Googling my way through culinary troubles

Time: A Sunday afternoon
Location: My kitchen
Scene: Onions changing colour in the cooker
Missing: Me, the cook

But where am I? Busy on the internet, because I don’t know what spices to add next. I am not consulting my mother on Skype but Googling to find the wonderful chicken recipe that I had come across while surfing the net during my free time in office.
It’s a wonderful world out there. You can find a solution to almost all the problems that you face in the kitchen. It is a genie for a novice like me. So, my mantra is ‘when in doubt, just Google’.

The advantages are countless. You don’t need to invest in fat cook books, don’t have to spend hours before the TV watching cookery shows, and you don’t need to add to your phone bills as you would no longer be making frantic calls to your mother.

This will also save your mother from worrying about how you will manage to make the day’s lunch. (In my case, she is worried if her son-in-law will get his next meal.)

Cooking never interested me. But since I started exploring this yummy world, my appetite to try out new dishes has been on the rise. There are countless recipes listed in great detail on hundreds of websites. And they are usually easy and awesome.
It all started thanks to a colleague, and now a good friend, who initiated me into this world of cyber cooking.

It also gave me an image makeover. My relatives are stunned over my transformation from a girl who hated the kitchen to one who can rustle up wonderful dishes. My husband loves it and his friends are impressed. And best of all, I no longer suffer from a nervous breakdown when we have guests, both invited and uninvited.

It also helps in case someone is showing off her cooking skills. If someone has been boasting about her culinary skills, look up some exotic recipe and then recite it to her. She’ll naturally ask for the recipe. When you tell it to her, do so with a touch of authority, showcasing your ‘vast’ knowledge about cooking (there is, of course, no need to reveal your net secrets).

The net recipes have to be taken with a pinch of salt (not literally). You need to mould them to your taste. And some sites list ingredients unheard of. Don’t panic, just tweak a little and add the ingredients and masalas according to your flavour. After all, who really knows what the original butter chicken tasted like?

Here, I would like to beat my own drum or, if you allow, the batter a bit. I have been fairly successful so far in cooking - not a storm - but yummy and appreciated dishes, which is sufficient for me to churn up an article.

So did the onions burn? Of course not! I found the recipe I was looking for and managed to get the desired taste and flavour. I believe these moments of frenzy only add to the taste!