That's why!!

If one happens to be keen about something,whatever the 'something may be' , what goes on in it makes sense to the person.
I love cars. What's strange is that I understood the working of a car in a dream.Please do realize that I am not lying. And yes,basically what I am tying to say is that something,that an engineer takes about a chapter to understand in a usual college,when uninterested of course, I understood the same thing while sleeping. Great! Isn't it?? So let's get cracking!! Only thing is that this article isn't about understanding the working of a car. I was just showing off.
This one is about stuff people don't ask questions about. As a matter of fact,this is about things people don't(usually) think about.
It's about why we add certain things in our food,and why we may not. It may be boring,but if you have read so far,and you clicked the link to this page(I frankly don't see why you would do it,but thanks by the way),I feel you'll sail through.
Have you wondered why you add ..... to your food??

.....#1-Flour/Atta/Maida(Maida is refined flour)- Flour or any of the mentioned ingredient is basically a derivative of grains like wheat,rice,chick peas,legumes and all dry forms of cereals or pulses,mostly cereals.
Why so? Most cereals/pulses contain carbohydrates as a very big majority of their composition. What carbohydrates do,in presence of moisture(Water,oil,any liquid) is that they stick together.So you have this doughy sort of consistency in some cases. What this sort of consistency does i provides body to what ever you are cooking. Look at a cake. A very big portion is all carbohydrates(up to 75%). Look at breads.Even rotis' that we have around..
Conclusion: Flour,when in doughy consistency is basically a filler in the food/dish.
An analogy to this in the mechanical engineering department is working of fiberglass. The resin and  the hardener,a mixture of it makes the fiberglass rigid. Here,the resin is a filler,basically increasing the volume of the mixture to be applied on the fiberglass.
The same flour,when used in a highly runny consistency,example being cornstarch used in soups(I hate it though). It thickens up the soup,again,giving the soup it's body.

....#2 Oil/fat(of mostly any kind)-We all know that oil is a good conductor of heat,basically it carries heat very well. Use of oil in food has a very basic concept involved. To heat the food faster. You say why not yous steam? Ever wondered how much time it takes to steam stuff? And as it is,in the current life and times of quick-to-do-xyz,who's going to wait that long? No wait,all haste-big waist...annnd What a waste!!
So we add oil to make the cooking process faster. Deep fried,shallow fried what's and not's...

If you add oil into anything for any other reason,there can be only 2 more reasons,bu the way
1-To make things go runny(Don't ask why you can't add water..please!)
2-To give a glaze to things..Yeah,that's what the people do to make things more appealing on the  rack dude/lady!

....#3 Eggs-Now,until you are a health freak,the reason you add eggs to any thing mostly,is to set things up. It's not what it sounds like..you ain't no secret agent being set up/framed or something,it's just the food...relax.
Seriously now. Have you ever boiled an egg?? It is one of the most mindless thing to do. And it does not qualify to be called cooking!!!
Yeah so what happens?You crack it open...and all the contents come running out all over your hand?? Yes?? What did you do?? Forgot to turn on the gas??
So,you(this time,start the gas,after keeping the egg in mostly boiling water,remove it and..) crack it open.Hopefully no gaffles this time,you get this beautiful pure white coagulated mass of protein with another firm ball of fat and vitamins. Basically the thing holds up it's shape,bozo!!
So,heat coagulates the whole eggy stuff,where ever it is in combination with mostly anything(except water ofcourse,until you plan to poach the egg...)
The yolks may be used to add richness(basically make you fat.....Mind you,egg yolks are good in moderation).

....#4 Vegetables,Meat,fruits- They are the main part of the big picture,being the DISH of course.

Yogurt/curd/cream-These things are added to increase volume,richness and sometimes to reduce sharpness in taste.
....#5 Spices-Do I need to explain this one? I haven't run into a more self explanatory word(apart from the word 'run').

....#6-Water-Volume,and to mix things up a little.
....#7-Pureed vegetables,fruits-volume,taste...
Mmmm what else am I missing? You know what? You think of other ingredients.It's quite logical you Let me know too,of what you think their uses are. 

Almond Meringues

I do not know how you get that weird looking french 'a' in the word melange(I can copy it from google,but I am just too lazy today..). But..But.. But.. it is absolutely surprising how you can make stuff that tastes brilliant,it's a dessert,and here's the best part..It is healthy. The only other dessert that you may come to call healthy(if you consider them in the category of desserts) is fruit.

