To cook or not to cook

It's been almost a month since we moved into our new rented house and life has not been more hectic ever since. After the packing came the unpacking and after the unpacking came the endless arrangement and rearrangement of stuff. Amidst all this chaos came two oustation trips and a minor accident. And adding confusion to all this chaos was my resolution to cook myself.

I had three maids in the house we stayed in earlier. One to cook, the second to clean and the third to straighten cushions and fold clothes. We felt outnumbered more than once with the presence of three women in the house floating around doing their work as we watched them. Apart from watching them, I also made tea and packed our lunch boxes.

Now, I have one maid who cleans and helps a bit in the kitchen. I insist that my cooked food tastes better and is also healthier. I resolved not to keep a cook and make `ghar ka khana'.

The resolution lasted for quite some time__one week to be precise. I pasted a weekly menu card on the kitchen cupboard that listed sandwiches for Monday breakfast and poha for Tuesday. I followed it religiously and I have two burn marks, albeit small ones, one on my left arm and another on my left little finger to prove the same.

But, if the first week of cooking was regular, it has been anything but that the following weeks. If the first week of cooking had paneer capsicum masala for lunch, it is now plain boiled dal and rice. The breakfast options too have changed from parathas to simple boiled egg and bread combo.

Either I am waking up late and have no time to cook or just the idea of turning to the fridge to take out vegetabls is turning me off. The restaurant across the road with prompt home delivery service has been of great help, of late. Fishing out his menu card from the kitchen drawer is the closest I find myself going to the gas stove, particularly in the evenings. By now I have tried most of his north Indian specialities and two Chinese dishes. I have started asking the man who takes my calls for orders to suggest what he thinks I have not had in a long time. He suggests grudgingly.

Now, I am tired of his food too. Last night, I ordered from another restaurant and didn't really enjoy it. I introspected and decided it was time I bend over my growing paunch and pull up my socks and start cooking. I cooked this morning. I made pizzas and dal and sabzi. It tasted good and I now think that I should stick to cooking :) .