The lemony lime faded though as you move closer, into the house and towards the kitchen. Now the family we were visiting was Punjabi (my favourite kind of people) and the air was filled with a delicious onion-garlic-with-fresh-desi-ghee aroma. Chole!!?? However, before one could get over that excitement another enticing smell gripped your nostrils. I knew it the moment it came my way- alu ke parathe!! Thick and gloriously golden they were hot off the pan and a dollop of the freshest white butter was melting proudly on the surface..it almost seemed to tell the story of how it had fulfilled its purpose- that of making this wondrous potato creation even more wondrous. You see the alu paratha is theobroma- food of the gods..albeit, gods who are very fond of punjabi food. It’s amazingly simple in theory yet requires great skill to create correctly. Hot freshly mashed boiled potato with the pungency of ginger, chilli and ajwain combined with the tang of amchur and the freshness of crunchy coriander-all mixed together and carefully filled between 2 layers of wheat dough and cooked to golden perfection..serve it hot off the pan with a smattering of cold white butter or a bowl of chilled curds or even a spicy carrot and lemon pickle-better still with the spicy salt my friend would bring every time he went back home..GOOD !!
The house was really quite nice.. Large rooms with lots of space to grow up in.. But very frankly one walk into the kitchen and I was a gonner..I do remember the walls adorned with medals of gallantry and proud men with spectacular moustaches.. But then like I mentioned.. Alu parathas and chole.. Very distracted.. I must be excused. :)
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