Kid's plate for cooking

 

It's my nature to prepare all the ingredients before I start cooking and keep them nearby. Here, I was using a kid's plate to keep ingredients for different curries.

Biography 324: My father was cooking in the kitchen.

 I was studying at our local school. Our school was very close to our house. One day, during the lunch break (we used to call it tiffin break), I came home with some of my classmates. On that day, my mom wasn't at home. She went to Faridpur to her parents' house.

Generally, when my mom isn't available, my father used to cook. He used to cook very basic Bangladeshi food, like rice, chicken/beef/mutton curry, and daal (maybe). No vegetables, because he didn't like them. His curry was great. We used to say it was better than our mom's. Mom never felt happy about that.

When we came to the house, my dad was cooking in the kitchen. He was wearing a white lungi. He felt a little awkward in front of our classmates. Later, he told me, "When your mom wasn't present at the house, why did you bring your friends home?"

Our classmates were very surprised. On those days, even now, Bangladeshi fathers don't cook. It was all mom's duty. My dad helped my mom cook in Saudi Arabia first. He used to say, "Now I've learned how to cook. When we go back to Bangladesh, I will help you cook. You will never feel alone." That didn't happen, actually. My father only cooked when no one else could. When my older sister grew up, she took responsibility for cooking if my mom wasn't around.

One of my classmates also said she felt my father was Hindu because he was wearing a white lungi.

Biography 247: Cooked Beef Curry, first time.

 I was at Chaity's home to celebrate Vorta Day (Mashed Vegetables Day). All the girls from our class were invited. So, initially, they were choosing vegetables that would work. I didn't pick up any because I didn't know how to make it. I was thinking about whom I could join to help. In the meantime, Chaity's sister-in-law came and asked me, "Shahana, come. You will make the beef." I felt somebody dropped me from the sky.

I asked, "You want me to cook beef?" She said, "Yes, come on." She wasn't ready to listen to my excuses or anything. She dragged me to the kitchen, made me sit in front of the burner, and gave me meat and masala to cook. For two seconds, I was frozen; I didn't know how to react. Then I thought, "If I don't have any option, let's try my best."

Shumi, my friend, sat near me. I already asked her to help me with cooking. She had some idea of how things were to be done. I think she knew how to cook chicken.

I started frying onions. I didn't have control over the heat. Within 2 seconds, some of the onions burnt. Chaity's brother Mithu bro saw this from the kitchen window. He screamed, "She burnt TK10 onions! Now, what will happen?" Here I must inform you that he is a very good businessman. So, it's obvious he will count the loss with money.

I was in full confidence. I told him, don't worry. I will complete the cooking. After completion of everything, I asked Shumi, do you think it's cooked now. I couldn't taste it because I had an allergy to beef. She said, yes, cooking is done. I asked her, are you sure? Because I felt that it would take a very long time for the beef to become tender. But I trusted Shumi's cooking skills. So, I stop boiling. I thought the cooking was done.

Later, we all sat together in the open space. Some tasted the beef. It needed to be cooked a little more time. The meat was a bit hard, though people ate some of it. After lunch, Chaity's sister-in-law, Boro Bhabi, fixed the beef.

Simple delicious rice

How to cook delicious rice in a simple way? You will need

1.      Rice cooker (Optional)
2.        Rice 3 cups (Amount is your choice)
3.        A can of vegetable soup
4.        Water
5.        Pinch of salt (If you feel to add some)

Now follow the steps:

1         Wash the rice 3 times
2.       Put it in the rice cooker’s bowl
3.       Open your soup can and pour it into the bowl
4.       Add water till it just crosses the bar of 3 cups
5.       If you want to add salt, then you can
6.       Close the lid and turn on the cooker.

7.       And the end you will have a bowl of fragrant rice. It will be somewhat like vegetable Polao.