Guess how many ingredients at max? Not 5,not 4,not 3,not 2..okay I was lying,it's 3
Egg whites,sugar and the most non obvious ingredient....Almonds. It was only after I finished eating that I realized that the thing had almonds........ .......... ........Okay,I guess there mighhht be a bit of gelatin too...Just a hunch(this time it's serious)
Okay now the story. I headed south of Mumbai after I had a few prior engagements. I went to my mom's office,I actually barged in,okay not like Arnold Schwarzenegger through a wall in terminator... I went in unannounced(Okay,they didn't have a mic for announcement..it's an office after all..)..Hmm..Not good,Not good.. I went in without notifying..(That sounds like we are living inside Facebook..) OKKKAY basically you get the point,I'm sure,Do not throw that rotten tomato on the screen!

So my mom's busy with her business and desperately wants me to go away. So she hands me this Rs .500 note and in her won subtle ways,basically told me to fuck off.. I happily did so. So now if I want cash,I'll go and sit in front of her when she's busy in her office(Hoping that is not for long..I want to earn my own stash!!!).
After fucking off from her office,I went to this bakery(one of the good ones in the city). The next part is funny. The bakery is called GAYLORD..
.
.
.
.Okay..moving on(Where do these fellows get these names?). Hey you!! Dirty mind!! Yeah you!! It's the lord of happiness!! Was it that difficult to figure out?? Even I figured it out after typing a paragraph..and then I felt enlightened..Time for you..
Gibberish aside,I asked the counter fellow what it's made out of.
He told me the three ingredients mentioned above. Actually,before he told me,I'd kind of figured it out..I'm smart you see?? Do you??(See..)
Okay completely serious now..Things following from now on are the reason I wanted to start this blog separately...The recipe hasn't been copied from google..I definitely didn't ask the fellow how to make it.. So if you check this thing and find the description similar to what follows,please give me an imaginary pat on my back..

I guess I figured how to make this thing.
1)First,get hold of egg whites(Do it however you can..)
2)Try and dissolve sugar into the egg whites..
3)add chopped almonds..
If you have tried whisking eggs for a prolonged period,you may have noticed these things turning fluffy.. If you do this for a while longer,they get to this light snow-ish consistency.
4)So what are you waiting for?? Go whisk that mixture.
   Okay,one thing to note...If you plan to whisk it all the way to the point where it turns into snow- white,it's going to be a pain in the.........arm.
preferably use some food processor for #4.
5)Okay,this should probably come somewhere after #3...I'm not too sure about this one,but I'll add it anyway...
Take about 3 tea-spoons of water.Add about half tea-spoon of gelatin powder(available prepackaged). Dissolve the gelatin.
Add a spoon or two of this mixture after step #3. Then...Happy whisking.
6)Put whatever you get after whisking into a PIPING CONE.Figure that one out yourself. I know what it is.But then I won't just let you bask in glory all by yourself.
Pipe the stuff in whatever shape you like on a sheet of butter paper.
7)Pop the thing in the oven...(and switch the oven on)...100 degrees Celsius about should do I guess
8)I am going to try it myself.

This feels like putting your intuitive(not even theoretical) knowledge to the test. The only potential mistake I can see is in that gelatin. But I guess it'll work.

How I got into it...

Hi,
I devote this post of my new blog  to 2 people who made me passionate about cooking.
1.Mom
2.दादाजी ,Dad's Dad

