Happy Deepawali!!

Wishing you all a  very happy Deepawali  from DeesPlatter🎆🎆.

Around eight months back I started this food blog. Apoorva is becoming independent day by day, Manish is busy with office and keyboard practice, so my free time was increasing more and more. Before marriage I was teaching, but after so many years I was very hesitant to start it again. Going out for work keeps us in a disciplined routine, but wrapping up all household stuff early in the morning seemed an impossible task to me. Before marriage if we are working, mother is there to take care of everything, but now we are responsible for everything, so going out and working was impossible for me. To utilise free time I started to learn baking which I had never done before. Baking was very interesting and satisfying. The moment oven gives you perfect bake, your happiness has no bounds. Here Internet was my teacher and my family, friends and neighbors were my testers. But the problem was that how much a family of three can eat…. so if I baked a cake, it would be there for three days… now what should I do for the rest of two days?

So thought of starting a food blog. Initially, I was hesitant, because writing was never my forte, but some really good friends and Manish encouraged a lot and I started.

I am not an exceptional cook, like some people who know endless varieties of cooking like – continental, thai, chinese, asian cousin and so on….. My parents belong to UP, but settled down in Rajasthan – so I knew some regular dishes from both the places and I started posting these.

Before marriage I actually never cooked one full meal. I was always a helper of my mother. Honestly, I hated to do that also. If mom used to tell that I have to prepare rotis, I wanted ready dough and never ever wanted to clean the gas and kitchen counter. During festivals also I and my sisters were only helpers – all main cooking used to be done by mother. But little did I know that unknowingly as a helper my mother taught me so much, that after marriage (I remember this very well) except khichdi, I never called her to ask anything regarding cooking. And yes, one more thing I called her to ask for – how to prepare two threaded sugar syrup, for which I am still not very confident.

Those small things which our mother teaches us indirectly in the kitchen are so valuable but we realize this only when we start our independent cooking. Whenever I prepare dough for roti, I always remember how my father taught me to keep the vessel shiny and neat that nobody would know that someone prepared dough in that. Yes, my father taught me to knead the dough because I hated to do that…. and voila! I learned!!!
While mother prepares the best pakode vali kadi… My job was only to stir it occasionally but I learned that slow cooking gives you the best kadi!

During festivals also sweets and savoury dishes that I prepare are the ones that my mother used to prepare and majorly I am posting these on the blog too. Though, some of her dishes I have not yet tried.

This deepawali also three-four days back I was busy with cleaning when I got an order to prepare some traditional sweets and savoury stuff for deepawali. Ok, fine, I will do… was my reply.

Next day I started preparing and whole day I was thinking about my mother and how with a lot of patience she taught me and my sisters the values of life, time and value and importance of working in the kitchen. She is the most hard working person and the only thing which I hate about her is that most of the time she is right!! Now she doesn’t have that much strength because of her health problems, but still the moment she feels healthy, her energy level surprises me.
Today got a very good feedback from the customer for her deepawali order, and I just don’t know why my eyes were wet thinking about you mom!

Oh God! now also I am crying… why daughters have to stay so far, that’s not fair…

I want to dedicate this blog to you amma and wishing you a very happy, healthy, cheerful and prosperous Deepawali!!