Basics of cooking...

Usually everyone has their own style and approach of cooking which is balancing and prioritizing the factors such as the health, taste, cost, time taken, presentation, cooking mode, cuisine nativity, hygiene, etc.

Now I am starting to understand my definitions and priorities of these parameters...

We know, health forms the basic rational for food so, it is necessary to take a well balanced diet.

And food has to be tasty for us to relish it; but 'tasty' is two sided, one that the dish has to be prepared to satisfy the palate and other is that one has to develop taste to relish good food as is.

Cost and time; for me these depend on the availability and affordability at that point of time of cooking; I try to get the best out of what is there, be it ingredients or time. Local produce and seasonal ingredients do not only economize your budget but also increases the goodness of food in taste and health.

In daily cooking, presentation can be enough if it is up to a neat platter, good choice of dish, freshness of food and the proper cooking. On occasions it can be garnished, dressed and arranged with some extra effort. Otherwise, I don't expect my food to be too very photogenic all the time.

Cooking mode, I mostly use LPG stove and sometimes induction cooking and microwave. But microwave works good for minimum oil and uniform cooking, as well as baking and grilling.

When it comes to choice of cuisine, I want to try as many as possible. But with my little exploration, it seems for me that Indian cooking offers a lot of choices for vegetarian people. Still, I keep trying other continental dishes that appeal to me. Of course, my all time favorite and comfort food would be south Indian foods.

I try to practice good hygiene as much as possible in my kitchen and on the dining table.

So, with this little understanding about myself...  I am good to go, nah :)