My encounter with Ms. Mentha.

After a long-long break, I came to my senses which gave me a thirst to write on this page.

My readers, I made a new friend and she is a lady (this line contradicts!).

Let me describe her, even though judging a lady can only be done by a lady. Still I will try my best.

When I met her, I had already lost my sense of perception. I had a fresh aroma down my nostrils, my eyes were addicted to her green beauty. I felt that I really lost all my fatigue and her fresh aura was the 8th wonder I saw in my short span of 1.6 decade.

She beared the name Piperita Mentha. But later she gave me the authority to call her Pepper. It took her a zeptosecond to grasp my humour and I enjoyed watching her laugh. She told me about her ancestral origin and she is the descendent of the Spear and Water Clans from Europe.

Later. Suddenly, I felt my right fingers full of burn scars. It seemed as if I had grabbed a hot-sizzling wok with my fingers. I sustained the pain. My clothes became sweaty and the temperature was too high. There was no hope for a breeze of cool air. I fainted... while she worried for me.

I opened my eyes. I was in my kitchen. The fan was switched off and the exhaust was stuck. I finally realized that it was a short dream because I was holding a knife in my right and a bunch of mint leaves in my left hand. The gas was on and the wok was being heated. Still I had burn scars on my fingers. This was a hallucination, a trickery by my sub-consciousness.

25 minutes later, I ended up with this...

My first ever dish with mint. Szechuan Noodles with lots of veggies. I had used mint while sauteing the veggies as well as in for garnish. This resulted into a new dimension of flavors.

My Childhood Rivalry with Tomatoes and how I overcame them...

Chinese Choupsey - My style...

久しぶり

(Hisashiburi - Its been a while)

Yesterday evening, I was pretty hungry (like always) to prepare something new. My food stocks were refilled. I had gained some inspiration for a kick start and rest is history! (Of past few hours)*

I finally possessed the four 'P's similar to that of Marketing (Coz I am studying commerce, u know?) . 

According to ME, every plate of food goes through four stages viz. Plan, Pockets, Place and Plating.

Plan:- This consists of making a proper recipe with lowest probability of failure. 

Pockets:- Here, "pockets" is referred as Resources or Stocks of proper ingredients. Having quality ingredients results to quality food.

Place:- Eventually, place is nothing but a safe and well-equiped kitchen.

Plating:- Presentation is equally important to taste. The critic should be able to judge our dish without even tasting it.

I have been working on all four prospects since a year.

ENTER THE "UMAMI"!

Since my childhood, I was a picky brat. The vegetable I used to hate the most were the nasty tomatoes. I felt like puking when I smelled them. But it is the need of the century, for me to eat and cook tomatoes. Well, I did overcame my psychological issue.

I have been watching a new Anime namely 'Shokugeki no souma' which is regarding culinary battles. From it I came to know about Umami in japanese and other international cuisines. So I did a little knowledge hunt and learned about Monosodium Glutamate (ajinomoto) which affects the umami receptors and gives a great aftertaste. The unique salt can be separately added in foods but it is naturally found in many fermanted ingredients, parmesan cheese and tomatoes. Yes. I was in a dilemma to see my "enemy" in this category. From yesterday I am respecting tomato as my senpai and am expecting it to cooperate with me in my culinary journey.

What's magic and where can I find some?

Deciphering the Magic in me

"Those who don't believe in magic will never find it."

—Roald Dahl

(The narrator guesses that he made his readers familiar with the Novelist el Chef.)

First things first. Let me fulfill my duty as a food blogger.

Presenting 'Townie'. A tart with brownie. The tart base is so buttery that I still can't forget it's flakiness. The brownie is awesome as hell. The accompanied nuts adds the nutty element. Well, this is the only piece that I was able to cut properly. I had messed up almost everything while doing so...

My current situation can be emphasized as...

"a state in which people (temporarily) lose their sense of time (whether the weather be, day or night), can't sleep and their bodies tend to move themselves to fulfill their Dreams."  

...(Is this Junoon-Jasba, as my watch says its 03:06 hrs???)

People who doesn't know the meaning of the above bold words can refers them as Inner Magic.

(Ha haahaa. Abrakadabra)

I do believe Magic. By me, it is something (still) undefined by science. For ex. TRUE origin of life. 

