matar-paneer & more...

Matar-Paneer is my favorite. Not only for eating, but also it is favorite dish when my cooking instincts take over my eating emotions. Oh yeah! Yours truly cooks and is only a few steps and recipes away from being called a great chef… trust me… no??... Tch!… ok, may be a hundred steps… Well… whoever has eaten what I cooked, none of them complained food poisoning… So at least that’s first step towards being a great chef, isn’t it… :P

When a person gets infected by the pest of philosophy he starts thinking philosophy everywhere – be it lavatory, observatory, cemetery or even a kitchen. So, forgive me for what comes next. Asking ‘What is cooking?’ is the question similar to asking ‘What is life?’ Cooking is not just about putting matar and paneer in the pressure cooker with right mix of water, spices and salt, and getting appreciation from the matar-paneer-eaters. It’s lot more than that!

Cooking is an art. Cooking is a science. Art – when practiced, science – when perceived. It is not about just knowing the ingredients of the mouth-watering dishes; it is about knowing one’s own ingredients. It is about knowing one’s hunger and the emptiness. It is about understanding what one has and what one lacks, what one needs and what one wants. It is about trying to understand and appreciate the fact that after eating, the tomato becomes the blood, rice becomes the flesh, the carrot becomes the cornea, paneer becomes the pelvis and matar becomes the muscle.

From cutting of vegetables to washing of utensils, every aspect of cooking is important and tells something about the life. And cooking, just like life, is never complete!

Hope you are still hungry :P...! So... When can I experiment my matar-paneer on you?

Bon Appétit!