from egg roll to pizza

Homesickness has its phases to it. you start with missing people, things, routine and when you get used to everything else, you realise that homesickness that you were experiencing was actually centered around homefood-sickness. and that one is the most difficult to get used to.

so then you start figuring out solutions. i did the same. firstly i was inert. coz i thought cooking everyday??? i couldn't possibly do that! i had plum cake for my meals and washed it down with orange juice. then i added cornflakes and eggs to my list of ingredients. you know, food that is ready to eat in no time at all. i mean back home i hated standing in front of the stove waiting for the potatoes to soften for example. then i realised i was eating less just to avoid the cooking exercise. and finally the discount store helped. i found cheap stuff, stocked my kitchen with ata and imported masala (from my mother) and then i felt more at ease.

then i realised i can cook if i have all the vegetable and masalas neatly laid out in front of me. like in cookery shows. pehle dheemee aanch pe tel garam karen aur usme zeere ka tadka de. phir usme ek cup kata pyaz, adha chammach dhaniya powder blah blah and blah. and on the other hand i like to cook as a hobby to try out new recipes, chocolate cakes, flury's brownies, you know something thats exciting and has an element of surprise to it, of success to it. when the flavour wafting through the room apparates you back into your home, at your dining table where maa ke haath ka khana awaits you. hmmm yummy.. but thats far away. so back to my experiment.

then the inertia gave way to curiosity. what do i do with my mushrooms? i thought i had to boil them before using, so they sat in my fridge for a week before i realised i could use them without boiling. (after i realised they were not like potatoes. n btw thanks to sam, i now know how to boil potatoes the neat way. peel them, put them in a bowl and microwave them for 6 minutes. or was it 7 minutes. erm. will check that.)

and the kitchen became a more likeable place for me. after all it was fully equipped now to sustain my experiments. so then they began. cheese mushroom omlette with toast. brought Pune's German Bakery right into my kitchen. then the ata experiment, which was actually maida, but served the purpose. sam made mushroom and potato curry. my firang roommates liked it, so i would safely say it was a success. and today it was the egg roll. no the pizzas hasnt graced my kitchen yet. its just that egg roll didnt turn out quite right and looked like pizza. time for picsssssss. but technically retarted that i am, i havent yet figured out how to transfer files from BB to laptop. sorry guys, next time.

and guys, there has to be a way for me to know that you are reading this space. i mean i write so much, and you guys not even a line? come on. aapko aaj ke ye recipe kaisi lagi, ye batane ke liye hume likhe is pate par, ya actually neeche wale box mein. dhanyavad.