To the Most Wonderful Mom in the World

Dear Momma,
Now that Spring Break is over, the inevitable is back—another two months of bland dining hall food and fast food. I’m sure you know what I’m thinking—give me back my homemade food! I want to thank both you and Padmaji for really stepping it up a thousand notches during break and cooking up a storm just for me.
Almost all people think that their own mom is the best cook in the entire world. I, however, have photographic evidence coupled with descriptions to prove that it is in fact you who is the ultimate cooking queen.
I kicked off break with your Indian Chinese, my favorite cuisine. For those who don’t know, it’s a mix of the two eponymous types of food; some examples of dishes are hakka noodles, manchurian, chili paneer, and stir-fry lotus roots. Let me just say that after taking the first bite of the latter, I was gone. The flavors of honey chili and soy sauce burst in my mouth. At the end of the meal I felt like I was about to burst from too many rich flavors. In fact, that’s how I felt after every meal I had during break, especially the homemade ones.

Next up is the Indian food made for me. In all honesty, I thought I would never miss Indian food. After having it my whole entire life, I was so excited to go to college and have whatever food I wanted to have. But you said that I would miss it. I initially laughed at you, denying your words. After a few weeks of college, however, I groaned in despair—you were right again! I missed the hot and unique flavors of rich curries and vegetables. And that’s why on Wednesday you cooked the meal that just about made me pass out from a food coma (seriously).
Padmaji made one of my favorite Indian rice dishes, biryani. To the people unfamiliar with Indian food, biryani consists of rice layered with cooked vegetables. The vegetables are made with their own special biryani masala (a number of spices mixed together) combined with yogurt and other seasonings. This spicy and flavorful dish had me drooling during the preparation—I don’t know if you noticed, Mom, but I tasted the vegetables three times before it was layered with the rice. Thank you, Padmaji, for making me your specialty. It was incredible.

But that wasn’t even the beginning of the meal. You were true to your word and made all of my favorite dishes—kadhai paneer, makhi daal, and dum aloo. For those who don’t know, in India it is customary to have at least one liquid sabji and one dry sabji. A sabji is Hindi for “vegetables.” The first dish mentioned, kadhai paneer, is a cottage cheese dish with a tomato-based curry, making it a liquid sabji. While this may not sound appetizing, I urge everyone to try it. It’s a popular dish throughout India, especially for kids. Makhi daal is a type of mixed lentil, and is another popular liquid sabji. Brown in color, it tastes like warm heaven. And lastly, dum aloo is a potato dish. This completed the Indian meal, as it was made as a dry sabji (it is possible to make it as a liquid one, too). Coupled with homemade dahi (yogurt) and naan (bread), and topped with dhaniya (coriander leaves), the meal couldn’t have been more perfect.

Of course there were numerous other dishes prepared and eaten during break, but I focused on these ones because they were the most important for me. I came back to a family that loved me and loved to make me fat. Perhaps it was the most special ingredient that you added to all the food—and no, before anyone starts on clichés, it wasn’t love (although that’s certainly weaved into everything you do for me). This time the special ingredient was something I was desperately craving—pure and unconditional happiness. I guess that is a little cliché, but it’s the truth.
So Happy Birthday, Momma. I love you and your food.
Lots of love,
Vatsala Goyal