living upto my DNA

Of all the things passed down from one generation to another, food, I believe is the most ever-lasting of the lot. Each family kitchen has a peculiar taste to it, one that is acquired over years and years of preparing the same delicacies, recipes changing hands, everyone adding that a little bit of their individual touch to it, but none that over-rides or drastically changes the underlying taste. Now that would be considered sacrilege.

Being born into a family of food aficionados, over the years, food, I mean good food, holds a special place in our lives. The palate has been exceptionally lucky to have tasted the best of so many different cuisines and tastes. Food, is just not meant to satiate hunger. It is meant to enthrall the taste buds, the senses and eventually touch your soul. As the saying goes, pet bhi bhare, aur dil bhi.

Sunday lunches in most homes are when the special delicacies are brought to the table. And being born into a Sindhi family, amidst every other lip smacking delicacy Sindhi cuisine has to offer, that special place on the Sunday afternoon lunch table unarguably has to go to the absolutely one of its kind tamaate besan ji kadhi - the tomato besan kadhi. Add steaming white rice, crisp fried aalo took and sweet boondhi to the mix - and that is as close to culinary Nirvana as you can get. And I've been very fortunate to have attained such salvation almost every second Sunday at home. Home! Those really were the days :)

As I was picking my fortnightly groceries at the supermarket the other day, the red ripe tomatoes caught my fancy. Though they were not on my list, I still carefully started picking the best of the lot. And from absolutely no where, I uttered to my friend, "yaar is Sunday kadhi banaate hain" - to which he suspiciously arched his eyebrows, like he usually does and replied, "uske liye itne tamaatar kyon chahiye?"

Aah, the uninitiated, I thought. Thinks that kadhi is perhaps just of the besan or dahi kadhi variety.

"Tune Sindhi tamaatar kadhi nahin khaayi kabhi kya?"

"Tamaatar ki kadhi banti hai??"

And I knew it. The time had come. As if the Divine was almost hand-holding me to take the next step in my cooking escapades. The besan tamaatar ji kadhi was irresistibly calling out to me.

As much as I am a fan of experimental cooking, throwing in masalas which don't 'belong' to a particular dish, changing the consistency of the gravy and what have you, there are some things that you just don't tamper with. Especially if it is the most revered item from your cuisine and you're trying it for the first time :)

So after confirming the recipe from Maa thrice this morning over web chat and actually typing every little detail into a hurriedly put together text file on my desktop, I was ready.

And little did I know that Maa's blessing, tastes and jaado would actually fly all the way from Bombay and sneak into the kadhi steaming in my kitchen. When I scaringly lifted the lid after letting it simmer for 20-25 minutes, the fragrance and taste that hit my nostrils almost transported me back to Bombay. Its been almost a year since I've been home and here I was relishing the khusbhoo of tamaatar kadhi after such a long time. That too, in my kitchen!!! Wohoooooo. My joy knew no bounds. I was like a 5 year old kid, jumping around in the kitchen.



And when I hesitatingly took that first sip and bit into a moist piece of bhindi, I was almost in tears. It had turned out better than my wildest imagination.

A few years back, cooking by myself, for myself, was almost an unthinkable prospect. And here, I was making tamaatar kadhi of all things and it had turned out lipsmackingly fantastic. Life, I tell you, doesn't ever cease to surprise :)

And my friend who had come over to dinner and had helped me along the way, was spellbound too. Watching him relish every morsel only added to the fantastic experience.

I called Maa as I was at the dining table. I just had to share the moment with her. And her voice told me how proud she was, hearing me rave about my first kadhi experience.



The evening of Saturday, Jan 10, 2009 eventually turned out to be when my cooking came of age and my life in the kitchen turned another corner. It would never be the same again. And the fact that it was just the right time for Sunday lunch to be served back at home is just not a mere coincidence. Some things, as I said, are just not meant to be tampered with :)

Maa, I miss you all the more today :)