Mom : So, what did you cook today?
Me : Vaangi baath ma..it came out really well..
Mom : Ohh...you made just brinjal rice today?
Me : hmphh...No..I made vaangi baath...which is quite different from 'brinjal rice'...
Predictably, my mom wasn't convinced... 'It's all in the game'..I told myself and set out to prepare 'kootu'. Cabbage kootu was my first choice, mainly because you can mix carrots and peas with cabbage and make it seem like you've made a 'great dish'; atleast, so I think! I borrowed a 'quick kootu' recipe from a friend (an adept cook; like me ;) ). The recipe seemed simple enough. Dal, sambhar powder, cabbage (plus carrots and peas, of course!) plus some tamarind (and water) all cooked together in a pressure cooker and seasoned to taste.
But, there has always been this problem about adding 'enough' water for dal. Usually, I keep adding water till an 'inner voice' tells me that 'enough' has been added. After all, cooking isnt 'exact' science. This time, I wanted to be perfect. Ok, atleast close to it. So I re-evaluated my 'water-adding-strategy' and added 'really enough' water. The other challenge is the number of whistles. Normally, I let the cooker whistle till I can 'smell' 'cooked dal'. (Note the terms in single quotes: They denote my gross inability in figuring those out! Everytime, 'cooked dal' 'smells' different! arrghh). Anyway, 4 whistles seemed optimal (cannot prove it; axiomatic!). The kootu had a smashing taste. The salt was a little less; but that isnt a major flaw...
Encouraged by the success of cabbage kootu I decided to try my other favourite kootu..brinjal and chick peas. I cooked brinjal and chick peas separately with the intention of not overcooking those in the pressure cooker. That left me wondering on what to cook in the pressure cooker. Then, I replicated the basic formula. Dal, sambhar powder, tamarind with water for 4 whistles. I mixed the brinjal+chick peas with the pressure cooked concoction and added salt and heated for a while. (Heating guarantees homogeneity of the mixture!)
At the end of the whole procedure; the cooker was full of kootu. 3.5L of kootu! toor dal, chick peas, brinjals..I couldn't ask for a more nutritious dish..But, 3.5 L of nutrition?!?!? That doesnt sound great! The 'mega' kootu kept alternating between the refrigerator and microwave for a long while...
That's enough reason for me to think the activated culinary gene is being regulated; albeit gradually!
