When I was in India, there never came a time when I had to cook. At home it was mom and at work it was either office food, swiggy/zomato or our house help. Also, good vegetarian food was always readily available and cheap. But all that changed when I came to Canada. The food was expensive and vegetarian options very limited. I had to adapt. Myself and the lives of my three roommates depended on it :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:.

At first it was a bit daunting and confusing. There were too many things to manage: onions getting burnt, oil splattering everywhere. Plus I soon realised that my North Indian roomates could not take the heat. So there was this balance of flavour I had to maintain. Oof! Thats a lot!

I started with the basics - cooking rice. It was not perfect but honest work. The sight of the final product very pleasing and satisfying. Below is the photo of the “first” rice!

Rice cooked for the first time :sob:.

And then it was time for the next essential food - the dreaded roti! It is dreaded because the whole process was so tedious and the roti’s I made - 12 of them - got eaten so fast :cry:

Roti (soo gol) made from scratch :heart:.

Things continued and I stated cooking new things - rajma chawal, chole chawal, biryani, aloo palak, soya manchurian. Slowly I began enjoying cooking. A task which at one point was tedious and exhausting became pleasant and relaxing. It was like therapy amidst the academic and social pressure. I found peace in my thoughts and the comforting aromas around me.

Cooking has given me a sense of comfort that if AI takes over my job (I feel like that will soon happen), I can start food business in Montreal - a city with a lot of demand for vegetarian indian food :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:! Also, this has inculcated in me a deep sense of respect for my mom who used to cook for me :heart:

Let me not bore you with more details. In this post I will be adding the food I cook and a few moments we had along the way. I might group them and make this more interesting in the future.

First biryani (not pulao okay)! That was very very tasty and it looked amazing also.

Cooking biryani the first time was a memorable moment and my roomate captured our reactions!

I might have been a little too excited :satisfied:.
Aloo da paratha! I was surprised that it came out this great since this was my first time making this. Made me wonder if I had a gift!.
The fundamentals - Dal and jeera rice.
Bisi bele bath straight from Karnataka. We did not have chana dal and ended up using whatever dal we had.
Going global! Mac and cheese and, noodles. Mac and cheese is so simple yet soo tasty.
Going to a whole new level with paneer butter masala!
Rajma chawal. My co-worker used to cook this for me in Hyderabad and I fell in love with this.
Some carbohydrates. Aloo ki sabji and aloo palak with roti on the side.
Anushka cooks the best pizza's in the world :heart_eyes:. Look at that cheese!! Damn! I was just eating here to be honest :stuck_out_tongue:
Wanted to make corriander paratha but ended up buying something that was definitely not corriander. Anyways it turned out great and tasty.
Simple and tasty baingan currey (aubergine for more gourmet-ness). Needed some more variety in life XD.
Good old bhindi (We did not make those methi rotis)