If she is not working, its understandable. But if she is doing equal or even more hours than you, is it fair to make her do another 2-3 hrs in the kitchen?
Only our desi and eastern food takes this long to cook. Most normal people in the west don't spend this kind of time in the kitchen unless it is Thanksgiving or New Years or Christmas.
And why not restaurants? If you want enough money to carry you through your retirement and pay for your hospital bills when your body starts falling apart at 60, you better start budgeting now.
Eating out each meal - 5 dollars per meal (at least) X 2 + 3 breakfast = 13 dollars per day
Versus for a 2 dollar daal ka packet and a few masala spices and some naan from the store (4 dollars for a pack of naans), I can feed you for cheap for a whole week.
My groceries for the week are under 15 dollars - and I waste a lot of food honestly because its not all done by the end of the week.
PCG desi food does not take long to cook or take massive effort either, u just have to be organized. especially with shan packets and now some from laziza that have garlic and ginger already in it, u can make chicken salan in 30 mins start to finish and its not hands on for the whole time. rice cookers mean u can have rice ready in the same time with minimal effort.
ppl compare desi food to italian, but then they are using ready made pasta sauce, so equivalent would be phataks desi mixes. it is in a jar, just brown the meat and simmer in the sauce..
my sis even has the meat cooked separately and frozen, and just adds whatever veggies and spices and can have anything ready in a short time. make kebabs, either freeze uncooked mixed ground beef, or even cook it and freeze it.
so where there is a will there is a way.
And as far as eating out, aside from the expense, its too high in fat, sodium, etc etc. when u cook something yourself, u know exactly where it came from and what you are putting in it, which is not the case when you do takeaway.
of course u face the same challenges when u are using prepared food, processed food, whether its curry pastes or pasta sauces, u have to be vigilant.
I don't like using rice cookers. Rice, my way, takes 30 min. But then while you wait for it to cook, you can cook other stuff.
Also, people will cook chunks of stuff over the weekend or during down time, and freeze away. There is NO reason you should be expecting your wife to be in the kitchen for 3 hrs a day per meal. That's ridiculous.
the whole concept that "guys marry because they need to be taken care of" is simply not true anymore.
Yes there are certain "expectations" and "values" that our culture has for men and women, but really why do women marry? don't they need someone to takecare of them? pamper them?
I don't like using rice cookers. Rice, my way, takes 30 min. But then while you wait for it to cook, you can cook other stuff.
Also, people will cook chunks of stuff over the weekend or during down time, and freeze away. There is NO reason you should be expecting your wife to be in the kitchen for 3 hrs a day per meal. That's ridiculous.
so use chicken breast and lean cuts of meat, legs have fat but they also have more iron.
and if you have the spices available, it takes a couple minutes to get your spices ready. masala packets vary in the amount of sodium, but they generally are much better than canned or jarred stuff.
I am not sure who cooks for 3 hours for a meal, atleast in touch time, elapsed time may vary but if you are cooking something on low heat for 40 minutes its not like u cant chill in the meantime.
so desi food does not take too long to cook if people are organized and have sensible expectations.
rice cooker rock btw, u can do more with it than just make plain steamed rice..