The best way to learn life skills is simple — get hungry.

First Time Cooking. No Mom. No Clue. Just Dal.

Source: Gemini

The day Nidhi decided to cook for the first time began with two things: hunger… and overconfidence.

She started reading a book called “How to make your first recipe with out spoiling it?”.

Just as she settled down with her book, a loud sound came from the kitchen. Nidhi ran inside only to discover that a clever cat had stolen her sister’s corn and escaped through the window. The kitchen was safe, but now something else was making noise — her stomach.

Nidhi’s mother asked her to cook for herself as she know some details about the kitchen. Though what she only knew was, where is kitchen in their home and location of few utensils and ingredients.

The Rules Of the Kitchen

Though Kitchen is just another part of our own home its always a laboratory for everyone except, mom — well she is the chief executive officer over there, right?

And there are certain rules to be followed which results in a perfect dish.

Decide Your Recipe First

Nidhi is hungry and so she chose to make something that can be done easily in short time and she decided to make Dal(lentils).

Always go with your priorities — because its you who is going to eat it.

Keep the Army Ready Before the War Begins

Nidhi always saw how her mother cooked, though she never cooked herself so she decided to use that previous knowledge today.

She put all the ingredients required for the dish ready — Dal, oil, cumin seeds, onion, tomato, chilly powder, turmeric powder, salt, coriander leaves as her mother did the same every time.

Ready..she told herself.

Does the Dish Need a Warm up?

“You always need to soak Dal before you start cooking”, she remembered her mom’s advice and quickly soaked a cup of it.

The Step Often Assumed as First One Comes here

She then Turns on the stove, place- the pan on it, once done with step 1 and 2 then, add required amount of oil — let it heat in medium flame.

The Power Of Measurement

The best recipe is not the one which have all the ingredients, its the one which have the right amount of ingredients.

She added cumin seeds to the oil,

The cumin seeds started popping like tiny fireworks. Nidhi stepped back. The kitchen, it seemed, had officially noticed her presence.

then added onions and let them fry,

Cooking onions teaches patience. Nothing happens for five minutes… and then suddenly everything turns golden.

She now followed rules told by her Science teacher who taught them the must know recipes in their leisure hour.

The Ground Is Set For the Main Drama

She then added salt, tomatoes to the pan and waited for 2 more minutes to

let the ingredients introduce themselves to each other

Tomatoes are the diplomats of the kitchen. They quietly fix the mistakes other ingredients make.

Then all flavors came into existence, it was time to add our Main Character — Dal, it is added with water to other ingredients, once Dal is cooked, she added chilly powder, coriander leaves wait for 3 more minutes to settle everything down.

That is how Nidhi became the master chef for the day.

Make Friends With the Flame

During cooking it is important to understand the amount of flame required — low, medium, high once you understand where the process needs which type of flame you will be able to control the taste of the dish.

Clean the Floor as If the War Never Happened

Clean everything after the main character is revealed. This gives place for more clarity for your brain and lets you create a delicious dish.

Before You Go…

You might have opened this article randomly, but if you have ever tried cooking for the first time, you might find something familiar in this story.

Through Nidhi’s small kitchen adventure, I wanted to share a few lessons I learned about cooking — and bring a small smile on your face along the way.

If you have your own funny cooking stories, I would love to hear them too. Happy Cooking!

Thanks for reading — genuinely. In a world full of noise, your attention means more than you might think. If something here made you pause or see things a little differently, pass it along — and maybe leave a few claps so more curious minds can find it🌷.