Sunday, July 2, 2017

Cooking Shows

Nowadays I cook every day at home. In addition to the notes I have taken from my wife’s cooking, I am reading quite a few cooking recipes, watching cooking shows and Youtube videos.
 
American cooking shows are perfect. They give every detail including how much salt to add. But Indian cooking recipes and cooking shows leave a lot of questions in my mind. For example:
 
Salt to taste. Why don’t you give a suggestion and then ask the readers/viewers to adjust to their taste. Lack of specificity is unacceptable. One exception. Nisha Madhulika (YouTube) tells us how much salt she is using and then suggests “adjust to your taste”. I like that.
 
Toor dal – one cup. Is this “one cup” before boiling or after boiling? If it is before boiling, how much water required for boiling? 1 cup of water or 10 cups of water? If it is after boiling, for how much dal you added how much water to arrive at one cup boiled dal?
 
How big is one cup? South Indian shows especially come with different sizes of cups.
 
After all masalas are cooked, add some water. How much water? 1 cup or 10 cups?
 
Why a few items from the list of ingredients are not used in making the dish?
 
Why a few items are added to dish when they are not shown in the list of ingredients at the beginning?
 
Why the quantity of a particular item given in the ingredient list is deviated in the actual cooking? For example, the ingredient says 2 green chilies but the video shows the cook adding 3 green chilies.
 
Here is a funny anecdote. A few years ago, a newly married young girl called my wife and asked her a question. She said: I am reading this recipe. It says to remove the skin of the onion and chop them into small pieces. Should I chop the onion into small pieces or the removed skin into small pieces.
 
Here are a few samples of my cooking:
 
Vegetable Briyani
 
Kurma
 
Kuzhi Paniyaram
 
Bhature
 
Cheese Ravioli with Pesto Sauce
 
Posted by at

40 comments:

  1. InsigniaJuly 2, 2017 at 9:22 PM

    Yum yumm. I forgot all about the imprecations of Indian cookery instructions the moment I saw these pictures. SG - I still recall to this day the yummy food I was able to indulge at your place. Esp the idlis with the idly podi still lingers. LG and you took very good care of me; those were the best days.

    Now coming to the lack of specificity in Indian cooking. We are taught through trial and error method and the "kai pakkuvam" is taken very seriously. Some professional chefs do mention the exact quantity of ingredients like Sanjeev Kapoor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SGJuly 3, 2017 at 4:41 AM

      Thanks for your comments Insignia. You brought back fond memories. Lalitha would have loved to read your comments.

      Delete
    2. InsigniaJuly 4, 2017 at 9:50 AM

      It will always be. I cherish them everyday; Lalitha was really so sweet to me.

      Delete
    3. InsigniaJuly 4, 2017 at 9:51 AM

      I always think that I was lucky to have met you two.

      Delete
    4. SGJuly 4, 2017 at 6:12 PM

      Bindu, I am really touched.

      Delete
  2. Destination InfinityJuly 3, 2017 at 5:35 PM

    That biriyani and kurma looks so enticing. I also made many comedies while attempting to cook at Bangalore.

    Destination Infinity

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SGJuly 3, 2017 at 6:04 PM

      Thanks for your comments Rajesh. The recipes are not mine. These are from the notes I took from observing my wife's cooking. Like, monkey see, monkey do.

      Delete
    2. Destination InfinityJuly 10, 2017 at 11:37 AM

      I guess since you had a good source, your dishes should have come well too. I didn't have such luck at bglore!!

      Destination Infinity

      Delete
    3. SGJuly 10, 2017 at 5:57 PM

      Thanks for your comments Rajesh. I think you have a very good source now. Your lovely bride.

      Delete
  3. Shilpa GargJuly 4, 2017 at 8:15 PM

    Wow! You certainly can cook, SG! Biryani, ravioli and even bhatura... I am impressed. Agree with you, Indian cooking shows are not very specific, especially when one is a beginner. I realized this when I started baking. After a series of failed attempts, I learnt that for cakes, the measurements and process has to be precise, which I found only in recipes and videos from foreign countries.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SGJuly 4, 2017 at 8:40 PM

      Thanks for your comments Shilpa. You said it much better than me.

      Delete
  4. SandhyaJuly 5, 2017 at 8:56 AM

    Long back I did one dish looking at a recipe in womans era. Then served my husband. Salt was not there....I checked the recipe again and it was not mentioned there:)

    You seem to be a good cook. You are learning fast!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SGJuly 5, 2017 at 6:26 PM

      Thanks for your comments Sandhya. I rest my case. Yes, I am learning fast. That is necessity for me now.

      Delete
  5. HaddockJuly 6, 2017 at 9:51 AM

    The sight of that vegetable Biriyani is making me hungry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SGJuly 7, 2017 at 6:17 AM

      Thanks for your comments Haddock. Wish I could FedEx some for you.

