The urge to quickly give you a summary of how I go about my meals comes just after I am done with a call with my Mom who is my constant reminder on my ways of life, she (still) finds pretty intriguing.
So, if I am to feed myself - and no exaggeration here - the maximum I can spend is 10 mins given my maid is not here and there is no food ready. Well, this is a gift from some kind soul who cares for women's vital statistics. If you see - I don’t mind going for super healthy food which is generally not the greatest in taste if you don’t spend much time on it, which I obviously don’t. So my breakfast maybe curd, some fruit (pomegranate I long for, but that has to be peeled and ready) and muesli, my lunch is the something as quick as what you see in the pic (takes exactly 3 mins). And yes I have horrible hunger pangs/ sweet cravings the whole day, yes the whole day, for some medications I am on, (quipping in a quick reason to why I am putting on weight abnormally after working out decent, with healthy food, so you don’t have to struggle to keep quiet when you are restless to make comment, may a polite one, on my contour when you meet me next), and I try to resort to protein bars, some fruit, milk or some healthy and not-to-forget tasty Ragi Banana Walnut Cake, I prepare in large quantities to keep me satiated for say 3-4 days, and this again takes 7-8 mins for the batter you can keep it in the oven and forget about it for the next 40 mins. You are welcome to ping me for the recipe. I'll be glad to share. Yeah, I have some remains of the cake - lucky!
And dinner is God’s grace if my maid’s not there, or if I don’t plan much in advance for a millets curd meal. But that happens only once in a while and I honestly don’t mind having unhealthy ordered food, or even sweets, unless I am sick.
That’s about how I function. I honestly find cooking a waste of time. Apologies to all the Julia Childs and Chef Johns reading this one, in case you are offended. And I see why this surprises my family members - in my family the concept of a meal is what it is supposed be, diametrically opposite in the preparation time, the types and so on, from mine. Seriously speaking, I have been fortunate to have enjoyed all of that luxury before I moved out of home, and now when I visit home.
Diwali and Holi are two occasions where there is a sudden mysterious change in my being where I really spend time on what I am preparing and pay my attention to detail. I have no idea how that happens, but it’s the truth. It's a good change, as long as it lasts.
While on the phone with my Mom today, I was making mental notes on how to make a traditional Rajasthani cuisine for a small Diwali get together I am hosting at my place. And while she was giving me instructions, I am amazed at how my genius kept on coming up with ideas to skip certain parts and make the thing faster and seemingly as tasty. So, it turns out my Mom learnt healthier and easier ways on these by now. Too bad for my Mom, we did not get into this conversation about 15 years back with the same genius in me.
__The postscript is not all that important - it's a self-talk so you may stop here. Thanks! ___
P.S While I write all of this, I still feel very fortunate to be able to afford all the protein bars, muesli, walnuts etc which is really a luxury for so many in the world.
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