And a new flavor

I love food. And especially new food. From childhood I have annoyed my ma and dida (grandma), asking them to always cook new foods for me. It was so hard for them to satisfy my demands all the time. And though I eat everything (well almost everything), what excites me most is some new food.
Still a girl, I had started cooking snacks, sometimes innovating things. Though most of the times, the result wasn’t so good :) I remember, once had put vanilla essence in some fried snacks, it was such an odd combination!! The sweet essence of vanilla didn’t fit with the crispy salty fried taste. And I learnt that the blending of the taste and flavors of different ingredients is the basic of cooking. When first time I was cooking chicken, for some festival dinner, I had to call my mom at her office to ask how to know when the chicken is cooked!! But later, whenever we were having guests at home, I was cooking the chicken most of the time. I would dig out interesting recipes from magazines and books, and ask ma to cook them for me, or would cook myself. And well, all my culinary knowledge paid out when I was away from home in hostel, and I didn’t like the food. Everyday there, I was cooking my own food. And now I am here in Slovenia, I get more opportunity to try new food and learn. Also its kind of relearning to cook Bengali and Indian food, as most of the ingredients being unavailable here, I have to think of replacements many times. It is interesting also that now I try to cook some Indian food that I would have never tried back in India; where they were so easily available, and no one makes them at home!
I love simple recipes, interesting combinations of ingredients. And nothing is as good as having a simple effortless recipe to cook a great tasting dish stimulating all the taste buds. And again I love tedious recipes also. Ultimately it is the whole experience of cooking. Finding the recipe, or making it up; choosing each ingredient one by one; spending time to cook, and seeing the flavors blending and revealing themselves slowly. Alluring the senses, a dish gets ready. And finally the best part comes, enjoying it myself and seeing others savoring it. The food is not just a feast for the taste buds, limited in the five tastes; it is also the fresh aroma that keeps on lingering long after the food is eaten, and the nicely laid table. Cooking is when I am together with my family and friends, in the warmth of festival, or sometimes even just for myself. A complete experience is what it gives.
And sometimes I wish to capture all these culinary adventures of mine, and hence started taking pictures. Also started writing down the recipes to have them for sometime later, especially those where I got idea from internet, or books, or made up myself, or simply spent a few clicks finding the recipe online. And in these days of computers and internet, I thought, writing a blog is the best way to keep my recipes organized and sharing them.
So here I am, sharing the experiences with some ingredients, spices.. Mixing them.. Creating new flavors… Enticing the taste buds…