dinner tales for the cyberspace

A result of another craving. I became a bigger fan of rasogolla only after moving out of home. North Indian "rasgulla" is an abomination- hard, spongy, super-sweet. Every trip home has been sweetened by real Bengali rasogollas. There was one time I can recall when my father tried making rasogollas. They were okay. Another time I tried making some during college, but they turned out to be "rubbergollas"- very close to inedible. This time, on the other hand, they taste quite heavenly. The process is pretty simple- thanks to a good Youtube tutorial. Seeking escape from boredom through cooking is perhaps not that uncommon. This is not the first time it is happening to me, either. The first time, it was in Germany. I used to cook very elaborate meals those days, primarily because I had nothing else to do. This time too, it gets difficult to live alone. There is nobody when I come home, no friends in the city, not even many phone calls. There is a limit to how ...

I don't remember the first time I had rajma but certainly, it was after moving to Delhi, in July 2004. One of the consistent troubles in those blissful days was boring North Indian food (if I could afford it!) that included kadhi, chana, and rajma... although J. Hora made pretty good rajma and Himani was crazy about this stuff. I took time to warm up to it, of course...initially resisting, as it happens with all new things. I was convinced throughout the first year that I didn't really like it, that all those rajma-chawal bought with sports coupons in college and from Nagpal on weekends were more out of compulsion than out of any other reason- merely to make the most out of very limited money...so that when I went home that summer and found folks planning to cook rajma because apparently, that's what I eat in Delhi, I was outraged. Frustrated, rather. Who eats rajma when they're at home? The day I returned to Delhi after the two and a half month break, however, I w...