Every human has some kind of magic in them but s/he needs some guidance to explore and polish their witchcraft and wizardry...(Harwy Potah style)

The word believe is itself a be"LIE"ve. A man's faith and belief is something not to be forceful.

As far as the connection between ME and the Qoute-smith, I remember his poem 'Television' which was in my 10th grade syllabus.

For more such one way conversations keep following me on the web. You may encourage me by commenting below, but actually I don't require such encouragement, as I get inspired by the people I see daily.

Lacchha Paratha with cheesy tomato dip | Preview of MY ORIGIN story...

Abhinandan Mukherjee - El Origen

I have always dreamed of writing a book. So if my biography is published someday, this is the preview for the same...

My Parents used to taunt me, since my consciousness developed, that I was a lazy child yet I always denied that fact. 

But when I discovered that I love to cook (actually eat what I crafted with my own hands), my family unexpectedly stopped teasing me as 'the laziest member of the family'. 

This gave me a sense of accomplishment and I continued to follow my culinary passion.

In fact, I (still) never cook for others, I "hold knives" only when I am depressed and dejected or "absolutely hungry". Cooking is my stress-buster. This is the real Abhinandan Mukherjee.

(Are you guys surprised?)

But I also want to confess that when I practice, I am full focused and it is prohibited to enter the kitchen for my family.

This is true as well that since my initial experiments with food, my mom never helped me physically but she always guides me.

Talking about today's post, presenting "SPICED GARLIC LACCHHA PARATHAS WITH CHEESY TOMATO DIP". This recipe really fetched my hunger.

Apple-Lemon Meringue Pie | 'Facing Difficulties' - Explained by the Philosophical Chef.

 Let me have a quick review. Pie with soft meringue on top. There was a smoky flavor of the meringue. The crunchy pie crust and the lemony filling was heavenly.

Before Baking

After Baking

“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.”

-HENRY FORD

(Narrator: We have another 'case' for the Philosophical Chef)

Difficulties in life are unavoidable. Tough decisions must be made at the right moment to encounter the difficulties.

I follow a simple way that helps me in my Culinary Laboratory. Replacing the word ‘difficult’ with ‘challenging’ changes our perspective towards hardships.

For example-

Rather than saying “This dish is difficult to master”, I say “This dish is quiet challenging to master”. This slight change in our perception has a deep effect in our sub-conscious mind and it will make myself ready to face the situation. 

The 99% of humans have mistaken “Challenges” as “Difficulties”. Assuming our issues as “Challenges” is an effective method to push ourselves and break our limitations. Sometimes ‘Being Optimistic’ makes our life easier.

Banoffee hand pie with caramel sauce | Debut of the 'Entrepreneur' Chef.

True entrepreneurship comes only from risk-taking.

-Dhirubhai Ambani

(Meet the Entrepreneur Chef)

Its been a decade for me to blog. Well, I was quite distracted from my professional gameplay. But now I am focused...(Actually I am still possessed by some mere distractions on Facebook). Today I am inspired by Dhirubhai Ambani. 

Risks are inevitable for a person seeking success. This era is well-known for Start-ups. Start-ups are something regarded as RISKS so only the 1% can take such decisions. Many of the top companies were once RISKS taken by someone with a strong will. 

Anything can happen to us, anytime, anywhere. We must ready ourselves to face the situation. Bad situations are inevitable and unpredictable. Having a risky situation can result into good or bad. Its a 50-50 probability. But, good can only happen if we risk ourselves. Doing a 'Not so risky' job will make us lazy and eventually unhappy.

 A Finger-Food version of a pie. Made from whole wheat flour and margarine. Filled with melted Toffee and Banana mixture.

Super crunchy from outside and sweet from inside, truly magical. Must be dipped in caramel for extra magic. While baking, some of the filling had oozed out and I became a little worried about that. But when came out from the scorching oven, there was caramelized goodness everywhere. 

I cannot resist the gorgeous browning over the skin of the pie. It makes it look rustic.

Stay tuned for more Entrepreneur Chef. 

Baked Veg Cutlets and 'Decoding the CHANGE'

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." 

 -Charles Darwin

(Meet the Philosophical Chef, a side hidden behind the bars of ego and shyness)

There are many reasons why Homo Sapien Sapiens differ from the rest of the creatures on this planet. We, as the dominant species on Earth have evolved a unique ability called ‘Awareness’.

