The secret life of a recipe

The first time we we were invited to our landlord's house for lunch, I do not remember what we had before dessert. One reason, I remember the dessert is, it was served in a small bowl of the cooling glasses brown shaped in the form of a half cut apple with a leaf. And two, the dessert was Gulab Jamun.




With its novelty, you can imagine my mom asking the landlady for the recipe, still better asking her to show how (new word for hands on) to make them. Since this is a dish that just does not depend on proportions but also how the jamuns are rolled crackless, passing on of it, requires patience. May be by hit and trial, one can learn how to make it - like the time my sister and I learnt how to make rose cookies, getting the conistency of the batter right or mar it - like the time I made gulab jamuns which would better pass as tough donuts.



What makes people try recipes? My dad once made peanut brittle. As a young kid, I had a bad experience of having too much of it while travelling. That time also coincides with my forming a tough no-no bond with the likes of soft drinks - thanks to the head stir created by Thums up! Taste the Thunder.



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Or was she flattered that Randolph wanted it?
Eat my words- Reading women's lives through the cookbooks they wrote- Janet Theophano