Its 13th september today and I am sitting in my college comp centre ,writing this blog in celebration of my mom's birthday,one of the many essential incidents that forecasted my arrival into this world.And this blog is devoted to the gun-gaan of the most fascinating and alluring super duper chef that my taste buds have encountered in my prolific professional life of 16 years (around) as her main patron and taster.
This is the first birthday(of a family member) that our new microwave is spending at our home and man , will he be disappointed at the state of affairs there.Birthdays ,and any occasion for celebration in general is (by tradition) just another excuse for all of us binging on a particularly delicious preparation that mummy makes for her three stuffed children.Technically only two are her kids(me and my sister); the third is supposed to be her husband but he seems to be as malleable as any other kid with a BIG apetite in mom's hands if you ask me!Be it any occasion (or better still) no occasion at all,there is nothing more gratifying for me than to relax in my family huddle(yes just like the indian team) adn feast on a scrumptious meal of endless delicacies. And more fun than that is actually helping Her around in the kitchen when a singularly huge army of guests descends on our home to taste the elixirs of heavenly delights that She is so adept at preparing.And the joy that is on her face,when she is doing what she does best (beside bringing up her children, meddling in shares,dabbling in serious oil paintings, teaching kids, ...god there are so many thing s she does best but due to paucity of space ,in this monologue i will stick to her culinary skills,the rest wiill be handled in length in space and time they deserve) ,when she is in her Kitchen with her famous karahi(comes in 18 sizes from a teeny weeny one to a huge 3 feet hemispheres) has to be seen to be believed.Its like a godliness has descedned onto her subconsious,her skilled hands throwing incalculable chemicals at an incalculable rate in deeply secretive proportions into the melting pot that is simmering on the workstation. And now behold! for another artistic masterpeice is served on the table ,to be feasted upon ,appreciated and loved .
Though folklore associated with her creations abound in plenty ,some dishes .. dished out by Her have really vreated history,they stand out as legends,some even now being stacked up on the table(Humanity's place of worship) quite frequently,othes,more dainty and fragile ,though no less exquisite have faded out from general memory(Do no worry, fanatic connoisseurs like me still keep an eye on these big Bangs that shook My world and it is my responsibility on behalf of Her worshippers to make sure that She doesnt forget what She believes were Her petty outpourings in a time long lost.....at least my taste buds and my specially equipped aroma- detecting cells do have had on them lasting imprint from such explosions of intense imagination).Since it is hard to objectively judge Her dishes(just like one doesnt judge God's best creations) and also bcoz it is necessary for a judge to say this so as not to ruffle too many feathers (of many a chicken that were slain in this quest),the order in which the mouth watering treats that appear below are in a random order as they come in my memory.
The first zephyr to strike my nasal passage as i sit here in this stupid place is the smoked Chicken.A complex preparation that involves quite a bit of cooperation from daddy involves ;you guessed it smoking raw chicken peices ;marinated and soaked in to a mixture of fresh yoghurt ,umpteen spices and chemical x the await their turn on the stove before being cooked to tenderness over an open fire under the scrutinizing gaze of daddy (who as i mentioned earlier is an expert in turning over peices and painting them over with the spicy mix with the aid of a brush(for god's sake a brush!!) so as to ensure that the poor bird comes out evenly tasty and ambrosial.This could be eaten as such but the real taste arises when this burnt mess is cooked in a thick sizzling gravy that is as special is the marinating mix.The whole effect is to have a dish that has an aroma that smells so very inviting .The taste when you bite into one of the juicy peices (it is so excruciatingly painful for me to write abt this here,the keyboard is wet with my drooling:D) envelops your palate like a cool wind in the sahara.the whiff of smoke strengthens the whole effect and gives you a pleasure that you will find hard to forget it all your life.
