All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
KG, my better half truly lives by this quote. And he practices this the most in our kitchen. He can cook up a storm with unconventional ingredients and majority of his experiments have happy-yummy endings. He combines some interesting flavours and turns everyday food into something unique and delicious. Of course, there are some disasters too. But that does not deter him from experimenting in the kitchen.
Let me share some of KG’s experiments in our kitchen…
1. A few days ago, he made this grilled fish with an unusual salad of guava and tomatoes to go with it. The fruitiness of the guava combined with the tartness of tomatoes and some spices complimented the grilled fish so well that we polished it all off in no time.
2. Crunchy creamy sweet and tangy, that’s how we describe KG’s Coleslaw sandwiches. The usual coleslaw contains cabbage, carrots with a salad dressing of vinaigrette or mayonnaise. KG put a memorable spin to it by adding green apples. And now, I can never have a coleslaw sandwich when I am travelling because it does not have this extra wonderful ingredient.
3. You must have heard of Chettinad masala powder, the famous flavourful and traditional spicy masala from Tamil Nadu made by dry roasting whole spices and grinding them to a fine powder. And of course, laal maas. Laal maas is a fiery Rajasthani meat curry. But you would not have heard of laal maas with Chettinad masala. It is a finger-licking and scrumptious explosion of flavours, believe me.
4. I was travelling for work and KG had to make a quick breakfast for himself. He boiled eggs for himself before going for his bath. By the time he got ready, the eggs had gone cold. He put them in the microwave to warm them for a minute or so. When he took them out and broke the shell of the first egg, it blasted like a bomb. I was cleaning the ‘debris’ of the blasted egg even after 3 days, as the white rubbery ‘shrapnel’ had fallen at all unimaginable places.
5. KG’s one experiment truly takes the cake.
Aaryan and I were coming back home from Shimla. KG made an elaborate lunch to welcome us. My parents joined us for lunch too. KG had made kheer (rice pudding) for the dessert. We all gushed at the heavenly taste of this kheer. Warming up, he asked us to guess the secret ingredient in the kheer. My mom and I, rattled off all the plausible ingredients that one can add in an Indian dessert, but he vetoed all of them. We then ‘begged’ him to shed light on the mysterious ingredient.
Egg Yolk, he said with a proud and mischievous smile.
Mom who is a vegetarian and who relished the kheer so much, moments ago, nearly puked.
I was truly flabbergasted by this experiment of his. I asked him what inspired him to add egg yolk. He coolly said that the rich and thickening properties of egg yolks are used in custards and puddings. So, the same can be replicated in this Indian dessert too. All I could do was roll my eyes, while licking the bowl of kheer clean.
For me cooking is just a responsibility but for KG it is fun and that’s why he loves playing around with different ingredients and prepare dishes that are unique, interesting and delicious.
Do you experiment in your kitchen? Do you like to explore new flavours in your food?
My theme for this year’s Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is Food Talks. Join me for some interesting, fun conversations about food experiences, experiments, basics, tips, ideas, hacks, trends and much more.
27 Responses
That’s new – laal mass and chettinad.
PS – where can I buy the chettinad masala?
KG makes it at home from scratch. There are various recipes in books and online to make it. It must be available as ready-made masala as well. I know brands like Catch, MDH, Kitchen King etc dont have this masala, but must be easily available in in South India. Priya brand has Chicken Chettinad Masala. Check it out here… https://priyafoods.com/product/chicken-chettinad-masala/
I like the idea of cole slaw with thinly sliced apple.
Interesting. Kudos to yr husband and awed at all experiments.
Good luck with a to z
Leaves me craving for the actual delicacies 🙂 .
Daring experiments with awesome results. As i am a vegetarian, so will atleast try the coleslaw with green apples.
And yes, my today’s post too was an experiment only
Let’s be honest, a kitchen with no experiments is a very sad kitchen 😉
I experiement with food all the time. I’m almost forced to, because towards the end of the week thereis so little in my fridge that I always need to add some fantasy to it.
The recipe with the explosion sounds like something I could do. The rest of it is out of my depth.
Real creative man your KG. Is he a chef, by any chance? It is so wonderful to cook up yummy dishes.
That’s the first time I’ve heard of an egg in the kheer. It’s a daring experiment.