      Delete
  6. Sujatha SathyaJuly 6, 2017 at 7:58 PM

    Those questions...hilarious. when I didn't know the c if cooking I used to be bothered too by these vague directions. I am ok now.
    You are a great cook going by the pics. Good job

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SGJuly 7, 2017 at 6:21 AM

      Thanks for your comments Sujatha. I think they should start a show "Cooking for Dummies" for people like me. (A friend of mine complained the recipe did not call for turn on the stove.)

      Delete
  7. Lux G.July 9, 2017 at 3:30 AM

    Good job on cooking at home. I find it saves you more plus you get to enjoy nutritional food. That cheese ravioli looks delish.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SGJuly 10, 2017 at 6:02 PM

      Thanks for your comments Lux. And, welcome to my blog. I never cooked until 18 months ago. Now, out of necessity I am cooking.

      Lux, please visit here as often as possible. Thanks.

      Delete
  8. DeeJuly 11, 2017 at 10:43 AM

    Love the pictures SG, they are making me hungry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SGJuly 11, 2017 at 4:52 PM

      Thanks for your comments Dee. Wish I could send some to you now.

      Delete
  9. LocomenteJuly 12, 2017 at 1:13 AM

    Wow! They look so yummmmm..... I hope u r enjoying the process...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SGJuly 13, 2017 at 4:55 AM

      Thanks for your comments Satya. I would enjoy more if it is an occasional hobby. HeHeHe.

      Delete
  10. rudraprayagaJuly 12, 2017 at 10:34 AM

    From the sparks,emitted here and there I can understand that your better half was the best half by all means. At least you could enjoy a fruitful partnership, a bit short though. I feel sad,SG, when you say you have turned to be a sheff at home.

    ReplyDelete
  11. rudraprayagaJuly 12, 2017 at 10:36 AM

    Ayyo! Don't feel sad when I reminded you your past.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SGJuly 13, 2017 at 4:57 AM

      Thanks for your comments Sarla. I appreciate your kind words.

      Delete
  12. Avada KedavraJuly 12, 2017 at 4:28 PM

    I was pretty sure I had commented on this post. Don't know where my comment disappeared.
    Anyway, you cook so well SG!! They all look yummy. I am one of those folks who never follow a recipe. Recently I was preparing something and my dad was helping me. I did not follow a single step or measurement given in the book and he was going crazy. haha. I like adding my own ingredients to everything I make. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SGJuly 13, 2017 at 5:00 AM

      Thanks for your comments Ash. I have no idea what happened to your comments. I admire you for not relying on any recipe. You are an out-of-the box thinker. As I said before, all I do is "monkey see monkey do".

      Delete
  13. AJEYA RAOJuly 12, 2017 at 8:31 PM

    Cool and looks delicious. Try Hebbar's kitchen on Youtube. I like that channel a lot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SGJuly 13, 2017 at 5:01 AM

      Thanks for your comments Ajeya. And, thanks for the tip on Hebbar. I will look into it.

      Delete
  14. Bikramjit Singh MannJuly 14, 2017 at 2:38 AM

    ooooh... yummyliscious ... right I need to book a ticket and come over and eat all that ..

    Bikram's

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SGJuly 14, 2017 at 10:35 AM

      Thanks for your comments Bikram. Come on over any time. I have plenty of booze too.

      Delete
  15. Jayashree SrivatsanJuly 16, 2017 at 1:29 AM

    These look absolutely professional and yummy ....great ! ...yes salt to taste irks me too

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SGJuly 16, 2017 at 12:42 PM

      Thanks for your comments Jaish. Salt to taste is my pet peeve too.

      Delete
  16. indu chhibberJuly 17, 2017 at 9:48 PM

    My pet peeve is COOKING,no cure in sight.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SGJuly 18, 2017 at 5:46 AM

      Thanks for your comments Indu. Me too. I cook out of necessity.

      Delete
  17. ShilpaAugust 3, 2017 at 10:42 AM

    This is so dAmn yum . Being in pathiya sapadu after delivery my heart goes for all the above dishes . I think you can start a cooking channel too . Loved the Kurma and paniyaram. I can only imagine all these .ha ha ..

    ReplyDelete
  18. KKAugust 9, 2017 at 5:56 PM

    For the last two-three years, I have been trying to learn cooking. Not a lot of progress, but I am slowly getting past the mystery part and getting into the do-this-and-this-happens part.

    Have you ever thought about opening a restaurant, SG?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Sindhu Devi KSeptember 5, 2017 at 4:15 AM

    Yummy food there! And a good laugh too :-D
    May be the Indian shows don't want to underestimate the basic knowledge the viewer has :-D

    ReplyDelete
  20. deepthiApril 4, 2023 at 3:38 PM

    Hi there...remember me.. ?

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)