I am currently obsessed with kitchenware and gadgets that make the most of a rather tiny kitchen. Part of this madness has been the lust for the perfect food processor.
Let me start with a confession though – I have never known what to do with a ‘juicer’. I am not particularly found of juice, and while shopping around for a food processor, every one of those focused on making juice out of something or the other. Between discussions about wattage, blades, attachments and jars, I felt utterly lost. I tried a few – but in the end the kind of cooking I do (from grinding masalas, making chutneys to throwing in a piece of turmeric) needed a desi mixer-grinder. So this time when I was in India, I decided to buy one.
As an aside, for my mother, it is a Sumeet or nothing. But a Sumeet was nowhere to be found in the depths of Gurgaon.
Anyhow, while shopping for a food processor, one of the features that is sold to you is the ‘locking system’, which means unless the jar is perfectly aligned and closed, it won’t operate. In the UK it’s usually ‘Your hands are safer this way, because you may turn it on unintentionally – and we all know what blood does to ground coffee beans‘.
The sales pitch in India was along the lines of ‘Your maid can’t ruin this mixer grinder with her chopped off fingers and so it’s a good investment‘. The realities in both countries glare at you. (Also, the sales guy lost a little respect for me I think.)
In search for the right mixer-grinder, I went to Spencer’s, Croma, Big Bazaar and a few other places. All of them had pretty much the same products, but in the end it was the store that asked me questions about how I was going to use, how often I would operate it, if I wanted a juicer, if it was going to be used in India or elsewhere got my business. Not so much because I thought they were honest. Every store has its pet product it pushes – but any interest in how I will use this little beast, makes me feel like the sales rep is recommending after considering.
But the final word? My sister’s. She and her new extended family own one particular brand and make, all bought in the last few years. Done. Decided.
This time, more than ever, and perhaps because I was there on work – I really did spend a lot of time figuring out what stores make me happy, where I like to buy things, and what convinces me. Turns out, I am real easy. Talk to me, make me feel slightly important (even if I am only buying a piddly mixer-grinder) and pretend you’re offering me a discount. See – Easy.
PS – How many bloody jars does one really need in a food processor?
