One of the things I never learnt as a child, teenager, young adult, full adult etc. is cooking. I always thought I will be able to make something when I really need to. And being the youngest child in a family of 5 where all the others were useful in the kitchen does not translate to my being able to even lift a spoon. I remember a memorable occasion when Mom and Dad left me in-charge of dinner and went somewhere. My grandmom was with me, but she chose not to get involved. All I had to do was make potato curry. They even left step by step instructions. Or so I thought. On following them, I realized that whatever I do, the potatoes remained uncooked. I tried cooking them for a long, long time – but they were as stone. Later my Mom explained that water may have been an obvious addition to the mix – which she forgot to mention specifically imagining that any idiot would know it. This idiot certainly did not – and both mom and daughter realized the true state of affairs as far as cooking skills in the youngest offspring of the family were concerned.

Over the years, I managed to pick up little tidbits, a few recipes, some tricks and today I get by. Incidents like where I make idlis with the whistle on the pressure cooker, or burn the jeera etc. are few and far between. My repertoire has also broadened beyond potato curry ( which I can now cook ok). I can now make a fair variety of curries – mainly south indian and a few north indian things. I can also follow recipes intelligently. Somewhere along the line, I managed to pick up making chapathis (from my brother) and parathas (from my sister’s sisters-in-law) etc. But mainly, my cooking consists of the dishes that my mother (and some my father) dictated to me on my request just before I got married and I noted down in a note-book. Of course, I added a few recipes from my sister and a few friends as I went along, I bought a few cook books, I photo copied a few recipes, I downloaded some off the net. Now, slowly but surely, I manage to hold my own in the kitchen.

However, it is very clear to the discerning eye that I am not a cook by choice. I’d much rather be reading, writing or catching up with a long-lost friend on phone or spending time with the kids. It is now a necessity that I must cook. And hence I do. Also, one very huge reason I do, is the better half. You see, P is passionate about cooking and eating. He loves to experiment with new recipes, with his own take of recipes, loves variety in food – wants something different every Friday evening (and his requirement peaks by Sunday evening when he takes matters into his own hands :-) ) Not only must food be tasty, it should be nutritious and spicy. Clearly, I could not get by with this gent by being a shirker in the kitchen. And so I pulled up my socks. I even learnt a couple of Indian sweet dishes which I make decently so that some festivals see us hogging on sweets made by my own lily white hands.

Of course, when kids enter the picture, the whole game changes. You need to make things which are both healthy and acceptable to their palates. You need to be able to offer one offs which may not be exactly healthy, but are at least fresh and home-made and hence you know they do not contain chemicals or preservatives or msg or any number of harmful ingredients. All of which I strive (largely unsuccessfully) to do. That’s where cakes made an entrance. It started with us being regular sharers of cakes that my friend Anamika makes. She has been making cakes since she was 4 years old (so she says) and now makes delicious cakes each time we meet for dinner or when there are any birthdays or anniversaries in the family. Of course, it will take years of practice to get that good – but a niggling thought that maybe I can try it began to germinate in my mind. But then, I would have needed an oven – which I refused to buy on the assumption that I would be baking cakes all my life. The micro-wave could have been used for this purpose, but I had no idea then that it could and neither was I much interested to inquire about the matter.

Then I met the mother of my daughter’s twin classmates. One thing led to another and I got to know that a) she could make cakes and even takes people’s orders for cakes. b) she is planning to take classes on baking and c) One can make cakes in a pressure cooker using it as a hot chamber!! This last really interested me and prompted me to think further on this matter. I ordered cakes from her for a couple of birthdays in my family in the next two months. I was so impressed by them (they were delicious, they tasted and looked exactly as if they were made by a large bakery, they did not cost the earth for having been home-made and they were eggless) that I immediately decided to enroll myself into her baking classes – or at least one of them.

Three months later (you see, I am a quick worker, I don’t let grass grow under my feet – at least not much) I did just such a thing after making elaborate back-up plans at home for the family. I emerged 5 hours later with little confidence that I would be able to use my newly acquired knowledge. Over the course of the next couple of weeks I tried to follow the instructions in class and made a couple of cakes. The first one was bordering on intolerable – but could be eaten. The second was quite decent. But both had charred sides and bottom probably due to high heat inside the cooker. But the second cake itself were pretty good and today I went to my second baking class to learn eggless tea-cakes. I also finally learnt how to use the microwave as a convection oven – which is such a shame considering that I have a hi-tech implement in my kitchen for the last 8 years which is mainly used to heat up left over food. I also learnt a few other things like -

a) You need to form a relationship with your baking device, know its moods and mood swings which comes from using it repeatedly in different circumstances.

b) In baking like in most other things in the world, you plan to fail, if you fail to plan. Every ingredient required in the correct form and temperature should be ready before you start the process.

c) You need to be really quick about the whole things if you don’t want to risk any damage to the cake. No place to stand stare, this.

d) Last, which a lot of experienced lot will not agree with, stick to the recipe like glue. At least for the first 25 times. Each step, every quantity, every degree centigrade. It leaves little room for experiments – yes. But it makes for a delicious tasting cake each and every time.

Will I try every one of the cakes that I was taught today, will they come out well, will I be able to make them public – that is send little cup-cakes for my daughter’s birthday to all her classmates which is something that I really want to do( thank the lord that her birthday is 4 months away), or even offer cake as a dessert to friends when they come for dinner – I don’t know.

But I do know that I have found a new friend. And it feels really nice to have someone new and interesting in life. :-)

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