Thank you for reading and enjoying my last post “Lockdown waali Biryani – It is the time to stay warm, loving and bonded.” In continuation, I am back with Lockdown waali Palak Paneer. This time its a poem which is dedicated to my Mum, (the best chef that I know of), to all the fabulous chefs around the world, the people who love cooking and to the budding cooks.
During the lockdown, since all our favorite restaurants and cheat meal outlets are closed, we are all spending good amount of time in our kitchens. Its very good in a way. Food has actually kept us inspired, bonded and happy. Someone like me, who hardly cooks is also experimenting in the kitchen. But before I actually start dishing out my creations, I am still working on my first attempts. So this weekend, when we managed some spinach and frozen cottage cheese, I announced, its gonna be Palak Paneer day! I did make as promised. And the best part of it was that I thoroughly savored the whole procedure, right from picking the leaves to the last stirring.
That first attempt of Palak Paneer…..
That desire of eating your comfort food,
That heart pang of missing “Maa ke haath ka khaana”
That thought of giving it a try,
That declaration that you will make something interesting for dinner,
That excitement of finding easy recipes,
That fun of consulting variety of blogs and videos,
That jugaad of making it with whatever available,
That fear of missing out an essential ingredient,
That anxiety of wanting everything to turn out fine,
That belief that ‘”Mother dairy ka ghee” ya “Utterly Butterly Amul ka butter” will never fail you,
That thrill of applying “nuskaas”,
That resolution of getting it all right,
That bead of sweat in the sweltering kitchen,
That little burn from the accidental touch of the hot vessel,
That goofiness of using the wrong spatula,
That oozing aroma,
That uniform texture,
That joy of seeing it turn out just the way you desired,
That first spoon in lieu of tasting the salt and flavor,
That last dollop of cream topping, That feeling of making something for the first time,
That happiness of sending picture to friends and parents,
That smug on the partner’s face when he licked the bowl,
That lockdown waali Palak Paneer…..will always be special!
You may read about my Quarantine cooking here.
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