My Journey from Flop Pathari to Family Favourite Dishes

cooking

My first cooking experience is still very fresh in my memory.

I decided to make പത്തരി (pathari). I don’t know what I was thinking that day—confidence maybe, or pure innocence. The result? Total flop. Absolute disaster. 😄

My mom didn’t scold me. She did something much more memorable.

She showcased that pathari for one full week. Whoever came to our house—relatives, neighbours, friends—she proudly showed them my first cooking attempt. At that time, I felt embarrassed. Today, when I think about it, I smile. That was my first lesson in cooking: failure is part of the process.

Cooking Away from Home: Gujarat Days

Later, when I got a job in Gujarat, cooking became a necessity, not a hobby. We were eight friends, all living together, all first-time cooks. No one was an expert. No one was even “average”.

One day, we decided to cook rice. Simple, right?

Wrong.

The rice was overboiled, mashed, and watery. But we ate it together, laughed about it, and enjoyed every bite. Hunger makes everything taste better, and friendship makes every mistake beautiful.

That phase taught me something important: cooking is not about perfection. It’s about survival, sharing, and togetherness.

Saudi Arabia: Where Cooking Became a Skill

When I started working in Saudi Arabia, cooking slowly became a proper skill. From experiments to experience, from mistakes to confidence, I learned step by step.

Today, I can proudly say:

I can cook well. And I can cook delicious food.

But more than cooking, I love serving food to people.

Because people like food. Food connects hearts.

Food, Love, and People I Care About

Everyone around me has their favourites:

My friends love my crab roast 🦀

My parents love my biriyani ❤️

My wife loves everything I cook

She’s a little lazy when it comes to cooking 😄

So when I cook, life becomes easy for her. And honestly, I enjoy it.

But I strongly believe one thing:

Cooking is not only for women.

We all get hungry.

We all need to survive.

So we all must cook and eat.

Flops Still Happen—and That’s Okay

Even now, sometimes cooking flops.

Just two days ago, I tried making a pickle using:

Bitter gourd

Mango

Beetroot

Salad cucumber

The taste?

Exactly like pulimuttayi from school days—sweet, sour, confusing. 😅

My wife tasted one spoon…

…and threw the whole thing into the garbage without a second thought.

Was I angry? No.

Because cooking is experiment and experience. Every failure teaches something.

What I Really Want to Say

Cooking is not about gender.

Cooking is not about talent.

Cooking is about trying.

You will fail.

You will laugh.

You will improve.

And one day, someone will say,

“I like your cooking.”

That feeling is priceless.

So what I want to say is simple:

Everybody must cook.

Everybody can cook.

Not to impress others—

but to live, to love, and to share happiness through food.