Midnight Masala!

 Hi everybody! This will be my cooking blog which is something I'd like to keep for easy access of all the recipes that I have tried so far in my teenie meenie kitchen in Bangalore. Update: In April 2012, I have moved to Budd Lake, New Jersey. Its also for men who are learning to cook like my husband or even new spinsters starting to cook on their own, like my sister.

My taste in food is not set to a particular cuisine. Although I'm an Indian, I lived my entire childhood in Saudi Arabia, so my tastes are a mix of Indian, Middle-Eastern, Lebanese, Mediterranean, European and American. I also like Mexican and Chinese food. I just love trying something new and different.

So disclaimers first. Most of  the recipes are not my own. I get them through nerve racking research on the internet in quest of the most wonderful tastes that can also be cooked easily in my kitchen. So wherever possible, I will try to add credit to those wonderful cooks out there who keep me alive as I dont go hungry during the day because of them. :) I dont want to get into the nasty mess of recipe plagiarism which is very common these days some of which end in expensive lawsuits! Also I don't simply copy paste recipes from those sites and just make a duplicate. If  I post a recipe here, its because I have tried and tested it in my kitchen. I would add my own notes to it or make slight changes.

In some recipes I may add a twist of my own and in some, I may omit an ingredient either for the lack of it in my kitchen or my dislike for its flavour (which is rarely the case :P) These I would add as an extra note (My Note :))
Some of course are either mine or my mom's which I would usually mention in the recipe.
So why did I choose a name like latenightcook for my blog??
Well thats because I literally am a late night cook thanks to my unusual shift at work for which I leave home at 12.30pm and come back at 11.30pm. After a bit of rest, a long chat much to the annoyance of my hungry boyfriend (Update: now husband), I finally start cooking at... no prizes for guessing.. midnight!! So this is a name coined by my boyfriend as the smell of strong indian spices being fried in oil leaves us both coughing, and he coined this phrase during one of those moments. It used to be a very spicy show on sun tv (a tamil channel) that used to run late at night that has been banned now for songs from b grade movies.. lol! So when I wanted to start this blog, I had initially thought of naming it midnight masala but I had rightfully guessed that the name would have already been taken by some sick pervert to promote his voyeuristic pleasures.
Now I bet all you naughty people out there did take a peek at that disgusting blog after my mentioning it. Grrrr... So Late Night Cook it is!!
Now lets start this lip smacking delectable blog going!
Update: I am no longer a midnight cook. After I have moved to the United States, I am finally leading a normal life with a 9 to 5 job. That means, I can cook in the evenings, and have dinner (and all 3 meals) at a normal time just like the rest of the world. :)