A CULINARY LOVE AFFAIR – SAI KIRAN, STORYTELLER
A hot afternoon. As I was trying my best to hold back the sleep, I noticed that the speed of the ceiling fan, placed directly above our class desk, got slower and eventually came to rest. I immediately turned my sight to the switchboard only to see that the fan’s switch was still in ON position. The fact then dawned on me that it was a power outage. I cursed. Some laughed. Manasa cracked a joke under her breath. A few others joined with the laughter. Shirley ma’am turned around, saw the laughter, and my face for some reason. Now, sometimes things happen to people for no apparent reason. She vented out her entire classroom worth of anger at my face and made me stand for the rest of the lecture. I remember I was teary-eyed and that the next hour was lunch. Still teary-eyed, I reluctantly opened the lunchbox to find ‘mor kuzhambu’ mixed with rice. The yellow coloured froth in the sides was a delight to see and some of it was smudged underneath the lid as well. I couldn’t resist the temptation and had a spoonful of it. The ground coconut and the beaten curd gives this dish a graceful consistency. The white pumpkin was cooked perfectly and the mustard seeds were beautifully tempered and sprinkled throughout the dish. As I was lost in the world of textures,
