KOCHI: It won’t be an exaggeration to say that they blend the world’s flavours in their kitchens topped by something indigenous. From fettuccine pasta to Mediterranean salad, these homemakers cook up a meal laden with treats as they balance tastes and textures with unbelievable precision. And their kitchens are complete with inbuilt convection oven, waffle maker, pizza stone, barbecue grill, dish washer and more.Upwardly mobile women in the city are constantly testing their culinary skills by experimenting with eastern and western cuisines, thanks to their highly disposable income and a greater exposure to world cuisine. The state-of-the-art appliances are a blessing too.“Cooking for me is a passion and most of the recipes I have with me are something that I have accumulated over the years,” says Dr Mini Vettickal, a mother of four, who can cook up an exotic meal in a jiffy. She vouches by the convection oven and says it is the best for cooking meat as the heat is distributed evenly. She bakes brownies and cookies and roasts chicken in the oven.“I always stock cheese, fresh cream, parsley and presto sauce in my kitchen. Chicken prepared in presto sauce and pan fried is delicious.”But what her girls love the most is thin-crusted pizza. “It is time-consuming. They love it freshly baked and it’s their staple diet,” says Mini.Greek salad with feta cheese and black olives, and Cheshire salads are her favourite. She churns out recipes too. Beer bread made by mixing flour, sugar and beer is her own. “Beer is an excellent marinating ingredient. Meat cuts marinated in beer, ginger and garlic paste grilled on the stove on high heat make an excellent treat.”For pasta she uses Alfredo sauce and Parmesan cheese. If I’m cooking dinner for guests I always serve stuffed mushrooms with a nugget of rosemary, lemon, garlic and black pepper,” she lets us to peek into the exotic recipe. Mini says she shops for most of the products in her neighbourhood store and market. But for Parmesan cheese, corn chips, exotic chocolates and sauces she visits the Gourmet House near the Yacht Club in Thevara.“I google a lot to learn the scientific aspects of each recipe. I try out several recipes. Instead of following them per se, I add my own twist to them,” says Mini. The easiest desserts, according to Mini, is cream brule. “I mix the cream and egg yolk with a little bit of vanilla syrup and sugar. Sometimes I pour the mixture in the ramekin and top it with fresh fruit or sprinkle with caramelised sugar,” says Mini who loves to entertain people.Parveen Hafeez, managing director of Sunrise Group of Hospitals, believes “a man’s heart is through his stomach”. She has a modernised and mechanised kitchen with all the latest kitchen appliances such as inbuilt oven and grill and griddles. Parveen is always busy.But this mother of three makes it a point to cook a meal for her family and loves to serve anything natural and healthy. A green salad with broccoli, lettuce and olives is a must and she always stocks cottage cheese and fish fillets. “I do not like the ready-made tastemaker for pasta so I prepare it with oodles of cheese, crushed red chillies and a dash of olive oil.” She thinks nothing can beat the taste of the age-old Indian herbs. “But using peppermint or thyme in our cooking has becoming fashionable. Basil is similar to our very own tulsi. You will find a lot of similarities between most of the eastern and western ingredients,” says Parveen who loves Italian as well as Arabic delicacies. “You get hummus and falafel here but they don’t taste anything like what you get in any Arabian country. So when I travel to Dubai I end up buying all this and more.”In her kitchen you will find Thai herbs and spices, and sticky rice. Also a variety of sausages and imported fruits like kiwis and lychees. “I have a lot of foodies in my family so we exchange recipes and I rarely google for new ones,” she says on a parting note.
Comments
0 comment