I'm picky about drinks I devour. Well, if you are thinking about alcohol, today I am talking about Tea.When it comes to tea, I become a typical Virgo. (I'm an Arian other wise)
I generally don't drink tea out side. Not even in the office from the day our canteen contractor has been changed to some one who does not know how to make a little less sugary tea than what he serves. The reason is my phobia of tasting the tea which would be too sweet or won't have ginger in it at all. I do not compromise with the taste of tea at all. Only a couple of people (My Singapore roomie and our uncle from USA) can make tea for me.
It is not that simple. Nobody at home apart from my Dad-in-law likes my kind of tea. (Did I mention that Mr ISB does not have tea at all? Perhaps the reason he does not get my pain related to tea, is quite obvious ) Hence when my MIL makes it early in the morning, we get a little less stronger tea flavored with green tea leaves. Only Green tea leaves. Ginger does not appear at all as my SIL and MIL herself can not even stand one mm square piece of it. I being a bit in hurry (and lazy at the same time), do the Jugad of adding masala and warm it up to make it gulp-able for me. Things suddenly changed within a week at home last month. After this at-home-vacation, I stopped compromising on my morning tea. I started developing the skill set to make two types of tea in separate pots early in the morning.(and to wake up really early)
It was a win-win decision I could made.I'd designed the mental flow chart with timing calculations for the dual-tea-making-process to achieve optimized timing. What do you expect from a nerd in the kitchen, hah? (My mother calls it Usual multi-tasking ladies develop to save time and efforts in the kitchen. Blah!)
From that week, I have been indulging into some brilliant tea early in the morning. (And there is one more person happy with my newly acquired skill set- my Dad-in-Law)
So it happened that yesterday morning, I was all excited to cook up a storm. Ages I have been cooking all alone (no,making tea is not cooking) and when my MIL and SIL decided to go to Rajasthan for a small break, I planned my own mini kitchen exploration during weekends.
Now, it is not that I can not cook when they are home.It is just that both are very helpful and curious which does not go really well with my Pseudo-Virgo-Soul. I like to be in my own flow while I cook. I don't want to get judged for my 'it needs to be one more degree hot' method of cooking. Hence,I avoid such kitchen sessions when all are at home. (Our cook and mom collaborates better than my let-me-be-alone-cooking-sessions, anyway!)
So coming back to the Sunday morning, I had a list of recipes to dish out and one of the main dishes I wanted to cook up was 'Undhiyu'. The mixed vegetable sabji with only two table spoons oil, the way my mother cooks. Now it is no child's play. You have more than half a dozen winter vegetables to prepare in different ways, Masala out of six seven ingredients to be prepared and steam cook it in layers,such that vegetable chunks don't get soggy.
I was quite nervous and hand called mom already thrice for small queries even when she had sent me the photo of the hand written recipe. Suddenly, I realized that coriander stocked in the fridge might not be sufficient. So, Mr.ISB came forward and went to buy another bunch while I prepared other vegetables for the dish.
When he returned I suspected something else with the coriander bunch in the bag he was holding.
"What all things have you got? There is something else."
"I've got Ginger for you.", showing some dozen pieces of Ginger in the bag, Mr.ISB answered.
"But,we already have them in plenty!!", my mind was trying to calculate how many months do we need to finish the total supply of ginger we have got.
"Keep them, So that you don't run out of ginger for your tea"
Irrespective of our difference in personalities, you get me every single time. Reasons I've got married to you, Mr.ISB.
I generally don't drink tea out side. Not even in the office from the day our canteen contractor has been changed to some one who does not know how to make a little less sugary tea than what he serves. The reason is my phobia of tasting the tea which would be too sweet or won't have ginger in it at all. I do not compromise with the taste of tea at all. Only a couple of people (My Singapore roomie and our uncle from USA) can make tea for me.
It is not that simple. Nobody at home apart from my Dad-in-law likes my kind of tea. (Did I mention that Mr ISB does not have tea at all? Perhaps the reason he does not get my pain related to tea, is quite obvious ) Hence when my MIL makes it early in the morning, we get a little less stronger tea flavored with green tea leaves. Only Green tea leaves. Ginger does not appear at all as my SIL and MIL herself can not even stand one mm square piece of it. I being a bit in hurry (and lazy at the same time), do the Jugad of adding masala and warm it up to make it gulp-able for me. Things suddenly changed within a week at home last month. After this at-home-vacation, I stopped compromising on my morning tea. I started developing the skill set to make two types of tea in separate pots early in the morning.(and to wake up really early)
It was a win-win decision I could made.I'd designed the mental flow chart with timing calculations for the dual-tea-making-process to achieve optimized timing. What do you expect from a nerd in the kitchen, hah? (My mother calls it Usual multi-tasking ladies develop to save time and efforts in the kitchen. Blah!)
From that week, I have been indulging into some brilliant tea early in the morning. (And there is one more person happy with my newly acquired skill set- my Dad-in-Law)
So it happened that yesterday morning, I was all excited to cook up a storm. Ages I have been cooking all alone (no,making tea is not cooking) and when my MIL and SIL decided to go to Rajasthan for a small break, I planned my own mini kitchen exploration during weekends.
Now, it is not that I can not cook when they are home.It is just that both are very helpful and curious which does not go really well with my Pseudo-Virgo-Soul. I like to be in my own flow while I cook. I don't want to get judged for my 'it needs to be one more degree hot' method of cooking. Hence,I avoid such kitchen sessions when all are at home. (Our cook and mom collaborates better than my let-me-be-alone-cooking-sessions, anyway!)
So coming back to the Sunday morning, I had a list of recipes to dish out and one of the main dishes I wanted to cook up was 'Undhiyu'. The mixed vegetable sabji with only two table spoons oil, the way my mother cooks. Now it is no child's play. You have more than half a dozen winter vegetables to prepare in different ways, Masala out of six seven ingredients to be prepared and steam cook it in layers,such that vegetable chunks don't get soggy.
I was quite nervous and hand called mom already thrice for small queries even when she had sent me the photo of the hand written recipe. Suddenly, I realized that coriander stocked in the fridge might not be sufficient. So, Mr.ISB came forward and went to buy another bunch while I prepared other vegetables for the dish.
When he returned I suspected something else with the coriander bunch in the bag he was holding.
"What all things have you got? There is something else."
"I've got Ginger for you.", showing some dozen pieces of Ginger in the bag, Mr.ISB answered.
"But,we already have them in plenty!!", my mind was trying to calculate how many months do we need to finish the total supply of ginger we have got.
"Keep them, So that you don't run out of ginger for your tea"
Irrespective of our difference in personalities, you get me every single time. Reasons I've got married to you, Mr.ISB.
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