Blog- All I Miss Is Maa Ke Haath Ka Khaana
I looked sadly at the aaloo-baingan sitting on my plate. The chapati placed neatly besides it. With a small piece of mango pickle in a guest appearance.
"Khana. Thanda ho raha hai," my mom said as she brought another chapati.
"Aapne toh kaha tha meri pasand ki sabzi banaayi hai," I scowled.
"Haan toh yeh hai na kitni acchi sabzi," she said putting the chapati on my plate. "Kha ke dekh kitni tastyhai."
"I hate aloo-baingan," I protested.
"Khale. Jab bahar jaayega na, tab yahi aaloo-baingan yaad aayega," she said ominously.
"Oh realllyyyy! Like that'd ever happen," I scoffed while taking an unwilling bite.
This conversation had happened 8 years ago. But it was playing again in my head as I opened my box of kadahi chicken I'd ordered from the indian restaurant near my place in china.
I stared blankly into the box. Two pieces of chicken floating in at least a liter of oil greeted me.
I unwrapped the chapatis from the aluminium foil. They looked more chewy than a packet of gum.
I sighed. And believe it or not, I genuinely wished I could eat gharka aaloo-baingan and roti instead of this oilfest.
You know, while leaving my hometown, I'd pledged that I'd try every restaurant and cusine china had to offer.
ADVERTISEMENT
And being a man of my words, try them I did. The very idea of eating home cooked food felt like a sin to me and the fact that I could now eat any dish I want, and that too 24x7 while here in China, was kinda liberating.
Well, at least for the first 2 years that is.
Okay, for the first 3 years.
Since I believe in fair play, I gave every restaurant and cuisine a fair chance to woo me. ( including various kind of chinese and other international cuisines)
Every single day. For the next 1,095 days.
And then, the food fatigue started setting in. Slowly but very steadily, I began growing tired of the restaurants' homogenized food. No matter where I ordered it from, the paneer and the chicken tasted the same in almost all Indian Restaurants in China. Chinese & International food was ok but never could satisy my soul.
The rotis and the naans from indian restaurants were chewy as ever. And skimming half a liter of oil everyday from any dish Iordered was becoming way too taxing.
ADVERTISEMENT
I realized that I was super tired of restaurant food when one day, I craved for ghar ki khichdi.
Yes! Of all the things, the humble khichdi. The one dish I hated as much as I loved the show of the same name. The one dish, that used to make matters worse for us every time we used to fall sick.
And yet, one day, here I was, sitting in my room wanting nothing more than some pipping hot khichdi, with dollops of ghee init.
Because trust me, there's nothing that ghee on khichdi can'tset right.
You know how everybody has a comfort food? Mine happens to be ghar ka khanaa now. And even in ghar ka khaana, Icrave for no fancy stuff.
Just simple dal-chawal with a glass of chaanch is more than enough to set things right for me.
"Kyakhaayega?" my mom asks me everytime I gohome now.
"Kuchbhi bana do," I say.
I guess that's what staying away from home for so many years does to you.
It makes you realize that ghar ka 'kuch bhi' is way, way better than the fanciest dish any restaurant has to offer.
As cliched as it may sound, I think the one thing all fancy restaurants miss is the love that goes into home cooked food. The selfless motive our parents have to keep us well fed.
Yes, I still do relish an occasional burger, pizza or get together at any chinese hotpot restaurant, but given a choice, it's ghar ka dal-chawal over a fancy restaurant any day.
Editor's Picks
www.IndiansinChina.com
PleaseScan & Add Official Wechat id of Indians in China to connect with otherfellow Indians living in China thru wechat groups.(Have Special Groupsfor Female only, Business Group, CulturalExchange , Yoga Group, Helping Group, Indian Student Group & MedicalAssistance/Advice from Indian Doctors )