*Sorry for the very cheesy title. Couldn’t come up with anything original in a short time. Anyway, here goes.
I’m a big time foodie and everyone knows that. Some of my fondest memories when it comes to food actually lie in the kitchen. My Mom, bless her, made it a point to introduce me to the art of cooking back when I was just a little boy. So I would help her out in the day to day meal preparations, even when I wasn’t even tall enough to reach the stove. Chopping Vegetables. Cooking Rice. Clearing out the kitchen counter. All the stuff that did not involve actual cooking. But I was fascinated from the get go, how she would turn these disparate ingredients into something delicious! And I somehow wanted to have that power. (Oh yes, I did think of it that way then 🙂 ) To one day wield the spatula and create something on my own! Well, it’s not hard to guess that it didn’t take very long for that to happen.
Before I knew it, I became the “Sous Chef” of our household, who would also take over whenever Mom was away or sick.
There’s joy in creating. Then there’s satisfaction and pride when people like your creation. Cooking was more or less the same.
It was also then that I developed a deep interest in food and the varied cuisines. My mom was quite adventurous when it came to food too, so we would sneak out to all new restaurants in town to try out their menus. Anyway, from then on, whenever we had people visiting, it would be me and mom battling away in the kitchen, my little sister helping out with small chores in her new “Chef’s Apprentice” position!
Most of the times, it used to be Chicken Biryani. The quintessential Indian dish that goes for all occasions. Biryani is basically an extremely aromatic rice dish that is mostly made with Chicken but also works well with lamb or fish. I would grind the spices in mortar and pestle and mom would marinate the chicken pieces in them along with some herbs. Then we would start preparing the flavored rice, layer the chicken in between and leave it all together to cook for a long time. The end result is one divine concoction, full of flavor and yumminess. No wonder it was a favorite of anyone who visited our house and something we loved preparing too!
So yea, food is always gonna stay close to my heart. It’s an art that I’m forever grateful to mom for introducing me to. My mind is veering off all directions, thinking about all other joyous times in the kitchen but I’ll stop now.
UDAYOLOGY 
It looks delicious! I love that men are, more and more, taking over the cooking in their households. I enjoyed your post.
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It seems to be the trend right now isn’t it? 🙂 Anyway thanks, appreciate your comment. 🙂
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Loved it:) Really nice memory and the dish looks yummy:)
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Aaaa Biryaniii ❤ Biryani is love, Biryani is life 😀
Btw, the way your Mom loves cooking, it all reminded me of my own mom ^_^ Us South Asian people are really passionate about food 😉
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Ooo btw, I’ve nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award ^_^ To read the details go to the following post:
https://couchpotahto.wordpress.com/2015/04/19/two-more-nominations-this-just-keeps-getting-better-and-better-3/
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Awwwwwwwww, AB! I feel so honored! My first ever award, coming from you! Thank you, dear, you’re the best! ❤
*stands up and does a happy dance*
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I love how you put it. Biryani is love, biryani is life. It’s definitely a love affair for sure. I don’t want to be anywhere where I can’t get good Biryani 🙂
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That’s super cool of your mom to include you in the kitchen preps from such a young age! My own mother didn’t let us come near the kitchen and as we grew older, she’d complain that we never helped her around failing to realize it was her own doing. Now, whenever I cook, I have to kindly ask her to leave or she will take over!
I love how you described the joy of creating through making food, I share that same feeling and you conveyed it beautifully!
And wow, what I would do to have a good Briyani right now!
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Do you get Biryani where you live? It’s an awesome dish for sure! I’ll be forever indebted to mum for planting that interest towards cooking in me. I feel it’s a gift to have the ability to cook good food for yourself, if not for the people around! 🙂
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Indeed we do! I grew up in the Arabian Gulf where there’s a huge Indian and South-Asian community so it was very prominent. Even here in Lebanon, the community is smaller, but not very hard to find. We learned how to make it but it doesn’t really compare to the ones we get from the shops.
It’s indeed a gift! I always get so happy making food for other people and can’t wait to start throwing dinner parties in my own home.
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Next stop, your place!! Chicken Biryani!! Please cook lots and lots for me!! 😀
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Oh yes, food. That dish truly does look divine, I would love to have been able to cook with Mum but unfortunately I didn’t.
Plus, I was a very fussy eater (well I still am) and I guess I thought that if I had made something on my own then I may have the satisfaction of enjoying it. I guess not.
Another good post Uday, I’ll have to catch up on some more soon,
– Ainsworth 🙂
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Hey Ains! Long time no see! 🙂 Well you get satisfaction only if you’ve struggled a lot for preparing it. 🙂 Otherwise, it the food is tasty enough, it doesn’t matter who’s made it, lol.
I get satisfaction out of cooking, not eating 😛 Strange, but true!
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Hmmm, that is interesting. But then again I can see why you’d feel satisfaction in producing the meal rather than eating it. I’ll definitely have to start cooking I think.
Oh, I also started following you on Spotify!
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