of aaji, mamas and mamis

Since childhood we have had this tradition of meeting both sides of the family at least once an year. With baba's side all being pretty elderly and now family sizes growing with cousins getting married, and everyone dispersing and settling down, the meets are now normally confined to big family functions like weddings. Otherwise normally it used to be summers. With aai's side everyone being relatively younger and 2 of my mama's residing in the same house, the meets happen often. But with us (me and brother) growing up and moving away for education and jobs, for us the meets happen around Diwali. So this post is basically about the mother's side and the meets. The father's side and their stories for sometime later.
[Sometimes I have this compulsive need to be fair. I am pretty sure no one would have cared if the stories from father's side come or not! :D]


Ok one more fact, both sides of family are INTO food. They love cooking and indulging in the same.


So when my mama (mom's brother) saw me after more than an year, he was awed that how I am surviving by eating air - literal translation for hawa khana (remember I am infamously skinny). There are really few people with whom I don't really mind the banter on weight issues and who don't take things personally. So we immediately made plans to feed me. It started with the doodhwala, who brought us the most delicious homemade malaai wala dahi (curds). Apparently this guy has his own cow-farm and gets such delicacies on a regular basis. No wonder people go ga-ga about small towns and the fringe benefits.
I also ate with my mama in the same thali (plate) after ages! Normally I do have a habit of sharing my plate with baba at home, sometimes aai, little cousins who normally throw tantrums but eat well when sharing with an elder taai (sister), Rinku during hostel days and also when I recently visited her. It felt so wonderful to not start at the tv and eat but have a conversation with mami (mama's wife) pampering over us by serving piping hot chapatis and aaji (mom's mother) fussing over how I should eat this and then that. To tell the truth I couldn't take so much attention on a daily basis but it felt blissful during these 2 days!! :-)


We decided to make crab curry in the evening, but owing to my novice in cooking crabs, it was decided that we buy the crabs and get the curry done from someone. Now isn't this the most amazing way of cooking! :D
It was my second time eating crabs. Boy! it was such a hard work. We all were having dinner for like 1.5 hours! It seemed never ending. But crabs are the tastiest non-veg food ever! Worth all the efforts.

I feel kind of foolish not to have take a pic of the original one. *courtesy - google

But the highlight of the trip was the barbequed chicken curry that we made today! Shaukeen that my mamas are, they have a chullah (a movable one unlike in the pic) in the first story backyard. In their old house they had a permanent one and I can tell you stories about how we cousins used to fight over who should fire it and who should sit by it or help aajoba roast eggplants/papad. The connoisseurs of Indian food can appreciate the importance of the chullah and the taste food cooked on it gets.And even if you haven't eaten anything cooked on it I can guarantee you that its very different and super tasty! So our grand preparations started with getting the masala (blend of spices) right! We decided to go all rustic and be minimalistic with stuff and depend on the chullah's magical cooking for the taste! So we used all basic spices like daalchini, black pepper, badi ilaaychi, cloves first roasted with onions, dhaniya and dried coconut and then ground in a coarse paste. Firing the chullah and getting the right flame was the toughest task. Took us 15 minutes to make sure the flame was getting evenly spread and was not too smoky. Aai also helped us in coating a layer of wet soil over the cooking pan to make sure it does not burn. We roasted the masala in sufficient oil for almost 30-45 minutes, with a sprinkle of water from time to time (to make sure the masala did not burn or stick to the pan). Then the chicken was added and we let it cook for another 30-35 minutes, with occasional mixing and stirring. Then copious amount of water was added to get the not too thick gravy. Getting that consistency right is proof that how close one gets to the minimal and rustic theme. End results were super delicious! All worth the hard work. (again have no pics to share :-/)


And thus my hog-till-you-get-tired weekend came to an end. I have realized eating great food is *happiness*. And if you have the most jolly, fun, sarcastic company then the ride just gets better!


~nightflier