Thread by @NGKabra

This is a non-foodie thread for foodies.

Recently, I've been stanning @krishashok's fabulous threads and videos on the science of cooking. Practical tips, not just theory. For Indian as well as non-Indian food.


Follow him if you like cooking

But /1

In a completely different way @prachi_ has been cooking and instagramming heartwarming stories of dishes-with-memories-attached shared by her friends and readers over at instagram.com/via_dil/

Follow if you like food, feel-good, feel-bad, feel-better all rolled into one

But /2

But all this has been reminding me of an incident shared by my mom about 45 years ago

My dad was a building contractor in Malegaon, and for some reason, my parents were temporarily staying in a shed on the site. Some of the construction workers were also staying there /3

One day, my mom ran into one of the workers and asked him if he had eaten. He said yes. And she asked him what he had eaten. He replied "तेल मीठ मिरची चा पाणी नि भाकरी"
(water flavored with salt, chilli powder, and oil with bhakri (basically roti made from bajra)) /4

Apparently, he did not have enough money to spend on vegetables, so was eating bhakri with spiced water.

I heard that story only once, 45 years ago, and it as stayed with me.

I wondered if this is a common thing in India. /5

I shared this story with @prachi_ for via_dil (instagram.com/p/CFfGr3fMBwP/). She points out this is not uncommon.

And the oil is a luxury. Usually it's just salt and chilli powder. And if you're very lucky, you might get an onion to crush with your hands and add to the feast /6

And these people are eating bhakri with spiced water on the good days, when they have the bhakri. /7

I love experimenting with various cuisines, trying out new restaurants (take-out now), and cooking, but as Faiz says: "lauT jaatī hai udhar ko bhī nazar kyā kiije" (my gaze gets drawn towards those other things, what can I do...)
rekhta.org/nazms/mujh-se-… /8

We live normal, what-feels-to-us-like-middle-class lives. But as I discussed in another thread, we don't realize that we are all in the top 0.5% of India. And we have little idea of what the rest of India looks like. /end

Don't get me wrong. I love Krish's cooking tips, and Prachi's via_dil stories and I plan to continue enjoying them. And comparing this behavior to my other threads, I do see the contradiction. And not see it too.