Raipurites cook up a storm

Raipur is all about food and after gorging on spicy delicacies from the roadside eateries, youngsters are now getting inclined towards trying their hands at cooking. Plus, it’s not just the girls but even Raipur’s boys are making a beeline to master the art of cooking. These youngsters have their reasons to learn to cook and are taking help from their mothers and are even resorting to cooking classes.
Participating in cooking competitions
The advent of cooking-based reality shows and lucrative salaries for professional chefs has had a share in generating buzz around cooking.Anita Shah, who wants to win a cooking competition, says, “I have inherited some basic cooking skills from my mother and after watching some popular cooking competitions on television, I wanted to participate and win those. But to win such competitions, one should know how to prepare every kind of cuisine and be well versed in everything related to cooking. So, I am taking help from a famous cooking expert of the city. I hope my hard work pays off.”
A new hobby
Raipurites have added a new leisure to the list of the leisure activities — cooking. According to some, cooking is all about trying new things. Tanuj Chawla, a pharmacy student, says, “I have seen my mom preparing delicious dishes and I tried my hands at making one such dish with the help of my mom once. It was a fun activity. Since that day, cooking has become one of my favourite pass-time activities. I try new dishes by taking help from mom and recipe books.”
Marriage on the cards? Learn to cook
Raipur girls lead the pack in academics, sports and many other fields. So, even when it comes to impressing in-laws, they don’t want to miss a chance. Just in case a future mom-in-law asks something cooking-related, Raipurites ladies have the answers ready. Sarika Sharma, a to-be-bride, says, “To impress my future in-laws, I started learning the nuances of cooking from my mother a few months ago and am a good cook now.”
Cooking skills to the rescue abroad
With the increasing number of youngsters going abroad for studies or work, learning cooking is in high demand. Manas Maheshwari, pursuing a Masters degree from the US, says, “I had no idea about cooking, but after I decided to go abroad for my higher education, it became a necessity to learn cooking. I joined a cookery class for two months. I am glad I learnt to cook as after reaching there I couldn’t find anything that suited my taste.”
It’s the same story for people moving out of Raipur, to other cities. Mehak Kumari, a professional based in Chennai, says, “I was scared of going to Chennai because of the limited food options. As soon as I was informed that my posting would be at Chennai, I joined a cooking class. Although I am still a rookie, I can prepare food that goes with my North Indian tastes.”
Giving in to demands
Giving in to unusual demands from their girlfriends, boys from the city too, have taken to cooking. While some have been asked explicitly by their significant others to do so, others are cooking by themselves to impress them.
Pritesh Agrawal, a young professional, says, “My girlfriend and I work in the same organisation and are soon getting married. She agreed to marry me on the condition that after marriage she would not leave her job. We share each other’s’ work at home. So, I started learning to cook.”
Asif Ali, a management student, says, “Gone are days when we used to say that the way to reach to a man’s heart is through his stomach. The idiom has turned other way round and now to impress a woman, you need to make her stomach happy first. On my girlfriend’s birthday, I baked a cake for her and seeing her happiness, I have decided to learn some more dishes to impress her
further.”
Cooking is a must learn
Some like Purvi Goyal, a chartered accountant, have started learning cooking in order to combat crisis situations. Purvi says, “Although, I do not like cooking, I believe that everyone should know basic cooking. There can be situations when knowing cooking can come to your rescue.”
Rise in cooking class attendance
The rise in the trend of cooking has been beneficiary for cooking experts of the city. Sapna Singh, a cooking expert, says, “Up to a few years ago, the only people who would want to learn cooking were girls about to get married. Now, I get many inquiries from boys who want to learn the art of cooking for various reasons.”