One of the best things about Sunday mornings – pre lock down of course, was waking up at the crack of dawn (8 years of parenting will do that to you), moving my daughter‘s foot from my chin and saying to my husband “shall we go to Dishoom for breakfast today” and my husband, after moving my daughter’s hand from his eyes (yes she is a horizontal sleeper and somehow always manages to end up in our bed every night) says “if you want”. The answer is always overwhelmingly – yes I want. I love Dishoom (www.dishoom.com). I mean their food is ok. I’m indian so no Indian restaurant excites me that much, unless it recreates my mothers cooking exactly.
But what I love about Dishoom is this – their chai. It’s warming and comforting and reminds me of sari shopping for hours on end in Bombay. Sunday morning breakfasts at Dishoom are relaxing. The kids play on the etch-a-sketches, my husband reads the paper and I just sit and sip cup after cup of chai. I don’t even need to ask for my cup to be refilled. The waiters just know – this lady needs chai. And I accept it gratefully.
So soon after lockdown started, I treated myself to the Dishoom cookbook. And it is good. Some lovely recipes in there. And I love reading about Bombay. Bombay is a magical city to me. It brings back happy memories of shopping for my wedding with my parents, sister and future husband. It reminds me of celebrating my wedding with all of our family and friends there. It reminds me of happy vacations with Noogimi and the K faces at Gabbana house and of vacationing with the Keanus when the babies were just that – babies. Bombay is a hectic, lively, beautifully chaotic city. And what I love the most about it is the chai. Chai when you are shopping ? Sure. You want a sandwich with that ? Obviously. The Dishoom cookbook captures that aura beautifully.
So with that in my mind this morning, I turned to my husband at the crack of dawn, moved my daughter’s foot from my chin and said – masala chai this morning ? And he moved my daughter’s hand from his face and said sure. We made our masala chai and even a masala omelette and ate peacefully and gratefully.
Today is Eid and it’s a beautiful day friends.
