My quest for AMBROSIA - the food of Gods.

Cooking is one of those almost hypnotic businesses, like a dance from some ancient ceremony. It leaves you filled with one of the world's sweetest smells... there is no chiropractic treatment, no Yoga exercise, no hour of meditation in a music-throbbing chapel, that will leave you emptier of bad thoughts than this homely ceremony of making food.it is almost like a musician making his masterpiece. you have to linger at every step, guide urself by aroma ,the sight and instincts ....the whole process is as rewarding as the feasting on the outcome.
When i was a child i was one of those who had least interest in food. I thought of it as a waste of time . Eating was like a job to me ;I mean a cumbersome job of thrusting things in to the mouth untill the belly is full . This act was not voluntary always .My mother frequently reminds me of how our 'domestic help' use to chase me around the house with the platter of food in his hand. I remember some of it though.I remember best at it was Inder bhaiya. A lad with chink looks.He had a way of his own . He used to fascinate me with this fictiouc charecter Chweedbarh (whom he created out of thin air ).This charecter according to him was more powerfull than 'Bhima', and I had to beleive him because Chweedbarh was from his native village and Inder bhaiya's daddy was freinds wth him . So captivating me with tales of chweedbarh - who used to eat from katories of the size of wedding karahis, he would slyly empty the whole plate down my throat without me even noticing it . The spell used to break when with the last bite of the food he would abruptlly end his story . I used to feel so cheated but that did not prevent me from falling fr his another con at another meal.
The first time i remember that i relished food was at my Bua`s place.She had pprepared chicken. I hated chicken but when I saw my cousins so eager fr it ,I somehow thought "it oughta be good", and yes i relished food for the first time .The next time I remember was a party at Brigadier Ganguly`s place. As a snack there were these little barbecued pieces of Goat liver , each with a chopstick in them.I remember asking the orderly for them again and again , so much so that it embarassed my parents.My mother had to strictly instruct me later after coming home , that if i did the very same thing again , I would not be taken to any party anymore.

The credit of my introduction to food as a creator goes to my long lost freind Brijesh.He told me the reciepe of 'Mushroom Curry' with such a twinkle in his eyes that I decided to give it a shot . I had tried my hand before at cooking but it was basically , omlettes or pizzas. this was going to be the first real food i wud make. So with all that i could remember and with a little help from him on the phone i managed through the process.... and VIOLA !!! nobody at my place could believe that i actually did it . So it kinda got me started.
When i joined St Mary`s in 11th standard, i rented a flat there in Meerut. Since i was actually living all alone for the first time ( i mean not a hostel -but a flat of my own) I furnished it as if I had to live there fr ever. I had this almost complete kitchen where i would experiment with different kinds of food each day . And since it was only me wo had to bear up with the diasasters of my experiment gone wrong , I seldome feared before trying new things.That small kitchen hoaned my skills and soon i could understand the spices and magic they could create if added in right proportions.How long does it take to get food cooked , or if it would taste better if left a little raw?, How does a high or a low flame affect the taste ?Which type of oil goes with which kind of dish ?, It all etched in to my brain as if it was there since ever. Slowly my confidence as a cook grew and i started inviting freinds over and i knew i was good at it when their mommies used to call me up for reciepes.
Soon i had a reputation . my freinds would not celebrate their birtday parties at expensive restraunts anymore . My flat was the new hub. They would request me and after a little flattery I would agree in a non chalant way, though all these while my mind wud be totally occupied with the joy it would give me trying my hands at all those which i had been planning in my head fr weeks.It was kinda difficult for me to sleep the night before .
Next day i would get up early in the morning and after taking a long relaxing bath i would dress in to a light white t shirt , wrap the apron around my waist , put on some nice music on my Kenwood system and call the Birthday Boy for assisting me. Ah!! the whole day was paradise for me . I felt like a Musical Maestro performing his symphony. My hands use to run with the music. I would hardly think of any other thing. Guiding my instincts with aroma of the herbs and spices while making indian food and my sight and taste while working on continental food.I used to prepare a full three course meal , right from starters till dessert , and could hardly wait for the praises to be showered in the evening , which were always plenty. Maybe others did that to confirm me for their parties but i did not care. i knew that i was good by the look at their faces.

