I cook decently because I have been doing it almost daily for over two decades (as long as it's vegetarian, as I became vegetarian before truly starting to cook), but usually not fussy stuff nor with exotic (to me) incredients. It's just not worth the bother, and I still find vague instructions annoying. There should be at least a time range how long you should expect a step to take, along with a description what the results are supposed to be like at the end (e.g. whether it should thicken significantly or not).

Like, if I tried this recipe, which I won't because I'm not going to track down tamarind paste, I wouldn't know what to except from said tamarind paste which I have never cooked with or identified in a restaurant dish, so how am I supposed to know how much simmering it needs before it approximately tastes as it should just by taste testing?