Falling into Place by Sheryn Munir

Author:Sheryn Munir
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ylva Publishing
Published: 2018-01-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

“All right,” Tara said, handing Sameen an apron, which she reluctantly pulled on. “Today, we’re going to teach you how to make egg curry and chapatis.”

“Ooh, lovely.” Sameen rubbed her hands together. “Egg curry is my favourite and I already know how to boil eggs.”

Tara took the lid off a pan sitting on the burner. “The eggs are already boiled.”

Sameen pouted. “Not fair.”

Tara smacked her hand lightly with a wooden spoon. “No talking back.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

As she turned away to the refrigerator, Sameen stuck a tongue out at her. “Hey, I saw that. Now what do you think egg curry is made of?”

Sameen screwed up her eyes in thought. “Um…well, there’s eggs, of course. Water, salt, um, turmeric?”

“Do you remember what we used for the chicken curry the other day?” asked Tara.

“Yes. There were onions, tomatoes, and ginger-garlic paste. And dry spices.”

“Yes, very good. Now, do you want to chop the onions while I do the other stuff?”

“Okay.”

Sameen picked up the knife and carefully started peeling an onion. “Tara?”

“Hmm?”

“Why are we doing this?”

“Onions are an important ingredient in egg curries.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Then what do you mean?”

“I have a boyfriend who loves to cook for me every day, so why am I torturing myself like this?” Sameen gestured to the tears streaming down her cheeks.

“What will happen if he’s not around to cook for you?”

“But you will always be there, won’t you?” Sameen’s eyes had a playful gleam.

Tara’s heart raced. She stared into the hypnotizing eyes that were waiting for a response from her. “Always,” Tara heard herself saying before the spell broke.

“So does that mean I can stop?”

“No! Get that finished quickly.” She pointed at the chopping board. “You still have to cut the tomatoes.”

“Tyrant,” Sameen muttered. She sniffed as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “Where did you learn how to cook?”

“From my father. He was a chef.”

“Oh really? Rohan would’ve loved to meet him.” Sameen put the onions into a bowl and moved the tomatoes to the chopping board. “So would I. Were you close?”

“Yeah…” Tara felt that pang in her heart that she always did whenever she thought of her father. “He used to work odd hours, so most days we wouldn’t see each other at home. Some days he would pick me up from school and take me with him to the restaurant. I would spend hours there playing with him. Cooking and food were a big part of our games. Even now, every time I enter the kitchen, I think of him.”

“My dad can’t cook to save his life,” Sameen said.

“Like father, like daughter?” Tara raised her eyebrow.

“Totally.”

They grinned at each other.

“Done,” Sameen said finally.

“Go wash your eyes. You’re a mess.”

When she came back, under Tara’s guidance, Sameen set up the pan, heated the oil, and soon the spices were simmering away. Sameen suddenly had a bout of sneezing.

“Wow. These masalas are strong.”

“That’s what cooking is all about, my dear. Come, we shall now knead the dough for the chapatis.” Tara told Sameen how to measure out the flour and how to get the dough’s consistency right.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.