Dec 21, 2011

Untitled

By Nayab Tufail


A tray of “zarda” has always visually appealed to me like our very own desi version of the rainbow. Delicate, almost heavenly, saffron-hued basmati rice, boiled, sculptured by the soft, loving fingers of my grandmother into a flawless mound on the tray.Zarda at home was always decorated with as much care and perfection as the bride of our family. I remember once seeing the women of the house prepare zarda in the kitchen. After the mound was shaped, Ammi stuck in neon green crunchy pistachios and fragrant cardamoms, Chachi sprinkled flakes of snowy barfee, after which dadi plopped in the sticky miniature gulab jamuns. Once they were done , they looked at it with the pleasure of having created a work of art, and I looked at it with greedy anticipation, licking my lips.

The delight of popping a voluptuous, gooey gulab jamun into my mouth, from the untouched zarda tray is incomparable to any other mischevious pleasure I ever relished as a child. That pleasure was closely followed by the pain of Ammi twisting my ear , but then and even now, a gulab jamun is worth it all. When we were finally allowed to taste the coveted zarda I found surprises resting on my fork in every bite I was about to take. Sometimes jewel-like red jelly or a soothing clove, or a luscious sultana raisin and at times traces of the shimmering silver foil that garnished it. Zarda was the queen of foods, resting on the exclusive crystal tray,its throne. It exuded redolences of homemade rosewater and melting gulab jamuns- aromatic ecstasy. Every bite felt like heaven on my tongue. It was like the various diverse flavours mingled in my mouth, tickling my tongue playfully. It is now that I realize zarda might have really been a piece of art. A tray of zarda still always smells of the delicious love of my dadi jaan, the magic of eastern spices and my innocent childhood temptations.

5 comments:

Farwa Haider said...

This is beautiful. I love how you have described it as a work of art. My favourite part: "Zarda at home was always decorated with as much care and perfection as the bride of our family." It's perfect and really made me recall the smell and sight and taste of what I imagine is Zarda. And the bit about the gulab-jamuns - mouthwateringly brilliant!

Zoha said...

Wow, Nayab. The description is just divine! "Zarda was the queen of foods, resting on the exclusive crystal tray,its throne" just gorgeous.

Nayab said...

Aww.. thats soo sweet. Thank youu soo much, Farwa and Zoha :)

Neshmia said...

Loved this! Not a fan of zarda myself, but the way you wrote it literally made my mouth salivate. Simply gorgeous.

Nayab said...

Thank you Neshmia :)

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