A little introduction to my paternal grandmother who was known by absolutely everyone (regardless of their age) as “Mata Ji” which means “respected mother” in Hindi. I, however, simplified this and referred to her, somewhat more casually, as "MJ." Like my maternal Grandma, she was an incredible cook and, as gifted cooks can, she could turn the simplest ingredients into a mouthwatering feast.
She was vegetarian all her life and cooked wonderful Northern Indian food. Her instinctive way with spices made her meals legendary amongst all who ate them. The family still talk about her cooking whilst trying to replicate the tastes of her signature dishes decades later. In cute contrast to her mastery of spices, in her later years, if she wanted to eat something different, she would always hint for a veggie pizza. Her pronunciation of this foreign (for her) word was "pijja" , (in some variations of Hindi a "z" sound becomes pronounced with a "j" sound) and, despite saying it incorrectly, she always said it with an effort of precision. For her, a pijja was an exotic treat and her eyes would light up if one ended up on the table at mealtime. In her final years, she came to live with us and, as she aged, she began to become very fussy about eating her vegetables (despite being a lifelong vegetarian!) and occasionally we had to resort to the seductive powers of the pijja and hide extra veggies under the cheese!
Much as we adored each other, as we spent a few years living together, we occasionally clashed too. If our moods really flared, we would often rush to present our cases to my Papa and try to get him to pick a side (a situation he was smart enough to wriggle out of every time!) When our appeals to Papa failed, we then had to work things out for ourselves. Rather than waste time with protracted diplomacy and negotiation, we found that if one of us approached the other with a peace offering by way of either a biscuit or , more usually, some Indian sweets (known as "mithai" - as shown in the photo) ...then, luckily, all would be forgiven at first bite.
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