Struggles with Atta - pursuing the perfect Chappathi

Note: I use the names 'Roti' and 'Chappathi' interchangeably in this post, referring to what is called 'Indian flatbread', shown below:

My struggles with Atta (whole wheat flour) started in my early twenties when I started living with four other girls in our rented apartment in Chennai. Those were the initial days, when the perseverance for the perfectly round roti was very high. Until then, all the experience that I had with atta was after it was in round shaped flat form. My area of expertise in my mother's kitchen was to take care of it after it was put on the heated tawa. The steps up till then were taken care of by her.

In the company of girls cooking together for a night's meal, I started learning the intricacies of mixing the atta with water and working on it until the right consistency of dough was reached. We each had our roles in the process, and mine quickly became the one of the dough maker and while I pumped and coaxed the atta into submission, work would progress simultaneously on cooking the sabji to go with the roti. Meanwhile hands were ready and waiting to take the dough and roll into the flattened and perfect round form.

My first dish that gave my hubby nightmares!!

Why is it so hard for me to just write up something I am very familiar with? I cook all the time..Of late it has kind of become an obsession...Do I cook well?Hmm...that you have to ask my hubby...'coz if you ask me..there's going to be just one answer.."am an amazing cook" :D

I always loved cooking or at least the idea of cooking..for sometime I even fancied about becoming a 5 star chef...like all dreams..that never happened...my life was just predictable...I joined an engineering college and later got into one of the software companies...Like most of you know once you get into a job..there is very little time for any kind of hobby..or at least that's my excuse for not pursuing anything else other than couch potato-ing :D

I remember the first time I cooked anything outside my mommyz kitchen, it was for my hubby. Like I have been telling you guys about my awesome cooking, I had led on my hubby to believe that I was just too good at kitchen...He had been out of India for more than a year and so he was expecting me to create magic in
his kitchen...Since I knew he was a novice...I was just behaving like a pompous rat! (can't use any other words here I guess..G rated blogs :D) Anyways, I gave him the impression that I had a second job as a big shot chef..made him gather ingredients for me..clean up vessels...etc etc..The poor chap did everything to make me comfortable in the kitchen in the hopes of getting a decent meal after a longtime...

Tea-time

Happy new year to everyone reading this! Its 11:30 am on New year morning, I've just had my cuppa tea and  slice of toast with honey. I was trying to think of something to write here today, and then I thought why not start from my cup of tea. Well, you might be thinking, "tea!!?" Hm,yes.. I love my tea and I can have it anytime. Tea is more than just a beverage, it is a comfort.Besides which, being from Kerala which is famous for it's tea stalls, I consider myself equipped to ramble about it.

I know it will be presumptive of me to try to explain how to make tea. But there are so many nuances in it,that as a tea lover, I feel I should elaborate on.