Head Chef @ New Year's Eve

Thats right. I was spending New Years Eve all alone. Even my parents had gone clubbing (Actually the The Railway Club Ball). My brother had already shipped himself to Goa. My mom tells me he and his friends are putting up at some cottage near Anjuna Beach (Its not fair!). I mean people go to visit Anjuna but to live in Heaven itself (Unfair!!). So I decided that I would spend my New Year's Eve cooking. Well obviously my mom did not approve of the idea but had to comply (Best weapon: Flattery). It was a tough job dishing out all the old recipe books from the bookshelves. After a dusty affair my mom conveniently handed me the October's edition of Tarla Dalal's "Cooking & More". Have you ever gone through cookbooks before? They are hilarious. The names of the recipes makes you wonder whether its food or investment strategies. For example one of the recipes I chose was "Veg. Glycemic Index Biryani" (What the heck is Glycemia? Sounds like a disease). The other recipe I chose was "Brocolli, Cheese & Chilli Qeusadillas". Doesn't that sound cool. Cooking a what seemed like a Mexican Dish at home. But those who have a little bit of knowledge would know that this is Brocolli, cheese and chillies stuffed between two Makai ki rotis. Thats right. Quesadillas are Makai ki rotis. (Bloody Show Offs!) "Oh I would like some plain Quesadillas with Spinach Sauce". Punjab has been serving that for years now.

Now you must be wondering why I call myself the Head Chef. You think my mother would let me destroy her tidy kitchen with my clumsiness. She appointed my maid and servant to help me (or bear with me). The truth is they did all the cooking, blanching, kneading (i got all these terms from the magazine. I had to use a dictionary). I was only directing them (Hence the term Head. If they ever read this they'll probably laugh).

Well everything turned out well. We had added extra stuffing to our Quessadillas. Just Brocolli and chillies? (Yech!!) We threw in some onions, tomatoes, pasta and extra cheese. (What? Isn't that typical Indian mentality. We want more in less. Have you ever picked Onion & Capsicum Pizza from Veg-I category at Dominoes. You always go for the Farmhouse you greedy Bastards!). The glycemic biryani was ok. (How can it be? It was diseased). I lit some candles (Check the photo if you don't believe me). I used pomegranate seeds for garnishing. I even used one of my Mom's expensive wine glasses for my Diet Coke (I like to do things with style except the fact that it was just diet coke and not actual wine).

After the picture was taken I blew the candles,picked up my plate, rushed to the TV room and got back to watching what Victoria had in store for us while my assistants replenished the good food periodically.