Writing has been a pleasure for me and therapeutic too. But for my friends, food therapy is what they swear by. While I sat down to write my previous post, read- When Coronavirus brought out our ‘inner chef’, I checked with a group of friends if I can include their dishes in my blog post. When they happily agreed within a fraction of seconds, our WhatsApp group was soon flooded with scrumptious food pictures which we hadn’t shared till now. It literally gave us all of the foodgasms! Until now, we were just interested in eating but the lockdown has made us wear chef aprons and toque blanche (chef’s white hat).
The bombarding of the group compelled me to create two separate posts so that justice can be done to their food and my writing. Long posts can be tedious to read which is why I am dividing them and this being part is here while part two will be uploaded soon. Sharing about my friends’ culinary skills, some of them have honestly taken cooking to the next level. They are preparing diverse delicacies, be it street food, North Indian, healthy stuff, continental, Italian, fusion, and the list is endless.
Jayashree Maji, a PR manager has cooked various dishes ranging from Indian and Mexican to the healthy stuff. Her food is lip-smacking and the perfect combination of traditional and modern cuisine.
Sharing her cooking journey, she says, ‘’Food has always been a stress buster for me. Since it’s been many years that I have been living away from my family, cooking was initially a necessity but over the years, it became my passion. The onions being sautéed in oil, the burnt garlic fragrance, the colorful vegetables, and the aroma of the spices make me happy high and relieve me from all the tensions and rejuvenate me. As I am presently living with my cousin, Krishnendu, I try to cook different dishes so that there is a variety as in the present scenario, its’ only food along with video calls with friends and family which keeps me going. I have made many dishes including chicken momos, hot and sour soup, tortillas, spinach walnut pesto pasta, and Biryani. Since I was missing home; I prepared my favorite Bengali specialties too like fish curry, gup chup (Gol gappe), and ghugni chaat. Because I work out daily, I also try to include healthy stuff in my diet which is why I have also prepared roasted pumpkin soup, anda khichdi, curd oats, and chia seeds pudding. I hope to take my cooking skills to a grand level in the future. ‘’
Amongst the desserts, she has prepared Mexican rice pudding, jalebi, and dark chocolate with roasted dry fruits. Can you believe that all these items are just to name a few? For my group and me, any dish made by her is to die for. We address her as our annadatta and keep on motivating her to open her ‘Maji Kitchen’ soon!
Shweta Bhatia, who is presently on a sabbatical and taking care of year and a half old daughter, Vaagmi, is indulging herself in preparing out of the box dishes.
She says. ‘’ My husband, Vicky and I are working as a team to sail through this phase. It’s hectic as we have a small kid who needs care and attention and then we have the household chores too. Meals, to be honest, are the best part of the day when we can relax and spend some time with each other; which is why I was inclined to try out new recipes. Apart from the normal Indian food, I have prepared cajun potatoes, dahi ke sholay, katori chaat, and gobhi Manchurian. I even experimented with making lasagna with bread instead of sheets and it turned out to be good. I also spent my birthday in lockdown last month and to make it special, I prepared mezze platter with Vicky’s help. With the handy recipes and experiences, I am trying to make restaurant like food at home.’’
Shweta and I share our fondness for Punjabi and Gujarati cuisine and often indulge in long discussions about our culture and traditions.
Another close friend of mine, Smita Agarwal from the communications field is high not just on ludo but food too! She was never vocal about her culinary skills and when the conversation started over our WhatsApp group, the moment she shared her food pictures, I was in awe.
She shares, ‘’I have spent many years in Pune away from family. When you leave your comfort zone to settle in a new city, you have to learn new skills specifically cooking as you can’t depend on anyone else. You learn to be independent and cooking is one such area. Food is one important aspect of my life in which I can’t compromise. What earlier started as the task of the day has now become my happy source. Along with the work from home, I am cooking too and have prepared pancakes, chicken burger, dum aloo, fried rice, and chilli paneer, chicken labadar, chilli chicken, and veg clear soup just to name a few. I also tried my hands at baking techniques and have baked a cake along with making baked vegetable and palak corn. Apart from my two nieces, food is both my life and the love of my life.’’
The pictures do not do justice to her food and I am eagerly waiting to taste the dishes cooked by her.
Our friend Rupam, the fashionista and makeup artist of the group is now widening her talent base by learning to cook.
While sharing her cooking journey, she jokes, ‘’before the lockdown, my knowledge about cooking was just limited to making maggi. However, now, since, I am living away from the family and the helps aren’t allowed; I have learned cooking with the help of my family, friends, and technology. The YouTube recipes have been a huge help too. I take great pride in saying that now I can prepare a variety of dishes. I made dal chawal and bhindi one day and was surprised when it tasted good since that was my first proper cooking experience. Apart from the routine meals, I have also prepared pesto salad, chicken focaccia with my customized stuffing of corn with veggies, and a complete English breakfast comprising of toasted bread, sausage, and sunny side up eggs. I even recreated the Indore style breakfast of poha and jalebi and patted myself on the back when both of them turned out to be good. What started as a work in the ‘to-do list’ has now become my area of interest. I wish to explore more cuisines and experiment to come up with innovative dishes. The only qualm I have is that the process of washing the utensils seems to be never-ending. ”
While we met at a weird phase of our life, we are now close friends and term our ‘ludo game time’ as panauti hour as we always lose when paired against each other!
The bride to be of our gang, Bhavna Sharma, is all set to take the vows and is waiting for the situation to improve so that she can finally be with her ‘the one’ for the rest of her life. While she is juggling between her new job and setting up her house in a new city; food is giving her the much-needed happiness and strength.
She shares, ” I was all set for the wedding when the pandemic occurred and the lockdown was announced. Ankur, my fiancé and I are spending our courtship days via virtual dates. Being away from my family and him, cooking a variety of dishes is keeping me sane and happy. The unique items which I cooked are pav bhaji, puran poli, banoffee pie, and my home town’s special-lauki ka halwa. Since the dalagona coffee trend was also viral; I tried that too but with an Oreo twist. I am excited to begin my new journey with Ankur. I just wish the condition improves soon so that I can tie the knot in the presence of my loved ones without any tension and stress.’’
Bhavna and I connect over our shared love for chai and books and will be often seen discussing the same.
In my eyes, all of them are MasterChef’s! We all have evolved from office friends eating together and sharing our meals in the conference room to now showcasing our cooking enthusiast version on our ‘Smoker gang’ group.
Stay tuned for the part 2 of the blog post!
The Scribbler's Dais 