Stereotypically it’s thought that women are supposed to cook at home and man are supposed to earn outside! Well I think we’ve entered an era where both men and women are supposed to cook and earn . I’ve recently learnt how to cook! I don’t claim that I can cook extremely well or I can cook cuisines of all countries! I just have learnt to cook the basic Indian stuff – which is essential for us. Advice that I can give to the new cooks are:
1. Be prepared to listen to lot of advices or scolding’s(if you live with your mom or somebody else with more experienced than you)-The first thing is that we being the new cooks are treated as if, we hardly know anything on earth and every thing that we do is supposed to be wrong, we’ll surely spoil the food. Obviously the result is One step wrong and another blow. Well I think one shouldn’t loose heart on this occasion. This is an art which can help you in emergency – if you intend to stay alone, go abroad etc. so please bear with them politely. These small yet powerful tips will ease down your cooking pressure. At the end, it’ll be just you to run away with appreciation and satisfaction – to make something out of nothing!
2. Become more Hygienic – wash your hands with soap, clean your slab, cooking gas stove, oven, dishes in which you intend to serve etc. nothing can complement your food more than it being more hygienic!
3. Always wear cooking aprons while cooking –inexperienced people needs to be more cautious(just kidding) an apron will help not only protect your cloths from getting dirty, but it give you a sense of cooking and supply you with enough confidence.
4. Make sure that your knife is always right- right means that it should be reasonably sharp. A bad knife(not sharp) hurts and cuts more than a very sharp knife. Keep your knife well placed in your hands while cutting. Things like onions, chilies, tomato etc should be cut keeping them on a plain surface.
5. Keep spices and oil low(especially in the beginning)- high salt, spices, etc will spoil all your efforts. Salt can always be added on and if your food lacks spices you can always spice it up with a “tardka”. Even from health’s point ofview, it’s advisable that oil and spices should be kept low!
6. Don’t over/under cook – ya I know it’s difficult for the beginners to know what’s over and undercooked food. Under cooked food tastes like raw i.e. not the same as you’ve eaten before. Overcooked food tastes like as if it’s burnt or shapeless as the food has dissolved in itself. By tasting it or looking at it’s color, shape or smelling you’ll come to know it’s cooking status. This’ll come to you by experience
7.Garnish well- Little bit of garnishing gives your dish a hiding cloth(if it’s not so good in taste). Serve it well.
8. Cool it down and then store it. **Let your dish come to room temperature, then store the excess in fridge .This will avoid wastage of surplus food that you’ve cooked.
- Be dynamic** – once you’ve cooked two-three times, enter the shoes of a cook and try something different in the recipes you’ve already cooked before. This’ll add to your confidence and experience in cooking
10. Last Tip – Don’t loose heart if you’ve(mistakenly) burnt the food or your food doesn’t tastes good. It’s just the beginning, you’ll learn cooking with more cooking experience, passage of time and following more tips given by experts or more experienced people at home!
This art helps everybody in life. Cooking is not the matter of shame for new era males or females. It’ll help you in emergency and being self-dependent. Even if you’ve a cook at home, learn few basic recipes. Come on let’s cook something!
Happy cooking!