Cooking along with several other things had become a passion with me now. I would not have a meal that I did not add a personal touch to . I would search for new new places to eat at so that I might discover a new flavour and decode it in my brain and reproduce it later.While my stay in lucknow as a medical student i got a lot of chance to explore the 'Awadhi Cuisine'. Since it was such a hectic schedule all week with studies , patients and stuff that every saturday i used to wud unwind by searching little food joints who were famous by reputation . I avoided going to big expensive restraunts cause their food tasted bland to me .Every place has its trademark regional cuisine and you can never experience it at a pompous restruant. True flavour dwells in little corners ,this i understood well.
I must tell u my quest was not that easy. Though i could decode most of the reciepes myself but I must tell u that for that special flavour there is always one secret ingredient which cooks are not eager to divulge.
I would always try to take a seat at the place from where i could observe them cooking.This is fairly easy at small joints cos they kinda practically cook infront of you. Sometimes it was easy to get that secret ingredient just merely by asking politely what made their food so special. I tried that at AL ZAIQA and Gaurav`s in lucknow for their famous chicken avadhi, and chilly cheese respectively. They did not have much reservations in telling me that they used opium seeds rather than onion paste and multiple coatings of cornflour n soya sauce in their respective dishes. But the toughest nut to crack was TUNDEY KABABI. Here i must tell u tundey kababi is probably the worlds most famous kababi and almost a trademark of lucknow cuisine. If u visit his place in lucknow u will see his photographs with people like Dilip kumar , Shahrukh khan ,Cheif ministers and Sheikh`s from Gulf.There is one thing i liked about him is that despite of his tremendous sale he has maintained the same 'in reach of common man' prices.
He would not simply as much as even hint me on the reciepe leave apart discussing anything. After weeks of frequenting tundey`s and complementing him personally each time and even pointing out how this time it was minutely different from the last time, he developed a certain respect fr me as a fellow foodie. One evening he in his proud monologue divulged his secret to me ,unaware of the ctastrophy. I could not suppress my excitement .Tundey used to mince pappaya with fresh red mutton and used to leave them overnight. The enzyme in pappaya used to semidigest the protein so the need to boil or cook it was done away with .In his self boasterous speech he slipped the exact amount and the ingredient which he added to it .After three unsuccessfull attempts one fine day i reproduced the exact taste of the Great Tundey Kababi.
Till now i could cook yes but i had no style. I mean when this time i was watching this movie MUNICH, i envied the male lead who could dice and slice with his chef knife with astounding skill and pace.But it was destiny that after a month or so i left for Delhi and met Sameer Chaudhary (chintu bhaiya-as we lovingly called him).
Chintu Bhaiya was a cousin of my best pals . I had met him earlier also but never did spend time enough with him to know him . We rented a flat together in Amar colony Lajpat nagar, where he still lives till date.He was a graduate from PUSA -Goa with his Masters in Hotel management. Was supervising North Zone of Reliance Retail.He was a foodie himself. so when we two met we made a great team . Though we had employed a maid for our cooking but dinner- that was our turf. He would come back from his office dead tired and after a nap of about half an hour or so . We would decide on some entirely new dish and go for it.Trust me when i say that ,even if it was a simple PULAO we decided to make , so much effort and brain was put in to it that it wud taste better than a steak at a 5 star ( 5 stars seldome taste good though).
He would show me his fancy skills of chopping , basting etc. and i like a sponge absorbed every detail . Since i had so many freinds i used to make it a point to invite them over for dinner and amaze them with these skills. We had an excellent collection of crockery and kitchenware which u would seldome find at a bachelors place. I even managed sizzlers infront of our guests right on the dining table.Now i could cut and chop (exactly like that Munich guy) to the amazement of my guests .
These days at home my mother tells me that sons usually fancy what their mother will cook fr them but it is the opposite here. I could but just smile and dream what next treasure would i discover while travelling to a virgin land.........on my next quest for Ambrosia.....

Madhur Uniyal