I Feel the Itch...

Sara
2 days ago
2 min read

It's currently 2:25 PM on June 26. I am sitting in my small apartment in the Bay (for privacy reasons, the exact location is censored), and I am frustrated. The house smells like a billion Indian spices exploded all over the kitchen, there are an unspecified-but-definitely-large amount of dirty dishes in the sink, and a flimsy Trader Joe's Palak Paneer packet in the trash that I tore open in exasperation after burning all of my besan chilla batter.

I don't know how to cook.

There it is. My biggest secret, out in the open.

I know I can bake (case in point: this website), but unfortunately, that does not translate to being able to make my ghar ka khaana in 15 minutes or under (definitely not the exact title of what I have been looking up on YouTube for the past 2 weeks). I am living in an apartment for the first time in my life (goodbye and rest in peace to UCLA dining), and it's time I learn the key to survival: cooking.

For context, I know I can make certain foods:

Me, clearly delighted ft. my morning oats (banana oats + almond butter + berry compote + yoghurt)

Sri Lankan Daal recipe, generously borrowed from my best friend

KHICHDI!!!! The only thing I do know how to cook, but I don't think you can survive on only khichdi forever

Second khichdi... throwback to when I made khichdi for my friends!

But I know I can do better. I want to be able to casually whip up meals that are amazingly nutritious but delicious, and act like the most nonchalant person when I do. So, I am going to revive this blog to learn how to cook. How to cook for dummies who want home food but have 0 skills and also have work, so cannot dilly-dally for 50 hours in the kitchen, would be the title of this cookbook.

I am convincing myself that this is just a project, and that there are things to be learned. I don't think I'm going to go crazy and blog every day, and it definitely will not be a 1000-word essay for each post, but I am envisioning this as a baby part 2 of 365.

By the end of September, my goal is to be JAW and cook like a badass. My more realistic goal is: maybe 5 meals without looking up the ingredients, and be able to improvise in the kitchen?