Adventures in cooking

The other day I decided to make breakfast for the family and it reminded me of my earlier escapades in cooking. I lived in a dorm, a single room with no cooking facilities but in my first week in the US I made acquaintances with 3 grad students, also from India who had an apartment. We all were new to this country and we hardly knew how to make tea leave alone a full meal. We decided to try our hands at cooking, after all cooking should be an easy task for a future engineer, computer programmer, doctor and accountant.

We decided to start with something simple, rice and potato subzi. For some reason we were all under the impression that rice takes a long time to cook so we decided to get that over with first. We found the biggest pan and filled it up with water and added eight cups of rice – two cups for each one of us and set the stove to high. Money was tight but the grad students had managed to buy a used TV and we hooked it up while the water was boiling. The TV worked and we became so engrossed in the programs that we forgot about the rice. The water started boiling and spilling and soon there was smoke in the kitchen and that set the fire alarm on.

We were scared when we heard the alarm, it did not occur to any of us geniuses that it could have been the rice and we dashed away from the apartment. We stood outside for a while and the alarm kept making the annoying shrieking sound, my friends realized that they have their passport, money and other important documents inside. So one by one they ran in the apartment and grabbed their valuables.

It must have been half an hour now but nothing was happening, not sure what we were expecting but we figured some big explosion would take place and destroy the building. Finally the RA (Resident Assistant) came and asked us as to what was going on, we said we had no clue, he went in and turned the stove off. The place was stinking due to all the smoke and burnt rice, he gave us a look as to say – You stupid morons, you are the bright ones from India?.

We learned our lesson then but as time went by we did learn how to cook and in a few months time we became experts. During that time there was no Indian store in the town I lived in and the local grocery store carried limited variety. We were sick of eating Potatoes, Cauliflower and Cabbage.

One day we visited the grocery store and were delighted to see brinjals, our excitement turned in confusion when we saw the word ‘Eggplant’ displayed below the brinjals. We were confused, it looked and smelled like a brinjal but was an eggplant! My friend Shanker, a strict vegetarian was totally put off by the word Egg, he wanted nothing to do with that. The aspiring engineer Samir put on a rational argument – Aree this has nothing to do with eggs, you tell me if we plant an egg does an egg tree grow? No! The Americans say things differently, ladies fingers are okra so brinjals are eggplant.

Shanker was still not convinced, we asked the cashier if that was Brinjal and she gave us a look as if we were talking in Hebrew. We argued and finally convinced Shanker that it was ok to eat that. We went home, while it was cooking Shanker was reciting shlokas to purify him, in case he was eating an egg dish. The dish was ready and we enjoyed eating something different for a change, so much so that we finished the whole thing.

After dinner we were talking, Shanker asked me “It was good to eat something different today, you love brinjals don’t you?”
I said “Actually back home I hated it, my mom would make that with potatoes and I would just eat the potatoes”
He laughed and confessed “Me too”. It turned out that we all hated that but being away from home we were so home sick that we enjoyed (and appreciated) the same dish we would easily pass on at home.

Dear Bhiku bhaiya

It was hilarious to read about your adventure of trying to cook rice and the eggplant.

My hubby too lived with two roommates in his college days, who would put a lot of veggies and rice and what not in the pot and used to call it the pulao.

We also used to be tired of the limited availability of veggies, but luckily we get a lot more varieties now.

Keep writing!

Dear Bhiku bhai!

You seem to be in the reminiscing mood these days!

Nevermind, as it also puts me into one and I am enjoying your innocent experiences immensely.

I know, it is amazing how the word 'cooking' makes imbeciles out of intelligent students! And if you think I am using strong words, don't worry, I was also one of those students!...

Ok, I agree I am not male nor was I single when I came abroad to start off my life as a young married woman. And ..... I will let you into an embarrassing secret, I just graduated with an Home Science degree!! Guess what, my first pot of rice too got burnt and charred and the dhal looked like some sort of gooey stuff!
Luckily for me, my husband was and is very easy going where food is concerned. It took me some time before I could serve a decent meal:)

It was hilarious to imagine the four brainy students hovering outside the apartment distraught while the rice keeps smoking and fire alarms keep ringing...

