Thursday, August 07, 2003

Cooking tips for the no-longer-inexperienced-ha-ha
This is a continuation to a previous article, dated June 9, 2003. If you are still a beginner please refer to the earlier article first. It would be foolhardy to venture into this article which is meant for more experienced people.
Now that you have been cooking for some time you should have your basic fundas in place, especially if you’ve followed my article carefully.
• There do exist condiments other than salt and pepper. Condiments can also be used to bring some colour into your food. But remember what looks good may not necessarily taste good.
(IMPORTANT: Cake colouring in food may not be such a great idea. Though on Christmas it would be good fun to have green custard with red jelly!)
• You have now become wiser and you should invest in a cook book. The best reference is yet the free pamphlet that you get with the purchase of a pressure cooker. It not only gives you the cooking time for stuff, but also gives you some recipes. Treat it like a bible. (IMPORTANT: Don’t be disheartened if your rice is uncooked or your pulses over boiled. Pressure cookers are tricky business.)
• Be open to new ideas. Don’t close your mind. There will be times when you are tired and lazy and will not want to cook. Try new combos like plain rice, tomato sauce and fried egg-plant. The trick is to attempt all kinds of permutations and combinations of left-overs in the fridge.
(IMPORTANT: You may not want to try sweet biscuits with dal and curd. It tastes positively yucky!)
• Preferably wear a full sleeved dress/shirt while cooking, specially when you add garlic paste to hot oil (you are bombarded with flying got garlic flakes). The girls could always ask their knights in shining armour to cook for them; the armour would provide full protection. Ok! Ok! Bad joke!
• Maggi is still your saviour. Remember to buy packs of fours in dozens. And, I am not paid to endorse Maggi!!!!
(IMPORTANT: Ants seem to love Maggi as well. Unless you like dead ants swimming in your meal store the Maggi in the fridge. It even improves the taste somehow.)
The signs that you have graduated from a learner to a decent cook is when people stop grimacing when they eat food cooked by you. And you receive your certification the day a poor hapless soul calls you up for cooking tips.

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