A Maiden Attempt and the Joy of Sharing

Come December and the mind flutters with thoughts of ‘what next’…  All of us who grew up in Calcutta, or have spent a considerable part of time in the city know the sweet charm of mild Calcutta winters. And the festivities that come along with it… picnics, Book Fair et al and most of all EATING!! Everything else takes a back seat…

Personally I haven’t enjoyed the charm of (To die for) mild Calcutta winters in more than five years now, and the last few days I was feeling especially nostalgic of the season back home, where I hear it’s been the coldest in a decade. (It’s a different thing that I hear so every year; Kolkatans have little tolerance for anything below 10 ;)) But, a nip in the air is not quite the same thing as even frozen music notes… quite literally! And last Sunday, as I wake up to greet another cold, rainy, gloomy New Jersey day, my grandma called me with a beaming voice to share the pithe making session at home to usher in the joyous winter festival, locally known as Poush Parbon. Need I mention that the heart-to-heart conversation did not just leave me more nostalgic but, this time, also added to it the craving for pithe.

Now, gorging on pithe is one thing but making pithe!!!?? No, they AREN’T quite the same things. The process of pithe making is much more laborious than everyday cooking in a Bengali family. But, after checking on the ingredients and finding them all available at home; I was overjoyed! Why!!?? Because I was in no mood to visit the grocery store in this cold and damp weather and yet ready to embark on the maiden journey of making patishapta. Yes, my first time… (I strongly believe in the saying ‘There’s always a first time for everything’) :)

I started the process after taking a little nap, post (Sunday) lunch. And after spending a whole evening of preparing the batter, the stuffing and frying the patishaptas one by one; I was left with a back ache for the night. Oh, and I also made patali gurer payesh to serve with the patishaptas. Somehow, I cannot help but wonder how the previous generations could do so much more without ever getting tired! Well, that being said, it’s important to mention that in a feat of pithe making, I ended up doing much more than the 2 of us (me & hubby dearest) can ever finish. Of course, I intended to share it with our Bengali neighbor, who also happen to be our friends but, I didn’t have anybody else on my mind.

Later, the idea of packing a few for my husband’s colleagues donned on me. I proposed the same only to hear a reluctant ‘No need’ from him. Well, after enjoying a few patishaptas for dessert that night, my hubby finally declared that he wouldn’t mind sharing a few with his colleagues…  Am I glad!!

On Monday afternoon my hubby called me from office to share that everybody enjoyed the patishaptas! Needless to say that he mostly shared with his Indian colleagues, all but one! Yes, the significant other is a French man and a food aficionado. Well, well… he loved it too!! Not only did he say so, he in fact took a second helping… what more can I ask for? The joy of savoring the self-made patishaptas increased manifold on hearing this and I ate 1 more for lunch that afternoon :)