Chutnification!

Several ingredients that went into making us the way we are today-our cat fights with our siblings, our make believe play world, running and catching, kite flying, assisting grandma in making pickles, vadams(savory item like appalam/papad) during summers; pocketing sweet sour elandha vadams, badams (Almonds) and juicy maavadu (Tender mango), washed and dried and licking like hungry street urchins, squinting eye and rolling them, while clicking tongue in noisy, tasteful agreement, thayir saadam in placid company.A full moon above our heads on a breezy summer night, as Talat Mehmood sung pathos from the Philips tape recorder... Decades later, juicy nostalgia does find its way into my apartment kitchen, a full moon atop a neighbouring beauty salon and moist breeze that trickles down my sweaty forehead. Although chutney and thuvayal pastes are available in all leading super markets and stores in home food clonish Chennai, the true taste of originality was diligently practised on a groaning mixie, while coriander leaves were slightly sauteed in an oil pan, with til, urad dal and other ingredients, until the leaves were removed of their raw smell. With tamarind juice, red chillies and salt for an addition, the chutney looked a lovely green, for what it was worth.

Idlis sitting comfortably next to this chutney was the happily ever after ending to this chutnification.