Kitchen and me share a love and (love) relationship, lately. 

The reason i love kitchen is because it is the heart of our home and like it is said the way to man's heart is through his stomach and this holds true for our girl in the house too. Also the need of hour is eating home cooked healthy food.

Per my mother i am a disaster a lot of times (in lot of things besides cooking!), but for my husband and daughter i am their best cook. They love everything i make (truth lies in their heart though). Feeding them in stomach and heart is true bliss!

After over 24 years of following the 9 to 9 run i am fortunate to be the new home-maker and a cook. Why new! because all these years i was more at work than at home.

There are few measure of scale that i have decided for myself to improve as a cook. For example-

• to start with perfect aloo bhaja (non sticky potato fries) - achieved
• perfect beguni (perfectly puffed brinjal fritters) - achieved 
• kosha mangsho & luchi (chicken curry & puffed bread) - moved from beginner to mediocre. 
• rajma & chana dal (cooked kidney beans & chickpeas) - i have learned to accept that i will always need MDH masalas to make a better version of it (and a cooking tip from my beloved friend made all the difference)

There are several other dishes that i have moved from beginner to mediocre and i am still at it. There are small little tricks that i have learned, like a dish can be cooked without haldi (turmeric powder). I was thrilled when i made momos and baked the softest chocolate banana cake (momos in photo above). 

Cooking when done mindfully is a therapy, the sound of oil heating, the aroma of spluttering jeera (cumin seeds) and the end result makes it all a whole heartfelt meal and  experience.

I have been through all the phases of only ordering food from outside to partial. Extensively eating out to moderate to very low. 

The feeling of cooking your own dish with the known ingredients and that tastes awesome is something something i am striving to achieve and I am my own worst critic.