Being wheatish..

The first thought that comes to your mind will be is this post related to color, caste or race. A straight NO should fit perfectly in your mind, as this post has nothing to do with such things. Weekend was here and i wanted to make something special to eat. Weekends are always special here with all the work related worries gone for a moment. I always look forward for this lovely weekends to try some new dish, and this time it was 'ROTI'. You got it very right, the same roti which is mentioned for so many various purposes. For a larger proportion, it's a simple mean of eating a meal to satisfy their physical needs. Others use it as a propaganda for their political motives, some use it to attract the middle class for Bollywood by inserting this word in various dialogues, songs and movies (Remember "roti kapada aur makaan" or  "do waqt ki roti"). Though these days even lower middle class is not very reciprocative to this filthy slang. Reverting our attention on the heading again, i was not trying to make some extra-unique dish with roti. To accept the fact, I haven't eaten a simple wheat roti for last five months and eighteen days. Yes, the same tasteless roti which you might be munching right now reading this post (I wish your screen breaks apart into pieces if you're doing so).

To make this dream of eating roti this weekend, i pulled out the bag of wheat flour from the bottom racks. I remember not so vividly though, i had got this bag for $10 from the gorcery store within first week after arriving to US. A new place, new habits of eating pastas, salads, pizzas, burgers and loads of rice with my Indian friends. Most of the Indians here are from the southern part of India so it's not very unusual eating rice in almost every meal. After that I got busy with my course work and other office chors that i almost forgot about this pile of flour in the kitchen rack. A thin layer of dust had deposited over the bag, i did little dusting before opening it with the knife, the smell and stuff looked so familiar. It brought back those memories of complaining while eating this same wheat everyday, a place where rice were used to be cooked only on special occasions and burgers were not eaten more than twice in a year (birthdays and school result's celebrations :-P )

Yellow daal was to be served with the roti, so i managed to put the daal for cooking in a pressure cooker (Hawkins, exported from India, is the only brand you could see in every south asian student's place). Splashing the flour over the table while making it ready for cooking, it filled me with a sense of excitement. I was actually excited to eat a roti for the first time in this not-so-short span of 24 years or so. I had seen countless times at my home, that hot stream of air coming out of cooked wheat flour and was expecting the same while cooking it. I put it on flame for around a minute, yet no air came out and it was still sticking to the flame. I put the other side on flame just to see the front side giving brownish fumes, extra heating could a a reason, i guess. Somehow i managed not to overcook the other side as well. Finally i was ready to eat this roti with one side over-cooked and other half cooked. Luckily daal didn't spoil the party-mood and came out as expected with little less salt. When i tried to pluck one part of roti, the inner portion got exposed and it didn't take much time for me to understand that the sticky flour inside was not cooked properly. I managed to eat it without any delay, because i didn't want it lose its little softness getting dried up. The tongue's bud has enough of this wheat, making me realize its the same tasteless wheat roti. Eating it after such a long time, after dozens of frozen paranthas, few dried tortillas, frozen wheat stuff, it is undoubtedly the best chunk i have ever eaten in last six months. I sit down on my chair, relaxing eating and enjoying every bit of it. Just finished eating my first roti in last six months.

The first moment when after eating this tasteless wheat, I am actually feeling "Happy"..