I get by with a little help from my food

I believe cooking teaches you about detail. Every time you pick up a spoon to scoop up some masala, or something as basic as salt, you pay close attention to the quantity, even if just for a second, before you take the leap and pour the contents of the spoon into the pan/pot. Slowly, every detail becomes a memory, and every detailed memory adds to your your intuition.

The capacity for detailing develops as one cooks more willingly and often. As you go along, you develop instincts, like that of a mother’s hand (maybe not as good). You learn to trust your instincts. You learn to course correct when your instincts fail you, because you are wise enough to know they can fail you, but all you need to do is stretch your imagination and let your gut feed on it and voila — you realise that the heap of salt you dropped can be doused by some cool dahi, or the heat of the chilli can make friends with a punchy tomato. In this process, you experiment with confidence. You discover odd combinations and matches made in heaven, or you go by the book and test your patience and intuition.

Either way, you create, you indulge your senses, and every time you do it, you see a new visual language unfold as your dish comes to life.