Life is a beautiful journey full of chaos and adventure. So, fold your sleeves, come out of your comfort zone and try something you always wanted to do.

8 Mar 2016

Are Indian Husbands Ashamed To Cook?

My Dad is not ashamed to cook but he rarely cooks.
My Brother-in-law cooks on weekends... haha... He is an awesome cook. My cousin (sister) is lucky.
My close friends now know cooking. Hope they won't mind cooking even after their marriage.
Regarding me-
Mom- (Scolding) What your wife will tell? Why you don't do X, Y, X, P, Q, R?
Me- (Little irritated) It's good that no body will marry me after all I'm good for nothing.
Mom- (with a smile)- No. It's not like that. X,Y, Z Aunt saw your cooking pics and were awestruck. They told, "Girls like when guys cook". I now tell everyone that you know cooking. After all, everyone is an engineer...you've some extra qualification.
Me- (Really embarrassing) - Yet, we both laughed so hard that I can't express in words. It was so funny and embarrassing. No one can beat Indian Moms :P

My Dad reminds me of the Bollywood Movie Nayak.
My Mom is an awesome cook who has a wide variety like more that 50 type of chutneys (side dish). She is passionate about cooking and cooks South Indian delicacies, like dosa, idlis, chutney, sambhar, uttapam, upma, etc with the same expertise as the natives. (I will share the pics later)
After all, she learned this from people who were natives. During her school vacations, she used to visit her Aunt in Kolkata. There she came in close contact with poeple from South India and Sindhis. I am so glad that those people shared their indigenous recipes with her. My Mom also cooks Dhokla...a Gujarati dish and I'm eagerly waiting for a day when I can get feedback of a Gujarati friend about her Dhoklas that are just awesome with the Peanuts chutney.
Oh! this question is about husbands!
Mom- People support their wife in the kitchen chores, see your brother, XYZ who washed dish plates when maid didn't came. Do you feel ashamed helping me in the Kitchen. ( Well, she was referring to an incident that happened 20 years ago)
Dad- (sheepishly laughing and cracking self depreciating jokes heads towards the Kitchen) Oh! You should call me when I'm needed here.
Mom- (trying to find reasons to get him out of Kitchen as she don't often likes to get help)- Oh! you're not doing it right....You should go and help children in studies

Observing my parents over years has been a satisfying experience. Women don't always mean what they say. They love to give back the love you give them with 10x more intensity.

Dad cooked Rice and Tomato curry when Mom was ill.
Dad cooked Parathas with the shape of India when Mom had to go to alone to attend one function. He couldn't go due to office and our school.
Dad cooked when he felt that Mom needs rest.
Dad cooked to impress Mom. And, we loved his cooking like Mr. Anil Kapoor says in the Movie, Nayak that cooking of Dad is awesome as he cooks rarely. Same pinch!
My Dad loves to make tea and I must say he makes really good tea. I wonder if he makes tea to have it or makes me Mom feel loved as he is not much of a person who is naturally inclined for cooking. But he has what it takes to raise to the occasion and do some cooking.

I wanted my Mom's cooking skill to pass on to the next generation.
So, I look the initiative to learn cooking. The another reason is that I love home made food and love what I cook:P.
I'm grateful to my friend Arighna, who has given critical feedback and stilled dared to eat whatever I cooked. He is one of the rare guy who gives honest feedback. One day, he tasted the chicken curry just while I was cooking for all the Flatmates and told that this is like what I eat at home.
My Friend and I are foodie and getting appreciated from him was like getting a trophy.
His Mom and Dad came and I cooked for them. It was a nervous moment as I was self conscious, I don't know how I cooked but they were generous in their praise.

This post is incomplete without mentioning how I changed my cousin and best friend, who has never cooked.
While he was hunting for jobs, I started cooking at night with hiring him as my assistant. haha.. He has got a rich experience in preparatory works like cutting onions and Tomatos. We love those days. Some day I will share this in detail.

My friend from Mangalore, Jagdish is such a down to earth person. He has tolerated all my experiments on Foods. Thanks Jagdish!

Now, by coming in my contact, I converted 3 would be husbands - Arighna, Jagdish and Ashish as Husbands who won't mind cooking.

As far as I am concerned, I'm not going to tell my would be wife that I know cooking- at-least that's the advice I got from my brother-in-law. He also cooks for him and my cousin (sister) on Weekends. :P However, you can see the pictures of what I have cooked over 2 years. Cooking is Beautiful
My Mom is more proud on my cooking skills that my engineering degree. Hmm.. She is result oriented. I promised her that I would start a blog for cooking where I would unveil her recipes. Oh! I just started one- Mom teaching Cooking - If you believe I make some sense- Follow to get notified- It's focus is on helping bachelor's learn cooking easily as we miss home foods, Isn't it?
I used to write down the recipes over phone and then would send her the photos of what I cooked. My Mom is so proud on my cooking skills. Dad taught me how to cook with minimum stuffs, (Jugaad Technology).

I cook a wide variety of things like Chicken curry, Chicken chilli, Biryani, Egg Curry, Parathas, Rice, Pulses, Paneer Kadhai, etc. Why a bachelor started Cooking? by Rohan Sinha on Mom teaching Cooking

The weird shaped Sattu Parathas I cooked for dinner. Was loved by Arighna- who hailed from Patna but was a native of Bengal.

I and my friends sat on the floor and enjoyed this. Hope you guys remember! Sunday's have became fun day. All this has been prepared without their help. Now, they have also started cooking and I have to relax.

Hmm...This looks Yummy...It was for a beast like me- I'm pure Non-Vegetarian. (Vegetarians- Don't see me as a beast now, that's not fair)

It's one of the best meal. Easy and tasty. Smashed Potatoes, Pickle from home, Tomato -onion side dish complemented Rice and Dal. How is that?

Haha--- Biryani for eyeryone in separate pack. Happy New Year 2015- Sometimes, even I come up with some creativity.

Cooked on 1st Jan 15 for a picnic with my cousins at Hanging Garden, Mumbai. Awesome experience, Di and Ashish

I love curd...

Dal Khichdi- Easy and quick to cook. And trust me, it's yummy.
Follow Mom teaching Cooking to stay tuned for future posts where I will share my Mom's cooking recipes, tips and other stories related to food. Just imagine if I learned all this only on phone then why can't you. It's a satisfying experience. 
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