Quite an eventful day- in the kitchen. My culinary woes, or more accurately, hubby's gastro woes never seem to cease.
Today's menu was Methi Paratha. The leaves were soaked, cooked and tasted. Since, it was the first time I was independently preparing them, had mashed potatoes for some Aloo parathas as well. Sounds like quite a strategy, doesn't it? Fool-proof, I thought.
Obviously, I underestimated my own abilities to botch up the simplest of stuff.
Open to scene where the first aloo paratha is prepared. Methi paratha is on the tawa merrily cooking. After I happily flipped the paratha one last time, I heated some ghee for Hubby's favourite roti accompaniment - ghee and sugar. All done and I called out to him to take the parathas. I was quite confident since I had my backup of aloo paratha. I have made them many times previously, so I was happyily rolling out the next ones.
Act 2: Hubbyji delightedly took his first bite. At my questioning glance, he swallowed and tried to curb the spasm of distaste that was overcoming him. My frown lines were growing deeper than Grand Canyon when he replied- too much salt. 'Okie- skip that and have the Aloo under that one' was my reply. Hubby turned and left only to come back with a horrifying shout. What? was my only comment. This is terribly salty too. Our jaws dropped. Okay, extra salt was his excuse- mine was plain misery. The flour- replied my inner Sherlock and a ravenous Hubs dear.
Hmm. I wish that were the end. Sadly, the day had was yet not over. I'll leave out the gory details of a partially cooked Frozen paratha. I won't even mention the overcooked one that followed the half-done partner or even Hubbyji's growing ire. It is just too gory and painful. Just a one word description will suffice- Disaster.
So, what can I reveal? Well, I must mention Hubby dear's sweet gesture of cooking for me. [I take offence at anyone who says 'About time' though.] And I will include his sympathetic way of wiping away my tears of frustration at having lost the battle in my kitchen. Hubs is a sweetie- really; and not just because we shared the next parathas slathered with lots of ghee [my favourite]. Not just due to his way of making me double up with laughter at his jokes as we ate. Could be that he allowed me a close win in the round of Scrabble that we played next- just before his offshore call. Could be because he nudged my favourite MB towards me as he took his daily meeting. Could also be his handing me an almond sprinkled chocolate ice-cream. But mostly, it was for understanding. For comprehending my feelings, and sympathising at such silly times. Especially, since Hubs is a great cook and is an expert at new dishes and the fact that he had asked specifically if we could have an early dinner as he was a bit hungry and had loads of office work.
Is it any wonder that I adore this man? Absolutely not. My efforts in the kitchen might have ended up in an utter failure. But that's paltry compared to the comforting fact that I've ended up with the right man! Adios- to a new day and a new recipe, maybe.
Today's menu was Methi Paratha. The leaves were soaked, cooked and tasted. Since, it was the first time I was independently preparing them, had mashed potatoes for some Aloo parathas as well. Sounds like quite a strategy, doesn't it? Fool-proof, I thought.
Obviously, I underestimated my own abilities to botch up the simplest of stuff.
Open to scene where the first aloo paratha is prepared. Methi paratha is on the tawa merrily cooking. After I happily flipped the paratha one last time, I heated some ghee for Hubby's favourite roti accompaniment - ghee and sugar. All done and I called out to him to take the parathas. I was quite confident since I had my backup of aloo paratha. I have made them many times previously, so I was happyily rolling out the next ones.
Act 2: Hubbyji delightedly took his first bite. At my questioning glance, he swallowed and tried to curb the spasm of distaste that was overcoming him. My frown lines were growing deeper than Grand Canyon when he replied- too much salt. 'Okie- skip that and have the Aloo under that one' was my reply. Hubby turned and left only to come back with a horrifying shout. What? was my only comment. This is terribly salty too. Our jaws dropped. Okay, extra salt was his excuse- mine was plain misery. The flour- replied my inner Sherlock and a ravenous Hubs dear.
Hmm. I wish that were the end. Sadly, the day had was yet not over. I'll leave out the gory details of a partially cooked Frozen paratha. I won't even mention the overcooked one that followed the half-done partner or even Hubbyji's growing ire. It is just too gory and painful. Just a one word description will suffice- Disaster.
So, what can I reveal? Well, I must mention Hubby dear's sweet gesture of cooking for me. [I take offence at anyone who says 'About time' though.] And I will include his sympathetic way of wiping away my tears of frustration at having lost the battle in my kitchen. Hubs is a sweetie- really; and not just because we shared the next parathas slathered with lots of ghee [my favourite]. Not just due to his way of making me double up with laughter at his jokes as we ate. Could be that he allowed me a close win in the round of Scrabble that we played next- just before his offshore call. Could be because he nudged my favourite MB towards me as he took his daily meeting. Could also be his handing me an almond sprinkled chocolate ice-cream. But mostly, it was for understanding. For comprehending my feelings, and sympathising at such silly times. Especially, since Hubs is a great cook and is an expert at new dishes and the fact that he had asked specifically if we could have an early dinner as he was a bit hungry and had loads of office work.
Is it any wonder that I adore this man? Absolutely not. My efforts in the kitchen might have ended up in an utter failure. But that's paltry compared to the comforting fact that I've ended up with the right man! Adios- to a new day and a new recipe, maybe.
