Dinner from the Neighbors

There are are 4 kids- 3 girls, 1 boy- who live a few doors down on Alder Street. Typical kids, they stop to chat and tell me all kinds of things about themselves and the the neighborhood. Their's is a very traditional Pakistani family. Everyday the youngest girl asks me how old I am and the middle girl Asiya (maybe 9 years old?) asks me if I have had a wedding or if I'm married. The eldest, a 14-year old named Aysha, earns money doing yard work for the neighbors. Today I hired her and her sisters- it seems they come as a package deal- to do some weeding and raking. They went right to work and did a great job and are coming back tomorrow to bag up the ivy vines I cut back 6 months ago.

As they were working I learned that Ayisha does much of the cooking at home. Of course, I start interrogating her about ingredients, techniques, etc. Well, this evening after they went home, Ayisha sent Asiya over with 2 foil-covered plates of food. On one were 2 pieces of flat bread, very similar to a whole wheat chapati. On the other was a potato-cauliflower dish. Asiya showed me how to tear off a piece of bread and use it to scoop up the vegetable. Of course, I would have done this instinctively but it was so sweet that she thought of explaining this to a demonstrating how to eat this food to me, a middle-aged American woman.

The hand-made chapati were wonderful: slightly spongy and glistening with a thin sheen of oil, they had blackened, raised bumps and were the perfect combination of tender/chewy. The accompanying potato-cauliflower dish was a brilliant yellow from what I assume was turmeric. The cauliflower was silken yet held its form and the chunks of potato were creamy. It had all been seasoned with lots of salt, (which I believe is what makes food from India/Pakistan so delicious) as well has spices or seasonings which lent the dish the exact amount of heat: enough to get your taste buds hooked on the addictive burn.

It was the best meal I've had all week. I think I'll hire Ayisha to give me cooking lessons!