England!

So this is the end of my seventh visit to this country in the last 6 months. This time I was here for the longest amount of time. My PhD external supervisor is here. And so is my own external supervisor :).

I had thought that I would do a fair bit of reading in this trip. Instead I ended up doing things I would never have done, like making chapatis. The reason I did it here is that I have 3 Indian housemates here who are always willing to be the subjects of my cooking experiments. And they are also always ready with kind supportive words. Another reason is that Indian ingredients are easily available here in England.

In France I am learning French cooking. But for Indian food, I would always cover up anything with a smothering of spices and it would taste good. Somehow I had never managed to learn real Indian cooking.  I guess the reason is that I like being left alone while cooking and in India someone is always present along with you in the kitchen who keeps telling you how and what to do. In my case it was my mom and the bai who made chapatis.

Anyway, so I cooked. I sometimes made breakfast, most times I made lunch and dinner and when I felt like it, I made afternoon snacks.

It began with Gudi Paadva/ Pongal when we all felt like making something sweet. So we made Kheer/Payasam for dinner. It was a hit. Then it was things like Dosa, Sambaar, Khichdi, black-eyed beans, upma, poha, bhel etc. Although I like chapatis, I felt like they were the reason all Indian women spent hours in the kitchen. So I had forsaken them altogether. But my housemates were not so skeptical about those round monsters. So I gave it a try with them. At first they were too thick, not round etc. But I was so hooked to learning how to roll out the monsters that I hung on to it and rolled out a few several times. And I think I learned. Priyanka, my chapati guru will testify.
I really graduated when I made stuffed potato parathas! I never thought I was capable of anything like that. But they turned out well. Then I baked apple tart like MH had taught me to. I added caramel sauce to it. Then I baked Pizza! Made everything from the base to the sauce. I also made gratin dauphinois, a French potato and cheese bake. I made crepes and also a shortcrust basket with fruits and custard. I also tried Parsi omelette but I am sure it wasn't the real thing.
I bought a dessert recipe book which I flipped through several times and which gave me some really good ideas.
I found myself thinking intensely about food. When my housemates discussed their MBA issues, I would be thinking about caramel sauce or a new type of paratha.
My friends will tell you that I could cook even before this stay in England. But cooking for others is what I learned here. Everyone doesn't like everything. When you live in a society you need to adapt. And I did. Not that anyone ever asked me to cook in a certain manner. But I was always aware that others are going to eat what I cook and that I must cook according to their tastes.
My housemates taught me loads of stuff. Priyanka taught me how to bake an eggless chocolate cake. What she made was awesome. They also made grilled chicken and fish and I am now entering the world of Indian non-veg cooking.
We all consumed several times more calories than we would have otherwise. So that is one point I need to work on. Maybe in my next visit to England I will unleash health-food experimentation on my poor housemates.
That's all for my culinary visit to England. More later! Cheers!