Sunday, February 22, 2009

Trying to be a better cook

It's been a long time since I've had to be the cook on a regular basis around here. The EH used to insist on cooking and I was fine with it. Not to say that I was ever a good cook but I've definitely forgotten what I did know. With trying to improve my diet and avoid the frozen foods, I am taking more of an effort to cook. It's not so easy with the gym routine after work, by the time I can get to cooking on a work night, it's already 7pm. So I am hope to plan ahead and cook more on the weekends, so that there are left overs for the week.

Part of what I want to work on is Indian food, the kind of food I had at home, growing up, not the restaurant stuff. I've been making this moong salad off and on - it makes for a great lunch during the week. My recipe is a bit different than what's there - I need to remember to pay more attention when I am cooking the lentils, overcooking can be a problem..... did that today but I think it will be fine. Sabudhana kichidi is our version of Mac & cheese - comfort food. It's been hit or miss with that dish - a little too much water and it's a mess. Also, I don't always have the ingredients on hand for that, so I try to make do. I am not brave with the heat factor so my dishes tends to be a bit bland.

Indian cooking is not easy, there are subtle cues that one has to know, which determine when the next ingredient can be added, or getting the right flavor out of the spices, etc. These can't be communicated in writing....

1 comment:

smariek said...

OMG, she lives! :-)

I'm coming over for lunch if you make these two dishes! Maybe you can show me how to cook them too, I'd love to learn! I'll bring the ingreds to make my favorite cookies... mmmm, warm out of the oven, served with vanilla ice cream. Yum!