Marriage is such a transitional phase for a girl ! It is like a rebirth -- as a grown up into a new home,new environment,new people,new beliefs,rules,rituals and a room that scares you the most,haunted and ruled by mother-in-law -The kitchen ! ....and you feel like a scapegoat ,ready to be butchered by the home minister,the M-I-L at any point of time especially if you don't no the A,B,C of cooking ...Well,that was me ...A cooking illiterate !! ...Of all the good things my parents gifted me,the one thing I really treasured the most was a diary and papers filled with cooking terms and conditions and recipes to save my back during any cooking emergency...
Since I belong to that creed of women ,old fashioned beliefs (yet funky ),I wanted and would always want to be a good wife,good daughter-in-law first and the foremost for sure (I try lol)..So,to become one ,I rephrased that a way to man's and his mom's heart is through the humble kitchen - the cooking,the food-is-apt-to-be-swallowed kinda...So,it was a struggle yet a learning phase for me ..However,I was not an elaborate cook may be initially but Thank God and Thank mom for nagging me every now and then to learn the basics at least....Needless to say, I was a Jhansi-ki-rani in the kitchen -fighting my fears and winning the daily cooking challenges...
However,,by God's esteeeemed grace, after a few months,we left India for good and landed in US...Yeah You are right ...What a relief !! ...Now you have a kitchen and you can make anything,however you want ,whatever you want and no one- expert ,will be supervising or judging you...Luckily,even though my hubby is a good cook by himself,he is very forgiving,adjusting and encouraging and well,by God's grace and his grace and support I became nothing less than a cooking scientist and experimented until I became good,praised by him and our friends..even though my mom is still my biggest critic .
So,yeah my culinary domain was totally under control ...But you know what,sometimes,happiness also takes a break and sends a setback as a replacement for a small or long duration...So,I was facing a major setback in my culinary adda/domain ...Guess what ,grocery stores in US woke up my idle brain ,I felt blood flushing through out every neurons I've inside ,I guess even new cells regenerated...How ?
Well,did you know a lot of vegetables are called differently here in US and a lot of them were kinda new to me that I never saw in India or may be since I was brought up in a small city ,I never saw them as long as I can remember .....
I felt like even plants were challenging my general knowledge ......Wanna know the vegetables or edible items that made my brain,tummy,kitchen,cooking,food idle to ideal...Here are they :
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This edible thing in American English =This edible thing in Indian/British English----Their Purpose
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- Eggplant / Aubergine = Brinjal - A vegetable in purple color/light violet color/green color (small ones)/white in color which I confirmed don't lay eggs...
- Okra = Lady'sfinger - A vegetable that has got nothing to do with a lady's finger and in US stores (Non-Indian),Lady'sfinger means elongated oval shaped sugar cookies.
- Sweet Onion/Red Onion/Yellow Onion/White onions = Just Onion ! - A vegetable that can make you cry for no reason..In U.S., there are all those varieties with different taste and texture but in India,we call it simply onions regardless and red and yellow onions are the staple ones at every home.
- Pearl Onions = In India,it can be confused as shallots as both are mini types of onions and taste may not be that different even though their appearance are..
- Chilli pepper = Chillies - Red chillies,green chillies etc etc..They don't have any qualities to chill you though...
- Cilantro leaves = Coriander leaves - Leaves used for garnishing or tempering especially and making chutneys or drinks...
- Yogurt = Curd - In USA,there are many flavored and low fat and fat free yogurts as well...and curd in US may be assumed as cheese in fact...
- Buttermilk in US refers to "cultured milk" which has got nothing to do with the butter and is used exclusively to give flavor,body and as a leavening agent while baking and it is quite simple to make by adding little vinegar or lemon juice to homogenized,pasteurized milk and after a few minutes -voila,buttermilk is ready to use. However,in India,it is a quite popular "summer special dairy drink" made by simply adding cold water to the curd/yogurt and lightly churned and then seasoned simply with salt or spiced up with some cumin seeds,cilantro leaves/mint leaves and other variations likewise . It is more like a digestive drink or a summer cooler .
- Pickle - In India is made with or without any brine (salty water solution) and especially with lots of spices,oil and vinegar but in US, they are vegetables like Cucumbers,Dills,Carrots,Jalapenos,Onions etc soaked in brine and vinegar and left for a while for fermentation.
- Peanuts = Groundnuts - The only nut that grows underground and is definitely bigger than a size of a pea and don't get confuse by the pronunciation as it doesn't pee of course...:P
- Beets = Beetroots - The roots that won't beat you and it has got nothing to do with bee-s too...So many root vegetables are there,one among them is the one that can leave beautiful dark pinkish color and is damn nutritious...
- Greens = Vegetables especially leafy ones - since they are mostly green in color ...Majority wins!...Go green !
- Snap Beans /String beans = Green beans , yeah the beans with a string on each sides ,that once removed can be snapped into many pieces for Indian style of cooking.In US,the beans are just steamed completely to eat ,most of the time ..
- Bell Peppers = Capsicum , yeah they do like closed bells or caps ...Big chilies would have been perfect - what say?
- Cookies = Biscuits ,whether it is Britannia ,Monaco or Milano ,they are biscuits in India Whereas in USA,biscuits means a small scone shaped quick bread or hard bun.
- Crackers = Thin Salt Biscuits or plain biscuits that don't compete with tea/coffee as to who is more sweeter...
- Candy = Chocolate/Toffee - In India,anything that are not chocolate bar or Bubble gum/Chewing gum are chocolates or toffees but in US,Toffees are usually a candy made up caramelizing sugar or molasses along with butter and almonds and then broken into chunks.
- Chocolate = Toffees or chocolate bars like Dairy milk,KitKat etc
- Creamer is not equal to but kinda equivalent to the milk powder in India ,as the creamer is used in place of milk or cream while making coffee which doesn't have any milk in it .In US,they prefer,Half and half which is half creamer and half milk .
- Garbanzos = chickpeas ,this lentil chick pees....:0)..(whoops..eh-choose me !):|
- Mung Beans = Mung Dals - A dal/lentil that also falls under beans category and vice versa.
- Snap Peas = Green Peas ,they snap and then pee ..(Ohh my..bad again...X-qse me !) ,peas in a pod are quite healthy....
- Sweet Corn = Maize/Corn , how corn-y ! ...very healthy...
- Green Onion/Scallion = Spring Onions - Small onion bulbs with looong leaves used for garnishing especially...
- Zucchini = Courgette - A kind of summer squash , I always thought was a lady with an exotic name....
These are a few major ones (for me), I can remember as of now,I may keep on updating it from time to time and if someone wants to add something or if I am wrong somewhere ,do mail me/let me know.
You will be wondering if I know all these, why the heckz I am writing it here.Well,I hope it will be helpful to newcomers in US who won't be in a situation playing dumb charades at any US grocery stores like I did and even if you are not in US,I bet it will be good to know right . Ohh and my corny descriptions ?..as always neva mind..Weirdness in me - Oh my -habits die hard!:| ..like all those different names...Thanks for your patience though !
S.O.S -I mean See you in Other Sarcastic post..
Keep smiling,
