy"..."grad school is hectic"...yada..yada..blah..blah...wellllll, all of them are lieing....
Hmmmmm...Not entirely of course..work in grad school is like being constipated(forgive my disgusting comparison, let me explain).....u put in all ur strength and energy, push hard and go hmmmmmmmmpppphhh!! thats till the assignments and seminars last(for a couple of weeks)...u get a piece of crap out of ur system and ur relieved for a little time...then u strt heaving again...assignments and projects again(now u see the comparison makes sense!)
Well, i am done with all my pushing and heaving for this semester, almost emptied my bowels..time to tear out some toilet paper and look forward to holiday season..
Before ending this term and getting into holiday spirit, i am compelled to tell u a tale of great adventure, personal discovery and achievment.. :) :) :)
Well, ondanondu kaladalli(long long ago, but not very long ago) there was this notion, that women were better at cooking..but i can see the tables have been turned in this century(i dont know wether thats a good thing or bad thing!)..
I think the trend began with guys trying their hand at using salt and garam masala when they go abroad...well, guys, we have no other choice do we? we have cook for ourselves(cant get ur mom to come with u :( )...and the ladies will deny it, over the years, we have gotten better than them!!
I dont know wether its the clean & unpolluted american air(yea rit!!) or all the constipation(course work i mean), u just cant get rid of the hunger!!! I am not making this up and many guys here will vouch for me...u just seem to be hungry all the time!!! no matter what u eat and how much u eat, u get hungry in a couple of hrs!! and i think its evolution at work, which has over the years made us men better at cooking (PS: women dont suffer from "always hungry syndrome"..maybe a Y chromosome recessive trait :D)
Well, the actual cooking is a huge experiment in itself...and all those familiar with Murphy's laws would know that, sambar has excess salt ONLY when ur freaking hungry!!! U cant do anything about it, u just curse american salt..." Damn this american salt! its too salty..tata salt is better" and gulp it down with 2 large glasses of water.
Initially when u get here, with the taste of mom's cooking fresh in ur mind, u set out to make the same dish...child's play right? wats so tough in making rasam? all it has is tomatoes and water right??
So said the fool, till he realized, cooking is all about tiny things which give subtle flavors and using the right ingredient in the right quantity...
When u actually try to taste the great concoction u just brewed(bubble bubble toil and trouble), u kinda realise, ur mom was a gifted individual with extraordinary talent for measurement and taste...
Well, u live and learn i guess...NOT to add two spoons of chilli powder AND a spoon of rasam powder! to cook potatoes in the cooker, to neutralise extra spicy stuff with jaggery and tamarind paste...etc...etc..
After many versions, Rasam 1.1, rasam 1.2...etc..etc....the taste of home long forgotten, there comes a day, a great day for student kind in US, when the great inventor claims to have created almost an exact replica of the wondrous meal, the taste of which he once knew...the same flavor, the same aroma....yummmmm....but thrs still SOMETHING MISSING!!!
Many versions later... Rasam 2.0 and rasam 3.0(cmon! edison took 6000 attempts to get the right filament for the light bulb) and many international calls later, the great genius back home lets u know, the secret missing ingredient is grated coconut(no coconuts in this part of the world :( :( )....well, so much for all those attempts to get it rit..huh!
Once u get acquainted with the salt,chilli powder,the tamrind paste and the garam masala, thers no stopping you...As u quickly learn, a tasty dish is a spoonful of that, with a spoonful of this and a dash of that with a pinch of this..and voila.. a new dish..."well wat i wanted to make was cabbage curry, but it turns out to become cabbage rasam"(or watever u wan t to call it..i thought all that water was going to evaporate!!!)...well who cares anyway, lets eat, i am hungry.. :) :) :)
Days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months, by which time u have advanced from a lowly single dish experimenter to a 15th century chemist...."what will happen when i mix this and that??"...poof...yesterdays' sambar and today's rice mixed gives u bisisbele bath....todays vegetable curry and rice would give u vegetable pulav....and the dal u made 3 days ago mixed with...ehhh..u would wana mix it with the trash....
Eventually, out of pure EXPERIENCE....u turn into a expert at cullinary artistry (aha! amma,i now know ur secret!)....In no time ur making paneer butter masala, onion pakodas and what not (thanx to youtube and this amazing mallu aunty for the videos :D )
So, for people who are still eating over-salted sambar and undercooked potatoes, dont worry, give it some time(just make sure nobody has to go to the hospital)..and for people who are planning to come here, ask ur mom for a recipe book and please learn how to chop vegetables...
Hmmmm..all this typing has made me hungry again...time for a snack...
PS: I dont mean to be an MCP, but everytime i enter a house in which girls stay, it seems to be filled with smoke..wat do you people do in there??!!? and how do u get so good by the time ur moms!!?!
...Signing out (Anybody who wants to see me chop onions like a bhelpuri gaadiwala and eat paneer butter masala is welcome home)
