I love to meal plan.
I don't love all things that come with having a cook in Delhi.
The last year we were in Ohio, I did a regular meal plan. I pared down the rigors of cooking for a family of 5 and the horrors of the grocery shopping that went along with it and got organized. Right before we skipped town, friends participated in Dinner, Delivered (whereby we each cooked once a week, for three other families. Three other days that week, THEY would for US!).
When I arrived here, I thought "oooh, how quaint that I'll no longer have to worry about that and can MAYBE ... just MAYBE enjoy my dinner and eat at the same time as my family!"
The latter portion of that statement happens to be true. What no one can really explain to you, prior to arriving, is that it's not all glitz and glamour.
Take your typical Shepherd's Pie. I can make this in my sleep. One morning, during my daily rundown with the cook of her day's chores, I whipped out my cookbook and pointed to the recipe for Shepherds Pie.
"Oh" she says "where will we get beef bullion cubes?"
Nonchalantly, I say "No worries, I'll pick some up at the market when I go out."
(never mind you that I soon found out that beef bullion cubes are impossible to find ... at least in my experience. Vegetable cubes? NO problem. Chicken cubes? NO problem. Beef cubes? NADA. Note to self :: add to the list of things Husb brings back next from the United States!)
She replies, "And ma'am, the beef?"
"Hmmmmmmm," I say (this was before I discovered 'the meat man' that brings "beef" [that tastes a whole lot more like buffalo] so of course I wasn't prepared) ... "since we've had chicken for the last 9 meals straight, maybe we'll just make it a vegetarian version?"
To which she responds, "No ma'am, I'll use mutton"
YUCK. Sorry, no lamb for this family.
Back to the recipe.
"So Rosy ... we need corn and carrots and green peppers and ...."
"Ma'am ... green peppers?"
"Yes, green peppers"
"But you don't like spicy?"
"Oh" (with a little giggle) "green peppers aren't spicy"
"So not chili peppers? Can you show me green peppers?"
So off I trot to get my iPhone and google 'image of green pepper' to which she exclaims "OH ... ma'am, that is capsicum or shimla mirch"
"Cool!" I respond and then return to the recipe. "So, we'll need corn"
"Ma'am ... you will not like the corn here. It is chewy and only good over the coals"
Deep breathing at this point as we've now been at this for 20 minutes.
"Rosy, let's just try the corn and see how it is? Anyway ...... we also need celery and worcestershire sauce"
"Ma'am ... the celery is not in season now. It is limp and not good for this family."
"Ok that is no problem. Let's just use the corn, carrots, capsicum and .... um ... peas! Let's use PEAS!"
"But ma'am, there is not enough time to sterilize the peas AND shell them."
"FINE, forget the peas. Please get capsicum, corn, worcestershire sauce ...."
She interrupts to say "what does that sauce look like?"
Major internal battles going on at this point. I want to scrap the entire project and instead order Dominos.
We forge ahead and make it through the end of the recipe ... I write out the condensed version of the shopping list and present it to Rosy, along with Rs. 200 (the equivalent of $4.29) and say "we'll be ready to eat dinner at 6:00"
To which she responds "Ma'am, I'll need a driver for the market. I do not know what markets are nearby."
"Rosy, I don't have a driver that you can use today ... you'll have to take an auto rickshaw or just walk ... there is Indira and Moti Bagh markets nearby?"
I'll spare you the rest of the details. Just know this ... we ate Shepherd's Pie (Delhi Style) that night. Or rather, we took a bite or two ... chose to simply scoop and devour the yummy mashed potatoes and packaged the rest up for the gardener's family.
The corn was indeed chewy, the worcestershire sauce never made it into the recipe because one bottle was priced at Rs. 920 (gulp ... $19.74), and her attempt at making "beef broth" produced 3 inches of liquid at the bottom of the pan.
So I can hear you say ... oh suck it up Naomi.
It can't be that bad ... and you're right. Most days we uneventfully end up with dinner on our table, and full bellies with very little effort from me.
I have control issues and have a hard time giving up the shopping/market responsibility. I have a difficult time handing someone the responsibility to nourish my family when I can't touch the produce and see that it's fresh. When I can't look at the expiration date on the can, I get nervous.
I also am not used to the required 20-40 minutes of time it takes to get my intentions for that night's dinner across in the mornings when I've just started my two hours of peace and quiet without the kids at home. I also am not a gal who tends to care much for anyone challenging me on things such as "but ma'am, your children need to eat more spicy food. It is good for them."
The perfect scenario would be to scrap my hopes for continuing our 'western food' menu and instead just feed the kiddos typical indian fare. The reality of this though is that I will continue to push forward to a possible resolve, and in an attempt to appease Rosy, we will "order" indian food once a week - hold the spice.
UPDATE :: As of the posting of this, we are again cook-less ... after two Rosys. For different reasons, and the same reasons all at the same time, they just didn't work out. Want to see what we eat for dinner when we are Rosy-less?
