There’s a lot to be said about not knowing how to cook. Or better still, knowing how to cook and keeping that knowledge to yourself. Why? Well for starters, there’s this friend I have who recently got married. He happens to be a real dude in the kitchen … which was great while he was dating and stuff. But then his wife found out. And nowadays whenever I drop in to his house hoping for some home-cooked food, I find him running from fridge to cabinet, with masala dabbas. Yep, if you know how to cook, keep it to yourself.
In this regard, my maternal uncle (endearingly called Maamaa in Bengali and many other Indian languages) is a real smart man: He never learnt how to cook. But being the philanthropic gentleman that he is, he goes about inviting people over to his house for breakfast, lunch, dinner, evening snack, tea, after-dinner munch, mid-afternoon post-lunch-pre-tea chomp … whatever. As a result, my Maami (you guessed it, my maternal uncle’s wife) starts cooking from morning tea time. And she’s gotten into the habit of asking you very ten minutes: “Why don’t you eat something? I’ll make you a chicken roll.”
Twenty four hours in their house, and I go nuts.
My uncle looooves non-vegetarian food or rather the idea of it. And so every morning the fishmonger, the mutton-seller and the chicken-seller dutifully come to their house first.
Lunch is a small affair for them. Just one chicken curry, a fish curry, daal, one vegetable, rice, roti and pickle. How many people in the house? Three – Mama, Maami and my cousin. Geez!
Dinner is the big meal. And I mean big. A mutton dish, a fish dish, some fried chicken kind of thing, daal, two vegetables, rice, roti and a sweet dish. My aunt cooks for ten, the family eats for two. My uncle eats two rotis, tastes everything and has a little daal and rice. My cousin does not touch anything but the meats. My aunt eats like a bird. So who eats the food? The neighbours!
And this carnival happens in their house every single day – 365 days a year. Oh yes, I think my aunt should have kept her mouth shut about her cooking abilities. And she’s a pretty decent cook.
Well, times were those when we survived on “andaa bhurji” & bread for days on end, if you recollect & times are now that we are wasted on food & for choices.
Uski maaakh…..!
“Auntiji” is the only magic word which can save you from starving when you are away from family and on your own. As they say practice makes a man perfect so guys start practising to say “Aunteeeeeji” sweeetly and remember “Vasudaiv Kutumbukam”
It sounds good, I love the simplicity. Your posts are easy as a pie and really attractive at the same time.