cooking misadventures part 1

part of the charm of moving to my new place recently involves cooking for myself. now for the past one year while living in santa clara, i was always eating out. except breakfast i guess, all meals were outside. there were a plethora of choices....amazing indian food.....each place had a speciality....one place had awesome sweets....another had mind blowing vada paav....a third specialised in dosas...and a fourth had idlis that reminded me of home......most south indian places had decent coffee...i am really not exagerating...there were also plenty of safety nets....so if u get home late...u could always go to taco bell, in n out and denny's....the first two are open till 1am and the latter is open all night.....convenience and options gave way to laziness....why would i eat my lousy cooking if i could eat awesome food outside...but then things took a turn....around feb, amit joined me and gudi at our place.....amit is passionate about cooking and hence, is also very good at it.....for four months, almost as a rule, dinner was at home.....everything under the sun could be cooked at home....we even had pani puri to eat, thanks to amit....the crowning glory was the sambhar and idli:)....it was out of the world:)
when i moved over here a few weeks back....i wanted to keep the rhythm going....so started cooking at home....or at least trying to cook....my attempts till now apart from dal (which is the only thing i really have an idea of how to cook) have been paneer ki sabji, aaloo ki sabji, mushroom ki sabji, egg bhurji and gobi ki sabji. amit saved paneer ki sabji with his online recipe....thrips salvaged the mushroom and gobi ki sabji with quick tips on how to save water logged sabjis(my fav ingredient in any sabji is water:))....wait..she also saved the dal....i forgot to add turmeric to the dal:)....lol...
my list of what not to do runs as long as the recipes i try out these days.....but somehow no matter how bad i make something...i like it....cause i have made it....of course i wouldnt dream of feeding someone what i cook....i dont hate anyone that much yet.......but someday i will get better at cooking....(somewhere there is a voice in the background singing "somewhere over the rainbow"....really have to stop watching musicals!!)....
so here's a couple of things i have learnt while cooking....this is more as a reminder to myself....than a blog entry
1) "everything does not need water to get cooked....its required sometimes but not always....u can add more oil and no water and get the job done"
2) the amount of chilli powder is exponentially propotional to its effect on the sabji...dont mess with the red....else u will be flaming dead:)
3)same rule with the turmeric...you are adding it for taste...not selling wholesale quantities
4)there is a reason why things are added in a certain order
5) and my fav....yoghurt goes with everything....rice...sabji....roti:)