A Loving Mother, Pyaaz Ke Patton Ki Sabzi(yuck) and a Sinister Plot! 

I wasn’t sure how to start this so I am just going to jump right in. I HATE hare pyaz ke patton ki sabzi. In English – the sabzi made from leaves of the spring onion. Now since childhood, in my house, refusing to eat a vegetable was not an option. The protocol was, you eat what’s been put in front of you or you go to bed hungry( the second option I think was just for the sake of it, because I don’t remember if we were ever allowed to do that either). Of all the vegetables in this world there was just one that I hated and it was hare pyaaz ke patton ki sabzi. I can eat it if mixed with besan or in fried rice but make it with just aloo and rest assured there will be vomiting. 

After a long time I recently came back home. My dad decided to do his favourite thing – go vegetable/fruit shopping. I have no idea why would this be such a pleasurable activity for him but it is and since it saves me the trouble, I am all for it and ‘vehemently’ support it! 

Now the problem: my dad decided to go vegetable shopping since his favourite daughter was home (my other siblings might disagree with this qualification but hey, my story, my rules!) and brought home buckets of (shudder) spring onions with the green leaves!! And as soon as my mom saw it, she pounced on it and decided to make them for dinner that very day. 

Cue the tantrum ! (Obviously from me incase that wasn’t clear.)

My mom is an amazing cook and her love language is food. Even at 70+ years of age and with a full time maid/cook, she still often browses YouTube for potential new dishes that she can cook for my dad and anyone else visiting her home. And while I LOVE her cooking – spring onions leaves are just something I cannot make peace with. 

Also in my defence, I thought my ‘tantrum’ would work and was logical since I am no longer a kid but a grown woman of 39. (Oh the irony!). After having to eat this vile vegetable my entire childhood, I was 100% sure NOW, me being an adult and all, I can put my foot down and say NO and get my way. 

Silly me, what fantasy world I live in !! 

News Flash– Apparently you NEVER EVER stop being a kid to your parents especially if you are the youngest. Who would have thunk it!

But there is hope! Because with age comes more grace, love and higher ability to make compromise. Obviously none of that applies to me because remember- I am still a kid, but my mom being her divine and graceful self, decided to meet me halfway which basically translated to her immediately going to Youtube to make a new dish using those leaves which could be more to my liking. 

Did I mention, I love my mom? 

Now the plot twist. After realising I am not going to get my way, I started hatching a sinister plan, complete with the Lalita Pawar evil smile and the eyebrow raise. See my dad had also brought some really green and beautiful looking spinach, which I love! (Did I mention, I love my dad?) 

As soon as I saw the spinach, I ran into the kitchen and made a delicious and super healthy spinach and pineapple smoothie and some awesome spinach and pine nuts tossed salad.… JUST Kidding !! Can’t believe you fell for that. 🙂 

I did what any reasonable person would do and had spinach kneaded into a dough to make, wait for it………palak ki poori! You know – the OTHER “healthy” palak dish. 

So back to the evil plot, Lalita Pawar style- my plan was to make hot poori’s for mom and dad when they sit down for dinner. Obvious brownie points for cooking for my parents as the cook would be long gone by then and hopefully a delicious distraction to prevent my mom from understanding my plan. Then I would feign not being very hungry when my parents eat and once they are done with dinner, I will sit down to eat my hot palak ki poori with aam ka achar. Yummmm! 

As you can see, I obviously have mastered the art of “adulting”! 

Anyway back to the story. Being the dummy that I am – I severely underestimated my mother’s cooking skills and the power of Youtube. Once she was done making the “Spring Onion Curry”, I made some poori’s for prasad. After evening pooja was done and bhog has been offered, my mom eagerly walked up to me with the plate with the curry and poori and asked me to taste it. 

Now let me tell you- when your mother, who has spent her time and energy cooking for you even though there is a hired cook in the house and asks you to taste her food with those beautiful, motherly, divine, hopeful eyes, it no longer matters whether it is hare patte ki sabzi or halahal itself, YOU EAT that food! The likes/dislikes, everything flows out the window.

With trepidation I tore the poori and dipped it generously in the curry as mom was watching, and put it in my mouth, fully prepared to tell the white lie of how good it is complete with the wide eyes wonder and a dazzling smile. Well, I did not have to lie ! It was absolutely delicious!! It was one of the most tasty curry I have eaten in a very long time. Combined the curry with the hot poori, it was just divine.

Cue the shame and the guilt. My mom did not even taste the curry herself before feeding it to me. The Love of a Mother ! Difficult to understand and impossible to reciprocate. I was truly remorseful about my actions and thoughts, and hence was fully determined to make up for it. So as my parents sat down for dinner, with renewed enthusiasm I made poori’s for them and paid extra attention into making them round and fluffy! And might I add, with Her grace they did come out pretty well. 

We all thoroughly enjoyed the dinner and I eagerly let my mom know about it. 

So to wrap it up: Lessons learnt- 

1) don’t underestimate Mom, EVER!

2) with the advent of technology and easy access to a billion ways to cook something, it is a good idea to give the vegetables we hated as kids, a second chance. 

3) apply point 2 to our lives and give people in our lives a second chance too.

4) No matter how old we get, we will still be kids to our parents and THAT is awesome !! Because being an adult is overrated. 

5) Most importantly – I love my Mom 🙂 

PS: Talking about the deep fried palak poori made me realise heaven forbid I derail the diet plan of some poor soul reading this, hence to balance it out, here is a link to Swamiji’s article on health. Reading this will put us right back on track. (At least for a couple of days, as in my case!). Hmm… I wonder if this balancing act can constitute as my RAK for the day. 😀

-Dedicated to Divine Mother and His lotus feet,

Your Ignorant Fool