Cook, bake, eat with love...

After the heavy duty, serious and also frustrating kinda of the last few days, I decided to lighten up a little bit.

I guess a post on a major stress buster- cooking is a good idea. What say you?

Talking of art, cooking is an art too.

A spiritual organization I'm partly a part of also says, how the mindset of the cook ultimately affects the food. That's why in India people usually say Mummy's food tastes the best.

I've had discussions with people about the varying tastes coming out of different people's dishes. Why do some people's foods taste better than the rest? In a way a happy and willing mind, with an interest in cooking brings out the best results.


I grew up eating the North east Indian foods- mostly rice, vegetables, milk and drinking tea was a must( I come from a place which cultivates and exports tea). We did try out North and South Indian dishes from time to time but that's about it.

In Mumbai, it was more of North, South and Bombay style foods with a few international dishes thrown in here and there at parties and so on.

Since I traveled and started living of India, I have discovered many more international dishes- in Thailand, USA, London and the Caribbean.Thanks to the company I keep and the new found family. God is very kind indeed.

And yes, I've started cooking much more now. Not that I never cooked before. In Mumbai and before that in my small Indian town I have cooked the normal Indian stuff- rice, dal, vegetables, rajma, chole, chappaties etc from time to time. But I took it more like a duty.

It's going to be two years in a couple of months and I've enjoyed the art since then. And I must say I'm getting better and better at trying out new dishes.

Well as I said, when you enjoy the process the results are far better!

Baking was never my thing. I only baked 2/3 plain cakes in my whole life and that too as a very young adolescent.

In the last one year I've baked oatmeal cookies, oatmeal scones, salty scones, honey-bran muffins,home cooked breads, corn breads, and Caribbean corn meal special "coo coo" & followed an Italian recipe to make sessame seed cookies.

In fact I never thought I could bake. I just followed the recipe and taught myself the stuff.I like to let people I like taste my food and they have mostly loved them(Sadly I didn't keep all the pics but I shall add when I bake again). Using less sugar when one makes cookies is a good idea.













Toasted bread with olive oil is a great favorite of mine. I was taught that one by my someone special who spotted it on a wonderful channel last year. For me, nothing can beat olive oil and toasted bread( for me bread tastes better when it's toasted).

The Italian way would be to add some tomatoes, pineapple, onions, olives and cheese( being lactose intolerant I have to use my enzyme tablets). Yes, in fact if one can't digest dairy products, one misses out on many western dishes. But the tablets are life savers and the rest is self restraint. Too much of anything is not good and the same goes for cheese.




( There are a few burned edges coz I like it that way, but they can be toasted for a few seconds less to make them look just perfectly brown).

And how can I forget my favorite pancakes? Learning to make those as well, but have the right shape is an art & nothing short of a challenge. It's an art which I'm trying to better...



But that doesn't mean I forgot all about the good old Indian vegetarian dishes( I can't cook non veg). Dal Makhani and jeera rice has been a particular favorite for years though while cooking at home, I try to cut down on the butter. I've been good with biryani, rajma( red beans) , chole( chick peas), black chana(smaller chick peas), but again while cooking at home I try to make them less spicy and oily( except for a little indulgence sometimes). Daal, rice and veggies can make a healthy day time meal.




Indian dishes with dahi( yogurt) such as dahi curry, dahi vada( pictured below) and curd rice are soothing on the stomach as well.

Eating well is such an important aspect of life, I realize it so much now.I'm talking of healthy, nutritious foods here. Deficiency was always my problem since I was a complete vegetarian. It wasn't so in my childhood when I was to drink so much milk and eat fruits et al but during my work days in Mumbai.I had hardly much time to take complete care of the diet.

I never missed the meat though.

The nutritionist at my Mumbai gym introduced me to oats and muesli and I tried different kinds of grains but I still ended up having too much oily and spicy stuff thanks to the fact that I had to eat outside most of the time. When I tried to trim my tummy and make it a sexy 24 inches back in 2007, I stayed off rice, sweets, carbs in the night totally for a while.I ended up losing quite a bit of weight from everywhere and not just the tummy.

Well, dieting too much isn't a good thing. Food is to be enjoyed and dieting kind of takes away that joy from life.

Eating well is a much better choice. Many people really didn't know the right things and yes, you meet that kind everywhere.

Thank God, I met some wise folks who taught me the right things. Someone wise rightly said,"You are what you eat" and someone humorous had quipped"You start looking like your favorite dish."

Since I've travelled , and read more, I realize the importance much more. Being more of a vegetarian who has eggs and fish( started sea fish a few months back) only on chosen days( for religious reasons)I have become careful about my protein intake.

Beans, peas, green vegetables,oats, fruits, olive oil, nuts, dry fruits, yogurt, and some carbs & protein should be integral part of any ideal diet.I have started sipping a little red wine( another new thing again) and have continued my fascination with dark chocolate.All that's healthy again. I like the brewed coffee of Central and South America and my cup of tea every day and that's not bad either as long as it's not overdone.

What I need to do next is have my dinner early and eat very little in the night as one's metabolic rate slows down.
Trying hard to perfect that art now...

And yes, I might become a total veggie once again in life after a couple of years. It's supposed to be the healthiest way as it supposedly increases spiritual awareness. I've involved myself with various causes including animal welfare.Let's see how it goes...