September 24
The other week I had got a bunch of small red apples. I'm not much of a fruit lover ( I know I am weird) but I just got them because they were so cute! And I thought that maybe if I get smaller apples I might just be able to coax myself into having them. And obviously they are good for health right?
So yes I did coax myself into having a couple of them, I am doing healthy stuffs now a days so it was somewhat easy to motivate myself. But then after a while my foodie brain started to think in a disrupted manner. Why to eat apples as just apples? I mean while they are good as apples, why not use them to make something different. That's what Instagram does to you, you see. Till the time you limit yourself to cooking shows, MasterChef episodes and Facebook food groups, you are exposed to comparatively less ideas of thinking out of the box. But once you come on Instagram, there is just disruption in every food preparation you have had in your entire lifetime.
Once you step into the realm of Instagram you feel like everyone out there is a MasterChef and you are the only horrible cook left in this big bad lonely world. At least I felt it that way, I was too embarrassed to put up the simple macher jhol pictures or the beans ki subzi which tastes heavenly but not much of a looker. There was absolutely no drama in the preparation or the dish that I plated it in. I mean who would even care for your jhinger macher jhol ( fish curry with ridge gourd) with some soggy jhinge swimming around the fried fish, when they can see a gourmet fish steak lying on a bed of aromatic rice and some green ridge gourd on the side strategically placed to give the feel but not to crowd the dish? I definitely liked the gourmet version, not sure about you folks.
Thus I learnt in a few months, if you cook something which you could not shape properly simply call it deconstructed xyz and further distort the shape and present it with nice garnish. If you want to shock people just combine 3-4 elements which never on earth you would have imagined to go together. Or if you have things wilting in your pantry just make a dip or chutney out of it and present it in a nice set of crockery with all the bells and whistles. Sounds simple right?
The truth is farther from it. Instagram is where we bring to life the concept of eating first with our eyes. And to do that the kind of efforts that goes into the background is tremendous. Each of these people meticulously plan the entire production of a dish they are going to capture in the frame much ahead of time. There is a lot of money and time invested in making each picture come to life. Food photography is expensive. And only through trials and error you will know of tips and tricks which can save you a few bucks. But still it is expensive. At the minimum you need to invest in a good camera, some decent backgrounds and of course good crockery. And after that you will still be in the beginners stage as per the Instagram standards.
Thus when you are just starting a food page on Instagram you might feel a whole lot overwhelmed by the contents you see around you or the growing number of followers in others profile might give you sleepless nights or put your mind on a self induced pressure zone, but my suggestion is don't fret. I mean what was the point of joining Instagram in the first place? For me it was like a live journal wherein I wanted to document my food journey, interact with like minded folks, know more about food and photography and the most important enjoy the experience at my own pace. I wanted to look back in time at my feed and feel good that I created so many things which I never thought of making earlier. I will look back in time and feel this year I have cherished the fact that I could give so much time to one of my favorite hobbies - cooking. That will be a true accomplishment rather than chasing after numbers like crazy. I do not deny the fact that as your followers graph goes up you do feel a growing happiness but then if you have good content there will always be audience to appreciate it. Unless you want to monetize right away, you can go at a steady pace, trying to build meaningful content once every two days rather than a cartload of shitty images daily.
So just take a deep breath, cook things which make you happy and don't worry about the results.
I wanted to make something nice and filling for lunch as well as use the apples. Egg pulao was on my mind but then I decided to make a Kashmiri dry fruits pulao and add egg to it (simply because I wanted to have egg :)). And when its a dry fruits pulao obviously apples are a right candidate to throw in as well. Believe me it tastes super duper awesome. So if you have some apples which are not that sweet and do not know what to do with them apart form halwa, this is a good option. You can also add more fruits like cranberries or pomegranate to make it more fruit loaded.
This Kashmiri Pulao recipe will tease your taste buds with sweet, spicy and tart flavors. The best part of this recipe is you can reuse left over rice also for making this amazingly flavorful and textured pulao. Its a one pot fragrant, fruity and nutty pulao which can be made quickly and enjoyed.
Preparation Time : 20 minutes
- Basmati Rice / Any fragrant Rice - 50 gm
- Stock ( Vegetable/Chicken/Mutton) - 100 ml
- Ginger Paste - 1/2 tsp
- Bay Leaf - 1
- Fennel Seeds (Bruised) - 1/2 tsp
- Cardamom (Bruised) - 2
- Cinnamon - 1/2 inch
- Green Chilli (Slitted)- 4 to 5
- Sugar - 1 tsp
- Salt - As per taste
- Ghee - 2 tsp
- Refined Oil - 2 tsp
- Onion (for Beresta) - 1/2 sliced
- Red Apple (Diced) - 1/2
- Black raisins / Manaka / Normal Raisins - 1/2 cup
- Cashew Nut - 1/4 th cup
- Almonds - 5 to 6
- Coconut Slice - 8-10
- Saffron Strands/ Orange Food Color - 1/2 tsp
- Potato (Halved)- 1 medium
- Boiled Egg - 1
- Heavy bottomed wok
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