Still laughing at the egg. Once I tried to boil it in the microwave and had a similar explosion. Of course the microwave died and the egg whites were everywhere inside it.
But I do like that KG enjoys cooking for fun. It’s a great hobby to have – in your husband I mean.
I am loving the experiments by KG! I am going to try the Green Apple in Coleslaw, I bet it tastes heavenly! Pity about the egg though, cleaning up is no fun.
Lal Maas with Chettinadu Masala must have tasted heavenly!
Yes, egg is used in making ice cream too, to give it body and richness, no wonder the kheer tasted delicious!
KG seems to be my kind of person. I love to experiment too in the kitchen but nothing close to his level. 🙂 Green apple in coleslaw is something I would love to try as well. But egg yolk in kheer is a bit strange. 🙂
Loved all the experiments that your husband made with food. Sometimes random experimenting can lead to unexpected results. Though I was a little taken aback with the combination of egg and kheer, I will still give it a try.
Haha, that was fun to read! Like you said, cooking is a responsibility for me as I cook four times a day, catering to the different taste buds of my two children. But to the dad, cooking one recipe for three hours on a Sunday is much fun.
Your hubby and mine are two peas in a pod, Shilpa!
Mine, too, is an enthusiastic chef, who forgets the world when he enters the kitchen, I see him come alive when he cooks. He, too, loves using different ingredients to whip up a unique dish. There are times when I enter the kitchen and wonder what he is up to. How can he use a particular ingredient for a particular recipe. But, he shoos me out and then asks me about it when I taste the dish. And, 9 times out of 10, the taste is heavenly.
For me, too, cooking is a responsibility I am not fond of as much as he is. If I am in the mood, I enjoy it, if not, I just finish my work and am out of the kitchen in 20 minutes! 😛
God bless our husbands! Heheheh
:D:D:D I love experimental cooking. Can’t do much of it nowadays though, ‘coz Dad prefers the tried & tested! 😛
Oh KG reheated boiled eggs in shell? Well, I knew that eggshells and microwave don’t go together. So I reheated a peeled boiled egg, but even that exploded the moment I touched a knife to it, right in front of my face. I was holding it in my left hand & cutting it with the right!
Luckily I was wearing my glasses that time, so the eyes were okay. But seriously burnt my left palm. And yes, they fly all over the place. I had a couple of tiny pieces stuck to the ceiling for months! You can imagine what that would have done for my OCD, right?
Find my E post @ Microwave Eggless Chocolate Cake Recipe | How To Make Eggless Chocolate Cake in Microwave
Wow! He is truly amazing! Egg yolk in kheer? I know it was an experiment based on its properties but How! How on earth did he get that idea?
KG rocks! Egg yolk in a kheer? Who would have thought!
I experiment a lot too in the kitchen and thankfully they have all turned out to be good so far 🙂
That guava salad sounds really interesting by the way.
A tasty post from which I’ve learned much including the addition of apple to coleslaw! I’m going to be trying it very soon.
My A-Z of Children’s Stories
Haha! KGs experiments reminded me of my husband. He also loves experimenting in the kitchen. These are some yummy recipes he tried. I will try some out of these.
Looks like KG makes your responsibilities in the kitchen very easy. Shall we call KG as Kitchen God.
Hahah, I did the same with an egg during my very first encounter with microwave. Egg in kheer, are you kidding? I so much want to try that now. Recipe, please.
Wow!! This was so much fun to read! So many experiments!! And the egg yolk one… It literally won all the points.. Loved your theme. Will catch up on more…
Cheers
No 3 & 5 sounds interesting, reminding me of David who experiments only with non vegetarian food. My daughter loves and keeps telling me that only he should cook on sundays. As you rightly put it so well, cooking for me too is a duty:) and for David is fun; he loves trying out chicken, fish, mutton recipes in the kitchen.
Cole Slaw is a summer staple in our household. Add it to a burger and you have the ultimate sandwich. In our opinion of course. 🙂
Nice. I love to experiment too in the kitchen
Dasiyaaro loves to give easy access to get Indian products to the Indians in various countries. We come up to overcome your issues of buying Indian grocery stores in usa . Now, staying away from home won’t be so tedious to find natural, fresh, and original products, delivered at your doorstep with utmost care and love.