When I was in Pakistan, I cooked under my mum’s instructions and used spices from there. Here, I cook with different people’s different recipes (including my mums) it doesn’t taste yummy or super delicious! It’s just once in a while probably.
Is it because of:
spices?
recipes?
electric stove?
cooking for 2 people is creating measurement issues?
I lack the ability to make good food?
What is it .. It’s depressing me day by day. People cook so well. My chicken karahi has never been up to the mark, then roti always breaks or is too dry or some thing happens to it, then either my spices are too much or too less, my masala of Salan isn’t yummy. I’ve no idea what to do and how to fix it. I want to learn and stick to exactly one recipe each for each dish and make that my standard.
partly spices and ingredients because they simply taste different. many other factors contribute too like the place and even utensils. Same happened with me as well. I practically lost all my hath ka taste. And I blamed all above for this I dont know but the meat, the veggies and the spices are all too different(taste wise) in other countries from those in Pakistan. Atleast this is what I found out.
once you get accustomed with the utensils, the stove and the ingredients there, and keep practicing, the food will begin to taste just as fine.
I know it sounds weird but when i moved out of pakistan, the same thing happened to me. I consider my self a good cook if not excellent. I don't know if it was spices, the material of the wok i was using or the electric stove but after some time either our taste buds adjusted or my food started tasting better.and trust me when ever i visit Pakistan everything tastes very different. Other than that i would say cooking is a bit of experiment and a bit of practise. you will learn to balance spices.
For roti, always make sure that you goondify the atta well, add a pinch of salt and a tea spoon of oil while goondifying it. It helps with breaking and softening if roti. Make sure the pan is neither too cold or too hot. and one more thing i always find that if i use the atta that has been stored in fridge for a few hours itseasier to manage then making roti from freshly goondified atta.
Well Alhumdulillah after moving from Pakistan I did not face any of such issue with taste. Although I had problems in adjusting to electric stove but that was only while making rice dishes which was solved in a couple of months. Yes spices are different but why dont you people try using Pakistani brand spices, Shan and Lazziza are readily available in almost every corner of world except for the peripheral areas of few countries.
However sometimes utensils can make difference too. Why dont you try changing the recipe once you tried previous did turn well and whatever turn out good then stick to it.
Meat is an issue too. Here in Perth the Mutton is not that good because its basically lamb and not goat, sometimes fixing its smell cracks me out but alhumdulillah it manages at the end of the day.
For roti, the proportion of water and atta should be well. I knead dough in standmixer and atta is just done in 5 to 7 mins and roti is too good. I would advice you to get one. It would help. Roti is so soft and no problem is there at all
chipkali to nahi maari kbhi??
well seriously, i have heard from some oldies k koi lizard maar de to uske hath se zaiqa chla jata hy…i dont believe it well..but just shared what i heard
Ok listen , calm down , getting used to electric stove is a huge task , not gonna happen in a few weeks .. plus , electric stoves give really horrible results when it comes to desi cooking ...
Secondly, the spices here taste all maray hue .. i know coz when i cooked in Pakistan , the result was super awesome .. and when i cooked in Dubai , the result was 80% expected .. and in the UK no matter how good a cook is , it will never ever match the pakistani taste ... coz majority things here are either store based ( stored for years ) , vegies are all full of chemicals etc ..
Thirdly, it will take time before you get used to the very basics of cooking ... until then dont give up.. dont look for a single recipe for one thing, try to grasp the basics .. recipes are not important , basics are ... will explain to you in detail when we talk soon inshallah
I don't think it's really got anything to do with spices or veggies (buying organic, duh) - it's the damned electric stove lol. It is so freakin' difficult to get used to it!!! We had one in our old place but my mom almost went nuts and finally threw it out and got a gas stove. It'll be difficult at first, but with practice you'll get the hang of it. My mom is like an epic cook in our family + friends circle, both from here and Pakistan...and when she first cooked on the electric stove she had a tough time.
As PP's suggested...make sure that you're using the correct atta first of all, and secondly knead it very very well...for at least 10 mins. It always ends up in soft rotis. And I'm not sure where you are but if you're in a major city in the UK/US (NY, Chicago, London etc), you can find yourself tavas and stuff to make rotis on cos there's so many desi shops... =/
Oh god I hate electric stoves. My MIL had an electric stove and it literally took me 2 hours to cook a salan that normally takes 30 minutes…I had no idea how that happened…meanwhile she can whip up perfect dal in 10 minutes without soaking or pressure-cooking it.
Oh and I'm scared of using pressure cookers so my chanay ki daal, beef, mutton, Haleem etc take almost 4-5 hours!!!! :O
Btw - yesterday I made bhuna wa gosht, following an exact recipe of Zubaida Apa, made for two people & it turned out yummy. Yay!! I need such recipes 1/2 kg sorts and with exact measurement, hopefully something tastier will be produced :)
That sounds really good that you made a yummy salan. Keep on trying. This electric stove is just very hard to adjust with. And yes by this i just recalled that electric stove cooks horrible rotis. My dear trust me its not your fault, its electric stove. I am a very good roti cook (dont take it self praising but just trying to explain you to boost up your courage) that even used to make rotis in bulk easily at gas cooking but when it came to electric cooking, i thought I had never cooked rotis in my lifetimes. May be some more experienced one can help you out how good rotis can be produced from the electric stove. But my synopsis is that electric stove is not at all suitable for our desi rotis and rotis turn out to be something that you dont want to eat and I simply gave up making on electric stove. So now we moved and have gas oven, its a relief alhumdulillah. So it may be your fault only 10 to 20% the real culprit is ELECTRIC STOVE
I’ve never gotten the knack of electric stoves. They are so hard to figure out…especially roti. My roti alwaysssssssss turns orange on an electric stove and then burns right away.
My mom on the other hand…could cook biryani in the Amazon.
I think its got to do with stoves, spices, different environment and even things like pot you’re cooking in matter.
The nice thing is DD that you had a knack for food before so it will only be a matter of time before you get your groove back.
It happen with everyone trust me, I’m a chicken karahii,chicken biryani and paratha expert famous is my family, and sometimes my paratha is like a paaper, rice of biryani are sometimes over cooked or kachay
Don’t worry see everyone here saying it happens
Oh and I'm scared of using pressure cookers so my chanay ki daal, beef, mutton, Haleem etc take almost 4-5 hours!!!! :O
Btw - yesterday I made bhuna wa gosht, following an exact recipe of Zubaida Apa, made for two people & it turned out yummy. Yay!! I need such recipes 1/2 kg sorts and with exact measurement, hopefully something tastier will be produced :)
I started using pressure cooker few years after marriage,so not a big deal. U need to get use to things first (Spice, utensils etc) u'll be an excellent cook soon. Just give ur self some time. Practice is the main key. Good luck!!
Soon we'll be getting advise from you on do's & don't of cooking ;)
I dont know but the meat, the veggies and the spices are all too different(taste wise) in other countries from those in Pakistan. Atleast this is what I found out.