(Leaving without reading makes you unAWARE of the fact that you aren’t a Human)

The inheritance of being aware has been developed due to our survival. This kind of Adaptation or Evolution or Change has been pointed as  ‘Natural Selection’ by Charles Darwin. (Thank God! My 10^th Grade science helped me at least for my Blogging)

(My inner voice says, “Darwin, thank you for providing me with some hints for my 56^th Blog.”)

CHANGE is damn crucial, right from our very existence. It is needed by us still in the 21^st Century.

We all know CHANGE is difficult. It is hard because our minds are wired to follow a routine, regardless it is good or not so good…(Think Positive)

We are trapped in a Comfort zone and outside, our philosophy, opinions and beliefs are challenged. Though it is damn painful, a whole new life is waiting for us at the doorstep. Discovering SELF can only be done by tough decisions which can be regretful if you don’t change now.

Baked Veg Cutlets. Crunchy, smoky, perfectly balanced flavors and the most important - used approximately the half amount of oil which would have been required to deep fry them. Its always better to compromise the oil for 25 minutes of baking. Yes, it was indeed time consuming but less oil with better experience, makes me in the positive side.

Stay tuned for more...

For more such Philosophy by Guru Abhinandan, follow my blogs. Comment down below for Guru-Dakshina.

Baked Spaghetti with Potatoes and Marinara Sauce...

"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."

-CHINESE PROVERB

(If u just saw this pic then u are included in the 80% people)

‘PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE’ is like a maze in which the minds of countless souls are scattered and lost. Even the most educated and the most intelligent souls wander around in this maze of TIME...(Meet the Spiritual Chef, another side of me)

Right from the day we set our foot at school, we learn about TIME as the most valuable, intangible object.

TIME is a concept which is scientifically unknown to man. We are unable to crack the mysteries of TIME yet we see ourselves doing TIME TRAVEL in a distant FUTURE...(Again we get deeper in the maze I mentioned above)

I really don’t get why people are anxious about their PAST and FUTURE. Yes, it is a vital element but diverging ourselves from our responsibilities and goals is entirely wrong.

‘LEARN from your past, PLAN for the future and EXECUTE it now’ is a guru-mantra which is obediently followed by the wise men...(ACTION is the only word I can think of while in the kitchen, everything else is a deadly oasis, set up by THE LAZY ME.)

(If u read all of this then you are the rest 20%)

This post has nothing unique with respect to the culinary world but is damn unique to me. This was first of its kind. I have nothing more to say about the classic savory baked spaghetti. This was the reason to talk this much about time and wasting our time.

"Uniqueness is nothing what other people think and reward you with, it is you who must decide."

 -Abhinandan Mukherjee

(Can this be a quote. Comment me YOUR views)

Be sure to follow me on the social media, for more such "Unraveling of wise topic like TIME which are lost in time" and frank conversations. If you want to again see the Spiritual Chef, comment down below...(Only the Wise are permitted to interact with me)

Dessert Crepes with sweet Apple Jam...

"The Doctor's Fruity Fairytale"

     -Tasty Crepes with cooked

apple jam which is generally

 the stuffing for an Apple Pie.

"Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly."

-JFK

So where should I plant the seeds of our today’s debate...(Well. The only people participating in this debate are 'Me' and 'My inner voice'). My gut feel says that we can talk about failures and success. 

People who are able to risk their lives can make their lives. Similarly, I have faced many failures till my 54^th Kitchen Chronicle. I have burned multiple utensils, wasted lots of my ingredients and injured myself which resulted into scars and bruises. These failures never dejected my will, they help me everytime during my cooking. Experiences are essential for fulfilling dreams...(Not the dreams we see during sleep. The dreams that don't let us sleep). Experiences are brought by failures and sometimes education...(YES, 'sometimes'). 

....(Blah, blah, blah... Essay writing accomplished) 

Continuing with my current blog on my latest experiment, I have named it “The Doctor's Fruity Fairytale". The concrete reason behind this name is that the flavors reminds me, my childhood tales and Malus domestica has a reputation of keeping the Doctor away. 

I'm a kinda guy who never dishonors his words...(I had experienced an adrenaline rush while typing this statement). Another fusion food from the depths of my Cerebrum. 

MY STATUS (Comment me your reactions)

For more such fusion foods and humorous conversations, be sure to follow me on the web. For more interactions, comment down below.