Me Apna Ap

One of the favorite topics around here is cooking. Back home, I am not much of a cook. I like to cook if I know other people will eat it but when its just me- I am not very motivated. Especially after 12 hour of hospital work. I was tired and hungry and wanted something fast. Lean Cuisine was my best friend.

Cooking is the same thing as breathing around here. So, when they ask me what I cook and I say 'nothing' its like saying I don't draw in air to breath. Its actually a joke with some of my national friends about the content of my diet. My friend last week finally shamed me enough to do some thing about it. She said "you have lived in our country, learned our language and wear our clothes but you don't cook our food".

Well...ya see...I'm a nurse...uh..Lean Cuisine..long shifts....drive thru....uh.... I had absolutely no excuse that would make sense to her.

So today, I pulled out my Indian Food cookbook on a mission! Three hours and a small kitchen fire later, I had made roti (the flat bread they eat here) and okra.

I quickly ran hot buttered roti down to my neighbor Auntie.

"Auntie Auntie menay apna ap roti banaee"!! ( Auntie I made roti all by myself)

"Shabash! Barea Baita" ( Good job! Wonderful child!) She then reviewed each step of the roti making process to make sure I had done it correctly.

I felt like a three year old who had just tried pull -ups training pants for the first time. I'm a big kid now.