My aunt Amala is a fantabulous cook. She can cook and she can cook. South Indian, Punjabi, Gujarathi, Chinese, Continental, Thai, Spanish, you name it. The woman is not only a cook with her hands but also a cook with her brains. All she does is think up of new recipes. She is forever on the lookout for new recipes and has a pile of cookery books in her kitchen cabinet.
About Rashmi Uday Singh
My friend Sudhir never planned a lunch/ dinner outing without consulting his Bible, “The Good Food Guide”. And we always marveled at the new places that he suggested, which we would have never known to have existed were it not for the book.
This book has been written by a lady called Rashmi Uday Singh who is a Income Tax commissioner-turned-Cooking Guru. Apparently she runs cookery classes and also writes some unusually themed cookery books. Her speciality is to sample food in restaurants, bars, lounges, roadside stalls, etc. and writing a guide for customers.
It was Aunt Amala’s birthday last Ocotber, With my failing memory, I completely forgot about it. Just one night earlier, I remembered – but it was too late to buy her a present. Knowing her penchant for recipes, I thought I’d browse the internet for some good ones and send it along with a nice e-greeting.
With my limited exposure to the culinary world, the only familiar name that came to mind, courtesy my friend Sudhir, was that of Ms. Singh. I browsed the net and was overjoyed to find that she had a website of her own. That’s it, I thought! Now all I have to do is download some exotic recipes, do some nice formatting and email it to aunty. She would be thrilled!
The Site
I was quite appalled to find that this was nothing but a self-promotional homepage of this celebrated cookery author. There was a detailed CV of Ms. Singh, about how she has been a cookery writer for over 22 years, that she joined the Indian Revenue Service in the 70s, and rose to the level of Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax.
Yes, if you want to know which of RUS’ books you haven’t read, do check this site. There is a detailed repertoire of her books which are based on various themes. I’m sure you will find at least one which escaped your attention.
There are also details of her cooking academy in case you want to enroll.
There is also an apology for an FAQ giving health tips supposedly by health experts.
And last but not the least, if you want to read more about this lady, there are attachments of various press clippings which showcase her work.
Foodline
This is a service started by Ms. Singh, which basically has a database of food service providers such as caterers, dabbawalas, or halwais. You can search through their search engine for a specific requirement.
Recipes
Looking for recipes? In a cookery expert’s website? Are you out of your mind? Well, you may not believe it, but there is not a single, let me repeat, not even one single, recipe on this site. If you have come here for new culinary combinations, aap dhoondte reh jaaoge!
That, I think, would be the biggest disappointment to any visitor to this site. Why would one come by this site apart from getting a few cooking tips from an expert? Surely, we are not here to read about various aspects of Ms.Singh’s career!
Luckily
For me, after a bit of head scratching, I thought of another cookery expert, Sanjeev Kapoor. This guy too has a website of his own and is much more resource friendly for recipe seekers. After downloading about three recipes in various categories, I was able to send a satisfactory greeting package to Amala aunty.
As for Ms. Singh’s website, you can safely give it a miss!