My mom's a crazily amazing cook. Okay she may not be the most creative of people in the kitchen,but the stuff she makes mm..umm mmm!! Absolute bliss! It started right since her childhood. She was one out of 4 sisters. My grandmother was an even crazier cook,as per my mom's description.And it wouldn't be too far off from the truth,as my mom is certainly the live testimony to that. So it is like the 10000 hour rule. My mom cooked from when she was about 10..theh she cooked during her graduation days,then she cooked even more after she got married...more,more more annnd more of cooking,and it must have been a while since she crossed the 15000 or even 20000 hour mark. I mean 40 years of pretty much relentless cooking,apart from totally burning her out, have been added her craft.. That too she juggled all of it while doing a 9-5 job,managing 2 crazy creatures that popped out of her,not to forget the third creature,who obviously popped out of somewhere else...annnd all the other more mundane looking outsiders who keep dropping by from time to time...
Each with a different set of demands to cater to!One word...WOW! I would certainly love to look at the world from her perspective...No not the exact same perspective,only the cooking part.
As a child,I sat next to mom when she cooked.Even now,as I am back from my college,I spend most of my evenings with my mom while she's cooking. The amount of stuff you pick up every time makes your learning curve look like the the exponential function plot.. If lucky enough(by the way,luck is,in my understanding,probability taken personally...) I would like to keep my learning curve that way. I have seen this very feminine approach to cooking that most people have in my immediate surrounding,this is of course ladies included!
So to them,I sing the song-Get over it(by Eagles)

2.दादाजी (Dadaji)
My grandpa is an ex-Air force guy.The 'guy' because he...is by long,far and wide(just to ensure the emphasis),the most coolest person I have met yet. My most vivid memories of my childhood(from age 3 or so) have been with him. He's 81 now. I still remember how,about 10 years ago,he'd come to our place. There was this park of sorts with these gymnastic's rings(those rings hanging from chains). He jumped,caught hold of it,did pull-ups,then kept his body parallel to the ground like for ever!!! Sorry for swearing,but FUCK!! So in short,He's awesome!!
Coming to cooking,now,my grandfather's all experimental with food. His credentials owe to his guts to to try completely bizarre stuff,with disasters no exception to his list of end results,but if Edison hadn't made 1000 mistakes,he wouldn't have made it to the 1001th trial that 'hit the spot'.
As a kid,when we visited my grand parents,my dad,mom,sister and grandmother went out,Dadaji and I stayed back. He isn't a very 'up for going out' type of a person. And I'd not mind missing my remaining family to give him company. He never speaks a lot. Strangely,neither do I. Specially in his company,I never felt the need to. As I write this,I also realize how much I have inherited from him in terms of my personality. We went about anything to everything with stuff that we found around. But bread,chicken,milk,eggs,tomatoes,onions and a few more things were mostly a staple..
He had a habit of consuming a small quantity of alcohol everyday,just the healthy quantity.. No ODing. So if we made something fruit-juice-ish,he just hit his share with a dash of brandy or something.. I guess it comes as a part of being in the Air force...
There was this one incident when I wasn't feeling too well. He gave me this brandy shot. He was like 'Take this,you'll feel warm'. I just gulped it down... BIG MISTAKE! The freaking thing burned me inside out!! But then there was this very soothing heat I felt inside. My cough,fever and all of it just fled from my body.I slept well that night. All this was apart from the fact that I felt super cool after consuming alcohol at 4...He told me that it was 'our little secret'..being the kid I was,this was like going on a secret undercover mission... Obviously he was slightly apprehensive about letting my mom know about this incident. But,much later,I realized that this was a very often used method to get rid of minor coughs and colds. Not that the incident left me an alcoholic for life.
I feel very proud for not having consumed any alcohol in spite of staying in a boarding college.

Even now when I visit my grandparents,If I am watching TV and दादाजी ain't asleep,I tune into some cooking channel..and Woalah!! WE GOT COMPANY!! I somehow feel very comfortable in our silence.He makes a not of the dishes we see. He may not try out all of it,as he used to,but he is not someone you can bear seeing sitting idle. If he is sitting idle,you immediately get a feeling that something's not right. He is the living proof to the fact that the human body is NOT meant to sit around for long duration!

Last but not least,this person totally deserves being mentioned,as a matter of fact,is kind of indispensable.
Sanjeev Kapoor. I very clearly remember watching his cooking shows with my mom,that came on every week ends on Z-TV.This fellow,single handedly changed the Indian cooking scene in the eyes of telly-watchers! He made cooking look cool and suave! The fact that he did not limit his cooking to Indian cuisine made the mind of the average Indian middle-class house-maker open to foods that would have otherwise taken a lot more time to become acquainted to the Indian palate. Yeah we did have the 'Chinese' and a Pizza hut or two but these weren't things you made at home.

I have a dream,probably like many of you out there to open a restaurant.. Hopefully I will turn the dream into a reality someday. So does my Drandpa. He wants it's name to be 'Mummy's kitchen'...
Let's see...