The mystery of the pink curry

Traditional Kerala meal served on a banana leaf- Sadhya

 

When I was small, there were many vegetables I didn't like. But, growing up in a vegetarian household meant that eating at least three to four different vegetables everyday was inevitable. My mother was an expert at hiding them or blending them in delicious sauces. Disguised in the delicious sauce or curry and some piping hot rice, there was very little chance that I didn't eat it. 

But of all my enemies in vegetables, there was a period I absolutely abhorred cucumber. It's something I eat daily nowadays, so we have definitely made up, the gourd and me. Today's story is of a day when my mother, my sister and I were having our lunch together. There was hot rice and some dark brown chickpeas that my mother made in a dry fashion with grated coconut for flavouring. Next to these items, laid on the clean tiled floor where we were seated cross-legged, was a bowl of a pink curry. Now this was something new. And my mother didn't usually do new. I eyed the liquid, lifted it up with the ladle and let it drop back into the vessel. My mother mumbled something about my surely liking it. I looked at my sister and she was busy eating her lunch and just gave me a glance from the corner of her eye. I asked my mother what it was and then my sister what it was. They both mumbled something about it being tomato based. I nodded to my mother and she served me the curry.

I really loved the taste, I savoured every morsel on my plate and felt my tiny stomach fill pretty quick. The moment I finished my meal, my sister started giggling hysterically. She said that she couldn't believe how I could have eaten so much cucumber without flinching. I felt a wave of horror, anger and betrayal as I looked at the two women in front of me. I don't think my mother had wanted my sister to tell me the truth as she just looked sheepishly at me. I got up with tears in my eyes and ran into the washroom. 

I locked myself inside the washroom and tried to get what I had eaten out but obviously that didn't happen. I swore to not trust either my mother or my sister and screamed that I would report them and their lies to my father when he got home. The little me was not having any of their games!