At my supperclub; Casa Ali, I am channelling my creative energies into experimenting with different tastes and textures. Tears my mum shed, while chopping onions in turn made us kids cry along with her in the small kitchen in Lahore. Many beautiful curries were cooked in that kitchen and even though I don’t remember half of them… the stinging sensation as I chop onions today fondly takes me back all those decades.
Once I had settled in London, I spent a christmas just with my partner at home, our fridge stocked up from what my stipend as a British Council Fellow could afford. We had rented Tampopo, Like water for Chocolate, Babette’s Feast, and The Thief, The Cook, His Wife & Her Lover on VHS. All during the holiday period we cooked, ate while watching films, made love, slept, got up, all hungry and the days blended from one to the other.
Mother’s day is coming up and my Maa is in Bombay with her siblings dodging the London winters. I wanted to pay an homage to her and to all mothers who chopped onions and cooked to make us happy. So, I came up with onion ice cream with crunchy dried rose petals. It will be the special star for the Casa Ali 10th March lunch. Be the first ones to sample it before it starts popping up on the menus regularly. I salivated while taking the photograph and savored every spoonful of it with a big silly grin on my face and no sign of tears!