Hey people! If you know me personally or follow me on social media, you would know that I absolutely LOVE cooking! I have my mom to thank for that. Not because she was after my life to learn the artbut because she did quite the opposite! Shooing me away from the kitchen when I was a kid because it was a hazardous place for a child to bewith fire, knives and sharp objects Obviously, I took an interest in doing what was forbidden, like any child would.
And so, began my unequivocal, irrevocable romance with cooking at a young age and years later, we are still going strong.
I can always rely on cooking to be my stress-buster. It lets me be creative, it lets me try new things, it keeps me happy and sane, it just lets me be
I love cooking! And everything that comes with it!
I love trying new recipes!
I love sharing pictures of the food I make!
I even love it when you ask me for the recipesit tells me that my food engaged you, you found it appealing and are willing to cook it yourself.
But, come to think of itI have NEVER shared my personal recipes with anyone. And probably wont, till I have enough time. Dont get me wrong. Its not that I dont want to share them. If its a recipe taken off the internet, I will direct you to it. But, if its something that is a mix of several recipes or something that I just tried on my own or something that would require measuring and remembering things before I can type it out, then sayonara. ;p
I have a whopping great respect for people who measure their ingredients down to the last gm and can recall it before typing it with step-wise pictures for the world to see. The world is a better place because of these peopleits because of them, that ANY recipe is just a touch away. Personally, I loathe doing it. And heres why-
- Its too much work! And I am lazy
- I always seem to be running low on time! Okay, not always. Ever since I had kids, I have been running low on time AND energy!
- I use my self-established estimation techniques and dont measure my ingredients in day to day cooking -because of this, my chai will never taste the same twice! It will be a good cup of chai but not quite the same as you had two hours ago. :/
- I cook intuitively and use my sense of sight, touch and smell. If I am blanching beans, I can look and touch to tell that they are done. Now noting the time for how many minutes they were blanched, the temperature of the water, low, medium or high flamethats another ball game and this mamma got no time for it!!!!
The other day my husband came up with a new recipe idea for stuffed Karelas and I executed it. It looked decent, tasted awesome and I was enthused to write a food blog post about it sharing the recipe.
They look good, dont they? I even thought about giving them a fancy, master-chef-y name-
Pan-seared, Stuffed Bitter-Gourd Rings with assorted peppers This, was going to be my first blog post about food!! Yay!!
Like most food bloggers, Id be starting that post with how I hated karelas growing upand how my mom tried her best to make me like themand how one magical Spring afternoon changed it all and karelas never tasted better! Id be writing stories about how I loved cooking with my husband who found a colossal Karela at a grocery store and came up with this insane idea for making stuffed karela ringsId tell you about how I had laughed at him but together we decided to give it a try.
Id be so busy telling you my stories that you would wonder if this was a food post or a story-telling post!
Like most food bloggers, I would have pushed you to the limit of your patience, forcing you to skip a page and jump to the recipe, only to surprise you with a detailed list of ingredients, all measured down to the last teaspoon, staring at your face!
Then youd scroll down and find a neatly illustrated, stepwise method of cookingall leading up to a grand picture of the mighty Stuffed Karelas in all their glory.
Like most food bloggers, I would have told you how it was a perfect recipe which was a hit among our circle of friends and how I always make it when I am hosting people! And I would have ended with an arty Recipe Card that you could print and paste in your recipe-book!
And then, it dawned upon me! The workthe detailssighs
For now, THIS, is the only recipe card that I can come up with-
I meantheres no one way to cook this. The rings could be stuffed with potatoes and tofu or any choice of vegetables that would hold together. The stuffing could be seasoned with salt-paprika-oregano-thyme or the good old namak-lal mirch-dhaniya zeera powder! It could be pan-seared in butter or in olive oil, mustard oil or ghee (just make sure the rings become tender and the stuffing golden brown, cover with a lid if need be).
What I have created here, is simply a glorified aloo-tikki! I have outlined the basic steps and you can add your own twist and experiment with flavours. You dont need me telling you how much of what to addfollow your instinct and go crazy in the kitchen!
Why then, the kitchen is your oyster! Which you with your knife would open!
Happy cooking!!
p.s. Somedaywhen I have the timeand havent given up on the will or motivationI do hope to write detailed recipes and painstakingly share them with you. But till then, enjoy my lame attempts at writing recipe cards. They might not be of much help, but I hope they amuse you.
#AnybodyCanCook
WELCOME TO THE WALL OF Loony-Woolly RECIPE CARDS:
This was a recipe that I created during my second pregnancy. I was craving some deep-fried goodness but also had to keep it healthy! So, I took healthy ingredients and deep fried them. And ate them with cheese slices and sriracha mayo!! (So much for healthy eating)
I found this recipe on the China Sichuan Food https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/kung-pao-lotus-root/ Thankyou google! And fell in love with it instantly! I followed the recipe precisely, but my Kung Pao Lotus Root looks slightly lighter as I ran out of dark soy sauce and used light soy sauce instead. This was one of my experiments at the time when I was obsessed with Lotus Root!
Yet another recipe that I tried during my Lotus Root Obsession phase. We had tried this in so many Japanese restaurants before and I was blown away by the simplicity of this dish! Also, something different, quick and easy to do with Lotus Root other than the regular Aloo Kamalkadi Matar Sabji or Kamalkadi ke kebabs
This was something that I had been wanting to try for the past 3 years! At least thats what I told myself when I purchased some exquisite sushi crockery from Tawaramachi, three years ago. I referred to several sites for the recipe of vegan sushi and finally, took a little from every recipe and made my own thing. :)
This is my own recipe that I have perfected over time and I am sharing it here after receiving a few requests for it. The list of ingredients here is important and they need to be whisked thoroughly and allowed to rest for a while before you can pour the batter on the hot pan. Flip when you see bubbles coming to the top. I usually like my pancake stack with maple syrup, but you could add berries, bananas or any fruit of your choice to the batter, you could eat it with honey, whipped cream or Hersheys syrups
Let your imagination and creativity run wild!!
And once again,
HAPPY COOKING!