by Vanga Srikar Reddy
[box]Cooking is an art, according to Vanga Srikar Reddy, one that can give you a wonderful sense of satisfaction! Catch him talking about how he picked up cooking, what his specialties are, how he experiments with his dishes and more importantly, get to know some very interesting facts and personal experiences![/box] [box type=”bio”]Vanga Srikar Reddy loves three things in life – math, movies and cooking. He developed interest in cooking at a later age of 19, but since then he has loved this as madly as the other two. It is his passion and experiments in cooking thay distinguish him from the herd.[/box]Food, they say, is the best way to a man’s heart! But from many other examples, I would not hesitate to confirm that Food is the best way to anyone’s heart!!
My first hand with cooking was limited to baking dosas and chapattis at home, and I didn’t quite enjoy it. Cooking was never fun till my second year in university. I was in Singapore, far away from home, and I terribly missed home-cooked food. At that time, I was introduced to Sasi Anna by a common friend. We both speak the same language, and we soon turned thick friends, he was like an elder brother to me. One day, as I was talking to him, I mentioned to him how severely I missed home-cooked food, and how tasteless and bland I found the food available on campus. He invited me over to his place for lunch and that day, after months, I got to eat food which was just as good as my mother’s! Sasi Anna told me that they cooked everyday, taking turns. I asked Sasi Anna if I could join them and he gladly agreed. And, so started my journey into the world of cooking.
Within two months, I had become an expert in slicing vegetables with lightening speed (onions being my specialty) and had picked up the very basics of cooking. Once, there was a party at Sasi Anna’s place, and we were making “Onion Pakodas”. That day, I cut around 50 onions within 60 minutes! Everyone was stunned! Sasi Anna was surprised at my speed of learning. What could be better encouragement than listening to a great cook like him (he is extremely good at making local Andhra specialties) appreciating your dishes!
It’s been four years since and I have come a long way. Soon after I began to cook at Sasi Anna’s place, I started to call my other friends in university and cooked for them. This is where I learnt that a small gesture could go a long way. People soon started talking about my cooking and it felt good. And that kept me going, to learn more, improve and experiment.
Over the years, I have come to learn that cooking is more of an art than science. Once you master the basics, you can create anything that you can think of! I learn by this method. I never hesitate to experiment. I once decided to make ‘Pani Puri’ (Golgappa) and bought all the spices and dough required. It was quite a task! It required the perfect blend of almost ten spices, tamarind, dough, baking powder, mint leaves… and the list goes on! I checked out recipes on the internet and tried to improvise on it according to my tastes. It took me almost three hours, but the result was an extremely delicious dish that I enjoyed for the next two days! Once you are experienced enough, you will be able to taste a dish and make an exact replica of it; you taste it and if you happen to know all the ingredients that make this dish – you will zero down on the recipe just with the taste! No kidding!
Cooking, I feel, is something that brings people together. When it is a group activity, it really is fun! I still remember the festive days in my maternal grandparents’ village. I was small then and I remember all the men in the house running in different directions to get fresh vegetables from fields or non-vegetarian items from shops or spices etc. Raw food selection is the most important part of cooking!! The women of the house would then take charge of cooking. We kids used to run around when the food was being prepared and then, came the best part! A group of around 16 people used to sit in a circle and eat together and this remained the tradition for about ten years before my uncles left for New Zealand and I came to Singapore!
I cook when I am happy. I cook for friends. I cook when I am in stress. I cook when I find something innovative to cook. I cook to express gratitude. I cook to show love. Last but not the least, I cook to show off. Cooking is now an integral part of my life.
What are my specialties? I love making desserts! Who does not like them! My special dessert recipe is ‘Double ka meetha’ (dessert made of bread). It is really simple to make and is a very well known local delicacy back at my place in India. My other specialty is ’Gajar ka Halwa’ (dessert made with carrots). I have received my best compliment on this – one of my friends doesn’t like carrots much, and was reluctant to try this. But she did try for my sake and she liked it so much that she nearly licked the bowl sparkling clean! And recently, I made mud pie for my colleague who was leaving. She was so touched by the gesture, and the happiness that I saw in her that day is what spurs me on to cook for people.
Honestly, I love cooking. I think I cook better than all the girls I know, and the guys I know are too lazy to even bother. I believe that the guys rule this art more than girls! Who do you think was the best cook in ‘Mahabharata’? It was Bheema. There is a famous phrase in Hindu Mythology, ‘Nala Bheema Pakam’. This refers to Nala and Bheema, two figures who belonged to different periods in history but commonly referred to as the best cooks in mythology. To this day, most of the prominent chefs are men, but unfortunately, hardly any men practice this art! Who knows, maybe time will turn the tide and more men will take cooking up with interest!
Once you make something good for the person whom you love, you will be surprised at the joy that it will bring to him or her, and you would be even more surprised about the extent of happiness that it gives you. Just try the art of cooking once and you are sure to feel a certain sense of completeness!
Pic: mstn – http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtsn/
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