The magic that exists in a home-cooked meal is something unique altogether. The satisfaction of a meal made at home is unparallel. The last weekend, my friend Arunava Banik decided to make an elaborate home-cooked dinner for all of us. I must say, I am thoroughly impressed with the man’s culinary skills. I’ll even go so far to admit that if I was a woman, I would gladly marry him right now.... especially after the brilliant meal he put together.
We had an elaborate meal that started off with some fabulous Fried Chicken. The meat was soft every bite was delicious. And this wasn’t those ready-to-cook meats. He had brought the chicken separately, marinated it over-night and that made a world of difference. For the vegetarians we did have some fries and nachos.
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| Fried Chicken |
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| Fried Chicken |
As far as the main course goes, he put together a killer spread consisting of Peas Pulao, Daal, Paneer and Bengali-style Mutton curry. The Pulao was very well cooked. The Paneer subji was one of the best I’ve had in a long time with the gravy having a lovely cinnamon-ish taste to it. The paneer was the right balance of soft and crunchy. This dish nearly caused a blood-bath between the vegetarians and us as we too wanted a significant share. But the Mutton Curry... OH MY GOD.... what a superbly made dish. I love having the Bengali-style of mutton curry with the huge potato along with rice. It was just the right amount of spice and pepper to tingle the taste buds, and the meat was done quite well to come of the bone pretty easily. I was in love. I was considerate enough not to take the large serving dish away screaming ‘My precious....’
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| Peas Pulao |
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| Bengali-style Mutton Curry |
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| Paneer Subji |
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| Daal |
And just when we were all extremely impressed, Arunava presented his pièce de résistance – Home-made Orange cake and Chocolate Pudding. Everyone took multiple helpings and made near-orgasmic noises with every bite. While the cake was a little crisp in places, the taste was consistent and the orange and chocolate flavours complemented each other brilliantly.
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| Orange Cake and Chocolate Pudding |
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| Orange Cake and Chocolate Pudding |
I don’t know what Arunava is doing wasting his time looking for a mainstream job because he’s got enough talent to open up his own restaurant and serve the world great food. We’re all coaxing him to become a full-time chef. Considering, he already has a blogger friend who has some marketing skills, (wink wink), he can go places.
Comments
No wonder his nick name was "Tava" :)
If/When he opens a restaurant he can name it as "Bhoj"nik :)
@Dev - You have competition from the food blogger! :D