Hope the family breakfast was yummy? Let me know, 'cause am not too far away from you, shall invite myself to your place one of these days for a brunch!!

Ok, don't worry...I wont frighten you:)

L, Kamla

Bhiku bhai,
Hilarious..each and every one of us have a story behind that first cooking...but sometimes it still continues, in some areas...

It is true that what we don't like at home...will try it outside our home/country..as we long for homely food...

sriniketan

hi bhiku,

hey great to hear that u cook your family b/f...good to hear about your adventures in cooking with friends..have alot of disaster stories too in that area...but guess what ....me too used to hate brinjals before marriage..mom used to make potatoes separately for me but after marriage when MIL had made it did not have the guts to tell anything...ate it and actually liked it...promptly next time went to mas place made and served all of them brinjal, curry...all were stunned that i had changed so much in such a short time....

Mindi

hi bhiku bhai.
so from date its to your cooking skills is it????
yes living abroad and eating potatoes,cauliflower and cabbage really makes us appreciate the varieties we get back home!!!!
well written!!!
regards
pavithra

Hi Bhikuji,

Wow ,Ur writings are Hilarious same as ur experiences..Great..

I really loved ur write up,Especially abt the explaination of eggplant to shanker,fighting and Convincing abt it and thn shanker reciting shlokas..I´ m helpless Couldnt stop anymore

Thanq for making me laugh..

Hugs,
dg..

Hi Bhiku,

Another amusing and enjoyable post. Most people in their early days in the kitchen have a lot of adventure.

My husband lived in hostels and over time he cooks well. The first time, he offered to cook a meal, I was very happy. I lazed around for a longer time enjoying the aroma coming from the kitchen and imagining that a delicious meal was on my way . In my mind I was busy planning to make my husband cook every week-end and was thinking of all the lazy moments that I could enjoy.

When he announced that food was ready, I walked in to find that the kitchen counters were generously spread with turmeric powder, sambar powder and many other colorful powders that I did not know existed in the pantry. Every ladle and pan was either on the stove top or in the sink. The sink had so many pots and pans, it looked like he had been cooking for a wedding.

Then he announced that the kitchen was all mine now that he had finished cooking. Just a few hours earlier I imagined myself to be a queen and now I looked like a house-keeping staff in a hotel kitchen scrubbing all the pans and counter tops .

Now, if he offers to cook, I strike a deal that he will have to do the cleaning work as well.

Usha : Thanks for your comments. Yeah these days we get to many varieties that its easy to be choosy.

So have you learned how to make Veg Pulao from your hubby?

Originally Posted by sundarusha

Dear Bhiku bhaiya

It was hilarious to read about your adventure of trying to cook rice and the eggplant.

My hubby too lived with two roommates in his college days, who would put a lot of veggies and rice and what not in the pot and used to call it the pulao.

We also used to be tired of the limited availability of veggies, but luckily we get a lot more varieties now.

Keep writing!

Kamla : You are welcome anytime to the wonderful feast of burned rice and blaring alarm sounds then again you must be used to that.

These days I don't get a chance to cook much as my wife claims that I make too much mess and my kids complain that I make the food too hot but still manage to make an omlette or baked beans once in a while.

Originally Posted by Kamla

Dear Bhiku bhai!

You seem to be in the reminiscing mood these days!

Nevermind, as it also puts me into one and I am enjoying your innocent experiences immensely.

I know, it is amazing how the word 'cooking' makes imbeciles out of intelligent students! And if you think I am using strong words, don't worry, I was also one of those students!...

Ok, I agree I am not male nor was I single when I came abroad to start off my life as a young married woman. And ..... I will let you into an embarrassing secret, I just graduated with an Home Science degree!! Guess what, my first pot of rice too got burnt and charred and the dhal looked like some sort of gooey stuff!
Luckily for me, my husband was and is very easy going where food is concerned. It took me some time before I could serve a decent meal:)

It was hilarious to imagine the four brainy students hovering outside the apartment distraught while the rice keeps smoking and fire alarms keep ringing...

Hope the family breakfast was yummy? Let me know, 'cause am not too far away from you, shall invite myself to your place one of these days for a brunch!!

Ok, don't worry...I wont frighten you:)

L, Kamla