On Instagram a conversation prompted me to buy these books by Durga Bhagwat. I am a member of Petit Library however in the last six months haven't been able to go there. In this lockdown since I am cooking and experimenting so much I thought I must buy these even if it means I am breaking my rule not to collect books but borrow and read from the library.
Durga Bhagwat has been my inspiration since I was a school girl. My Dad would make sure I would read the Sunday newspaper especially Loksatta end to end. I was naturally attracted to her column, Khamanga. She instilled in me this deep respect for the kitchen as a lab and for cooking as a life skill. I grew up in a time and space where scholastic pursuits were emphasized on than cooking. Girls were rejecting the importance of cooking because of the regressive past of our Indian society. It helped that my Dad loved cooking and has been cooking all his life first as a necessity to help his mother and then for the love of it. Yet I did have family members who wanted me to stick in the murky regression. However Durga Bhagwat became my guiding light in that young age.
In one of the articles she mentioned how to set curd quickly using the heat released from the steam of the pressure cooker. I was fascinated by her scientific approach! She said culture the milk and keep the vati atop a pressure cooker when you are cooking in the morning. You have a perfectly set curd by meal time.
Cooking became science and art for me then on. I took pride in making wonderful dishes from across the world. Somewhere deep down she is a big influence in the existence of #AnnaParaBrahma !
