What I learned about cooking when I stopped cooking!

My husband has always been an excellent cook. On the weekends, tired of my hand (meaning pre-dominant and uniquely personal flavors and tastes one’s cooked food has), as they say in India, he whips out a meal for me.  The flavors in his food are always sharp and the polar opposite of mine.

A few years back my husband decided to leave his insanely demanding, don’t- know-night- from-day IT job. He planned to chill, read, go on walks, watch TV and cook. Cook for me! I reluctantly gave up my kitchen throne.

As he started cooking on a daily basis, it produced gnawing discomfort, a sense of displacement and plain dissatisfaction with the state of affairs. I did not like not cooking. But eventually, this turn of events raised some important questions in my mind -

• ·         He used leftover condiments in such unthinkable ways in sabjis (any vegetable preparation that is dry or saucy) and dals. With no pre-fixed notions of flavor combinations OR a deep-rooted idea that food must be cooked in A certain way, he added leftover gulab jamun liquid as a sweetener in dal, spiced nuts with a pickle spice mix, and used mango chutney as a creamy, saucy base in eggplant sabji. I would never ever think of doing these things. But it did result in an extraordinary meal. So does it really matter what he did and went against set culinary patterns? 
• ·         He is an order freak. First and foremost, he stuck labels on the disparate canisters in my pantry, something which I had unsuccessfully and half-heartedly (taping stickies only lasts so long) done before. Systematically creating a word file with labels, he printed names – moong dal, chana dal, masala - and stuck them neatly at eye level. This pantry reorganization made me SO happy. Does an organized kitchen contribute to culinary excellence? 
• ·         People like me think once something goes inside the fridge or pantry, it gets stamped with immortality. Out-of-sight-out-of-mind way of life is a sure path to wastage. He, on the other hand, keeps a close eye on the pantry ingredients and schedules to cook up even dry goods like beans. Isn't this a part of mindful consumption? 
• ·         He loathes wastage of food, so he does not mind unconventional pairings – tortillas are drying up, let’s finish them with whatever condiments we have in the fridge, salsa is reaching expiry date, let's add it to sabji in place of tomatoes. He believes in cooking according to the FIFO demands of the refrigerator.  Again a part of mindful consumption!
• ·         He buys a few vegetables at a time, say for a week or even less and not according to whims and fancies. And that doesn't mean he does not cook according to what I feel like eating. Just that he does not let desire dictate the menu ALL the time. 

This kitchen takeover caused a tsunami of thoughts in my mind. Who is a good cook? Or rather what is involved in being a good cook? 

Is a good cook defined only by the taste of the food he or she makes? Is a good cook the one who cooks finger-licking, delicious food? And is that enough in today's environmentally-challenged times? 

What about someone who does not waste food? 

Someone who keeps a sharp eye on the natural deterioration of perishables and uses them accordingly. 

Someone who is not anal about recipes and ingredients but comes with smart ways to substitute?

Someone who whips out a tasty meal with whatever is in the fridge and pantry? 

Someone who buys groceries, keeping in mind what is required and does not get carried away by what I feel like eating today?  

Are they necessary or sufficient conditions to be called a good cook? In my opinion, cooking died-and-gone-to-heaven-delicious food is a necessary condition while the rest are sufficient conditions to be a good cook. Your thoughts?

And here's a chutney he came up with for me, of which he has no recollection -

Zucchini Chutney

Ingredients

·       *  2 cups zucchini diced into 1” pieces

·         * 3 green chile peppers

·          * 2 cloves garlic

·          * 1 ½ tsp lime juice

·          * 1 tsp vegetable oil

·           * ¼ tsp turmeric powder

·           * 2 tsp peanut powder

·           * 3/4 tsp salt

Yield

Method

·            * Combine oil, turmeric, garlic and chile peppers in a thick-bottomed skillet and heat up at medium heat. After about 5 min, the skin of the chile peppers changes color.

·            * Add zucchini pieces and sauté intermittently. Turn off the heat after 15-20 min or till the zucchini starts turning soft. Let the mixture cool.

·            * Pour the zucchini mixture into the blender with peanut powder, salt and lime juice. Grind coarse. Store in a clean glass container in the fridge. It will last for a week.

How to eat this chutney

Pita bread sandwich with zucchini chutney

Warm 2 pieces of pita bread on a skillet or directly on the open flame. I like the charred texture the flame offers. Spread zucchini chutney liberally on one of them. Layer thin slices of tomatoes and onions. Sprinkle some feta cheese and salt. Cover with another warmed pita bread (feel free to spread the chutney on this pita too). Cut into 4 pieces and serve right away.