GRATITUDE

                   Cooking a Delightful Meal

Is cooking an art or a task for you; does it give you stress or take away your blues? For me, the process of cleaning, chopping, and cooking food is a soulful refuge. The aroma of piping hot Gajjar ka Halwa simmering on a slow flame, cooked by my grandmother, is still fresh in my memory. When you cook with unfussy ingredients and add a sprinkle of love, you carve out delicacies for all to savour. Our vast culture offers us countless recipes, and the unlimited reservoir of online tutorials adds to it. Food is part of the narrative of our upbringing, our travels, and our escapades. 

I cooked sporadically for pleasure but took delight in the traditional food. Non-fussy food cooked with love by my mother and grandmother turned it extraordinary, the flavours staying forever on my palette, urging me to recreate them. I inherited the hunger for perfection and unconsciously imbibed it.

Some dishes, ordinary or exotic,  become our comfort foods and stay with us, and we recreate those dishes repeatedly. People can sniff and find out whether food is fresh or stale, whether salt or sugar is exact. With the interplay between taste and smells, we can grasp and capture the sensation of medleys of foods. The aroma is essential as it can enhance salivation and appetite, whereas long exposure to food while cooking can kill hunger.

Unconsciously childhood choices are our guiding lights, so parents must cook healthy food with love to instil these habits in childhood.  They do not have to chase the fad diets when they grow up to keep fit as they will remain anchored in eating healthy.

Some cooks measure the exact ingredients, while others rely on their intuition to create a sumptuous meal. It is like writers some are intuitive others plan it fully. Both are happily producing delectable dishes for others to enjoy, cherish and make memories. 

Less is more when there is a hunger to create.  The manner of reverting to basics, and eating traditional, seasonal foods, has caught up as a trend. When you cook with fresh ingredients with the right intention, you will spruce up a delightful meal. We all need food for survival then why not pour our heart and soul into the recipe and produce a delicious dish?  A meal of dal rice or an omelette can become a luxurious treat if we are hundred percent there while cooking it. 

Prosperity and hard-pressed for time have changed the way we cook. The stretching of meals and depending on leftovers may ease our work, but there is no match to shopping and prepping the fresh ingredients to cook a delectable meal. 

The world is on our plate, and it is not a crime to experiment with exotic dishes. The millennials are trying avant-garde epicurean delicacies which are visible on many Instagram accounts. Cooking is a universal experience that brings people together, crossing the barriers of nations or cultures. 

As the Bharat Gas tagline goes Cook Food, Serve love…......

Bon Appétit.....

PICTURES CREDIT:  NATASHA NANDA and SANAH HANDA