Meet the 'Kitchen Queen'

I must have been 3-4 yrs old, when, once, an aunt asked me, ‘What milk do you drink?’ and I had replied ‘the packet milk’. My aunt persisted, ‘But whose milk is it?’ and I had said ‘Oh…The Milkman's milk’

I grew up to realize that there were many more such answers in my life. To share a few:

• My favorite dal(lentil) was ‘My Mom’s dal’(and now 'my sister's dal').  (It’s the most ‘out of the world dal’, who cares about what lentil combination goes into it!)

• My favourite food is fried potato stolen from my brother’s plate

• My favourite ice cream is the one shared with my best friend, who kept me busy in  a conversation & ate up the entire tub, without my realizing it.

I was recently asked to share some of my ‘secret recipes’ on this blog. Thought it would help greatly if my readers first, have an idea about my ‘secret experiences’ in the kitchen.

Once I was cooking at a friend’s place, while she was out teaching an Art of Living program. Her husband Samir(name changed), was in the kitchen at that point of time(in a pretty bad mood) fixing the kitchen tap. 

As I added a frozen cutlet into the hot oil in the pan, the pan caught fire!!!

I lifted the pan by its handle, turned off the gas & started jumping up and down (holding the pan in my hand) and said ‘Samir, Samir, DO SOMETHING’.
Much to my surprise, Samir looked at me and burst into laughter, literally, rolling on the floor.

I was terrified and stopped jumping and said again ‘SAMIR, Will you please DO SOMETHING’. He got up from the floor (still laughing) and simply put a lid on the pan, that’s it!! The fire was gone!

I did realise later on, about the hazard of a pan catching fire, it could have burnt down the house; 


Well, Thank God: It DID NOT!

Not all my experiences in the kitchen have been this bad. I have undoubtedly tried my hand at cooking (and succeeded);

I mostly cook for an audience who are not necessarily aware of the original taste. This gives me a lot of space for experiments. Please allow me to explain:

Once when cooking a Indian meal for a few international friends, I realised (much too late) that I possibly did not have enough of Carrot (Gajar) Halwa(dessert) for 10 people. 

So, what did I do? Simple: I added Pumpkin to increase the quantity. Look, Someone invented the Carrot Halwa! Why can I not be the Inventor of a 'Carrot-Pumpkin' halwa?

End of the day, the invitees relished every bit of the dessert; I guess: that’s we call ‘Mission Accomplished Successfully, Right!!’

That Day, my close friends rechristened me & I was ‘Luckshmi, The KITCHEN QUEEN’.

Letter from the 'Queen of the Kitchen' to the World: 

A) If you cannot cook: Follow these steps:

1. Stay away from the kitchen and become friends with every single nearby restaurants’ owner.

2. Cook under supervision only.

3. In case of emergency: If you have to cook on your own: Check the expiry date of your own insurance policy as well as that of the people eating the food cooked by you !

B) If you are an ‘excellent’ cook:

Please invite me to your house for either lunch / dinner. I am very happy to be the 'official taster' for your amazing food. I promise to leave back heaps of praise and blessings. (My appointments are available for March 2013).

C) If you belong to neither one of the above two categories:

You are welcome to join me where ever I go!!!

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says, “We are a One World Family.” I say, “THANK GOD, we are a One World FAMILY!!!”

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also says "Love Moves the World". We, with our limited needs, are only asking for the Love in your hearts to 'Move the Kitchen door', so it will open up for other mortals around you.

Message for the Week:

When you sit down to eat, Say a prayer for the less-fortunate humans around you! 
May every single being on this planet find food to nourish the body & knowledge to nourish the soul!
May this blog always provide good 'Food for thought'.
Amen! Tathastu!

Enjoy a Happy-Laughter-filled-Love-filled-Knowledge-filled meal this weekend.