My food journey these days.

 I'm a foodie. I enjoy trying different cuisines and types of food. I usually prepare various dishes by following recipes. At first, I used recipes from a cookbook. I started with Siddika Kabir's recipes. Later, I began following recipes on YouTube, then on Instagram and Facebook. 

These days, I have food restrictions on many foods. I also lack the time and energy to follow recipes and cook. Still, I try. I have almost stopped ordering food from outside, which helps save money and maintain my health. Sometimes, when I can't cook, I just eat fruit or snacks to hold me over, and then I cook when I can.

Whenever I shop (mostly online), I try to bring some ready-to-eat meals so that when I can't cook, I have something to eat. It's expensive, but very helpful.

I wish I had a personal cook who would make meals for me.

Documenting recipe

 People grow up with many childhood memories, and food takes a significant place among them. What we liked or used to eat, stays with our memories. On many occasions, we try to recreate those memories. Sometimes, it becomes impossible because we don't have the recipe for that food.

Nowadays, YouTubers are doing a great job of creating recipe videos. Their intention may be to earn money, but this way, many traditional and new recipes are documented in videos and sometimes in blogs. I really appreciate it.

Both my mother and I started cooking by following Siddika Kabir's recipe. She was a legend. I hope somebody will translate all her recipes and make them available to people from all over the world.

Biography 123: Cooking something new

 At home, my mom has a recipe book, "Siddia Kabir's Recipe". In my eyes, she was the best. She knew how to cook healthy in a simple Bangladeshi way. 

When I was in school, I thought I should try those recipes. So, I had decided on Fridays, after lunch, when my mom goes to take a day nap. I can try to cook and before afternoon tea time, I will clean up everything and let mom work in the kitchen again.

I use to try every kind of food. Some I never tasted before or even never heard the name. I even didn't how the final product should look like. I just tried. Some became non-eatable, some are good and a few came in excellent taste.

I thought I am the only one who is excited about this experiment. But I was wrong.

Friday was my father's weekly grocery day. He used to go to the Khilgaon Kacha Bazar. Every week before he left he started asking me, what ingredients do I need today to cook? And in the afternoon he is the one who used to come first to the table to taste something new.

Mashed potato, staffed with eggs: (Alur chop)

Ingredients:

Potatoes 1kg

Butter 2 tbl spoon

Black pepper 1/2 tea spoon

Bread crumb 1 cup

Eggs 5

Onion (sliced) ½ cup

Cilantro or Mint leaf 2 tbl spoon

Green pepper (diced) 1/2 (As much spice as you want)

Salt (According to taste)

Oil (To fry)

Recipe:

·         Boil the potatoes and mashed them.

·         Mix butter, black pepper, and salt with the mashed potato

·         Divide potatoes in 16 balls.

·         Boil 4 eggs.

·         Remove the shell and diced them.

·         Take on egg (Not boiled) in a small bowl and crush it.

·         Put the fry pan on the stove and warm 1 tbl spoon oil.

·         Fry onions in that oil.

·         Mixed the boiled diced eggs with salt, black pepper, green onion, and mint.

·         Divide boiled eggs into 16

·         Now put one part of eggs from 16 into one potato ball. You can shape it as the way as you want.

·         Put the potato ball into raw crushed egg and then in bread crumb. Then keep it in a plate

·         Make all 16 potato balls like that

·         Fry it in oil

·         Serve it with any favorite dipping.

Credit: This is from Siddika Kabir's recipe book

Some suggestion for a cook book or magazine

1. I like to see traditional recipe with new recipe, which is very helpful for new cook like me.

2. Good picture of decoration or presentation of the food.

3. Some easy to make recipe with tough one.

4. Occasion wise recipe.

5. Different section of food, like time wise (breakfast, lunch, snacks, school Tiffin etc)

6. Sometimes like recipe book (drinks, fish, rice etc)

7. Tips for both kitchen, cooking etc

.
8. Diet chart for different age people

9. Sometimes different countries food recipe

10. Interview of chefs with a recipe

11.  as you already made a journey through Bangladesh for different area’s food which can be included here one after another.

12. Interior decoration of kitchen.

13. Tips for first aid for common kitchen injury, like burn, cut, scratch etc.

14.  Menu for different occasion small or big with recipe.

I think I have already made a big list, which are very common and everybody knows about these

শেষ পর্যন্ত খাবারটা খাওয়ার উপযোগী করতে পারলাম (Finally could make the food better)

Shafeen

আমি সব সময়ই নতুন কিছু রান্না করার চেষ্টা করি, রেসিপি দেখে (নিজের উপর আস্থা নেই)।

রেসিপি পড়ে মোটামুটি আন্দাজ করতে পারি, এটা খেতে কেমন হবে। তারপরও সবই চেষ্টা করি বানাতে, কারন দেখা গেছে, বানানোর পর খেতে ভালই হয়।

তবে এবার সেটা হয়নি। রেসিপি দেখলাম, স্পাইসি সালাদ। মনে হলো ভালো হবে না। তারপরও বাধাকপি দিয়ে বানালাম। খেতে এমন অখাদ্য হয়েছে যে, আমিও খেতে পারবো না (সাধারনত: আমি যাই বানাইনা কেন, খারাপ হলেও আমাকেই খেয়ে শেষ করতে হয়)। 

তাই এটাকে ঠিক করার চেষ্টায় নামলাম। আলু আর টমেটো কুচি করে দিলাম, টমেটো সস, টক দই, চিনি, একটু হলুদ, একটু গরম মসলা, একটা ডিম ইত্যাদি দিয়ে ভেজে নিলাম। এবার অল্প পানি দিয়ে হালকা আঁচে সিদ্ধ করলাম। পরে ভাত, ডাল আর জলপাইয়ের আচারের সাথে খেয়ে দেখলাম, মন্দ হয়নি। এমনকি আমার ছেলেও (আমার খাবারের টেস্টার) ভাতের সাথে খেয়ে নিল। হমম, মনে হচ্ছে সামান্য হলেও এতোদিনে রান্না শিখেছি :)

I always try to make new food by using a recipe. When I see a recipe, most of the times I understood, how it may taste. But still I like to try, because after finishing the product, most of the times it tastes good.

This time when I read the spicy salad recipe, I understood it won’t be taste good. But still I tried with cabbage to check and found I was right. Even I can’t eat it (generally no matter how it taste, I had to eat and finish all of my cooking  J ). Now the real job came, I have to convert it a better food. I gave potato and tomato with a Julian cut, tomato sauce, an egg, little turmeric, little garam masala, sugar, bitter curd etc then fry it. Give some water and steam it in low heat…. Then it taste better. When I took it with steam rice, daal and olive pickles, it tastes awesome. Hmm may be I learned cooking a bit finally. Even I my son (my QA) liked it with rice.