I go through the week thinking how I’m going to make my Saturdays useful. Sometimes I intend to sign up at the gym/ for driving classes (yes, at 26, I still don’t know how to drive)/ dance lessons. And sometimes I plan to cook – from elaborate Indian curries that Mum makes back home to fancy finger food, right down to that key-lime pie someone at work told me about. That’s usually the plan. Until Friday night.
Then Saturday comes, and this is what it actually is like: Get up in the morning (just about; anytime before 12 counts), make some tea, fry some eggs, check Facebook updates… Around now the sloth sets in, and the rest of the day is spent staring at the laptop screens, watching TV shows or movies. The cooking is restricted almost always to Maggi.
On a rare Saturday a few weeks back, however, gripped by a sudden desire to actually get away from the laptop, and to cook, I started rummaging for ingredients. The surprised refrigerator refused to comply, and all I found was some bread and Amul butter. Garlic? Is there any garlic? Yes.
No, it’s nothing elaborate. And yes, even a child can make garlic bread. But at 4pm on that Saturday, it was the most satisfying thing I could have asked for.
Ingredients:
-Butter (Unsalted works better, but if Amul is all you have in the fridge, it will do)
-Bread (A baguette, ideally. I only had generic sliced bread)
-Garlic. 2-4 large cloves
-Parsley (I didn’t have any, so used some oregano)
Toast the garlic slightly over a flame to soften it. Then smash and mince and allow it to cool (If it’s not cool, it will melt the butter). Mix it then with a generous quantity of butter and sprinkle the parsley or oregano over it. Place on a slightly greased microwave tray and bake for about 10 minutes at medium-hot (375 degrees) till it turns golden brown. That’s it.
It’s as easy as it gets, and tastes better than what the pizza guy delivers.
