Hailing from Kolkata, a city famous for its Mughal and Nawabi era dishes, cooked up with an assortment of unfathomable spices, to me, food without spices was akin to a rainbow without colours. However, a change in culinary delights is always welcome as well. So, when I first landed here back in April ’12, I was enamored by the variety available here, more so, because of the abundance of meat as personally, no meal for me is complete without meat. I was having a gala time enjoying the delicacies available here but then, gradually, the lack of aromatic spices in almost everything started settling in. For someone whose taste-buds had already been programmed for a plethora of spices, food started seeming disappointing, unfortunately. Fortune smiled though, and I returned to India for a brief period. This time, on my return, I brought along my bag of spices. I have always loved being an amateur cook and the procurement of an apartment presented my dream to me, my very own Kitchen !!
I explored my culinary abilities to the fullest and started inviting friends over, for dinner. Saag aloo was a regular in the beginning, and then it diversified into a variety of more dishes, the prominence gradually shifting towards meat. It helped a lot that my friends were willing to try out a new variety of cuisine, completely unknown to them most. I still remember the incident when a guy could hardly stop crying after eating the minced meat that I had prepared, as it was way too spicy compared to anything that he had ever had, yet, he proceeded to cry along and complete his entire palate. The satisfaction that I got from him is incomparable.
Their presence and approval, gave me the impetus to try out more varieties and along the way, I started making new friends, people they would bring along for dinner and I would get acquainted with. The dinner conversations varied from the silliest of topics to even international politics however, the best part was, I was slowly but surely learning more about the culture of the country I was residing in. Eventually, I began opening up as well and now, my friends know pretty much a lot more about India than an average Joe does. I can confidently say that one of the reasons that I have a good social life here is because I explored my abilities of cooking and started inviting people over.Thus, the dinner conversations serve as a mini cultural-exchange event as well.
Needless to say, almost all my friends, barring a couple, find the food very spicy and of a completely new variety for them, however; they do not hesitate to come again to try a new dish, knowing very well, that it would be equally, if not more, spicy as well. My friends have been highly supportive of my cooking and sometimes when I screwed up; they have been gracious enough to ignore it. Nonetheless, the one thing that bowled me over was their zeal to try out a new cuisine, which incidentally, was difficult for them to eat. In due course, I started preparing desserts as well and that presented them a new facet altogether, which they didn’t even think existed, a dish originating in India devoid of spices completely. The way they gobbled up the desserts, just added to my satisfaction.
Thus, thanks to food alone, I met new people, learnt about their culture, interacted with them and an alien country became my home.
Dinners on Friday nights at my place is almost a compulsory occurrence now, with only the guests changing every week. Today, thanks to the inclusiveness of my friends, I feel much more confident about cooking and trying out new stuff. I have got multiple suggestions to open my very own Indian restaurant, here in Kaliningrad and maybe who knows, someday I will. Maybe it would be an Indo-Russian venture with cuisines of both the countries.
Till then, I would continue cooking for my friends and if anyone is interested to try some spicy Indian food, feel free to drop in. You would be most welcome =)
