bringing her back

My mother used to spend her entire time at the kitchen. Ours was a large family ,my parents, my father’s sister and her daughter, my grandmother who was about a hundred years old ,and then all of us children, seven of us, all boys and me the youngest. My mother’s day would start at six in the morning, when she would start brewing  black coffee in an earthen pot. The firewood would take ages to light and it was a task I was good at, blowing through a pipe to light the firewood. Then she would milk the cow and continue cooking the breakfast. At any time, at least three of us boys would be attending school or college and we would eat whatever came to us and would still be hungry and ask for more. Often we had to be satisfied with the previous nights cooked rice which my mother would keep in a large earthen pot. She would add water to it in the morning and some cooked yoghurt, and make it what we used to call ‘Pazahnkanji’.  A green chili and onion chutney would be all we had as accompaniment. After we leave for school, she would continue her cooking for the lunch time when we also had some extra members, our relative girls who were studying at the convent school nearby.


 As the youngest in my family, I used to spend most of my time with my mother. I would just stay with her in the kitchen, taking nibbles from whatever was cooking. I would get the assistance of my brother to lift me and place me on the platform, so that I can take part in all the cooking activities. Because there was no girl child, all of us would help our mother with her cooking.

Mama's children 1980

 My mother’s recipes were simple. She had few rusty tins on a small shelf in which she would keep the chilies and spices. She would grind the curry paste on a granite slab herself. But she would cook the tastiest food I ever had. Even though we didn’t appreciate it at that time, as I grew up and left home, I realized how heavenly the food was at home, which my mother used to cook.

Recently my eldest brother and his family came to visit me. It is Ramadan time here and you cannot buy food from outside during day time. I had cooked some Masala for making Masala Dosa and after the breakfast my sister in law asked me ‘From where did you buy the food? Like our Ammachi used to make !”

She wouldn’t believe that I had cooked it.

Whenever I find time, I cook for myself. Having been alone for some time, I am used to this. And these days I enjoy doing it. My recipes are as simple as my mother’s.

When I cook, I feel as if I am bringing my mother back.

courtesy: Abhishek Scaria