Kalpna Woolf ’s crispy namak para
“Those are the days of miracle and wonder”, as the song goes – the happy days of our childhood . An overly full house crammed with children , parents, grandparents, friends and neighbours, always open doors. How did we all fit into that small terraced house? Kitchen activity was on high alert – cook, eat, cook, eat – and we were always standing by to look after everyone. As soon as the doorbell rang, a large pan of hot water would go on the hob to make milky, spicy-sweet chai and a plate of welcome-to-ourhome snacks would appear. No one could leave without eating something. Exhortations to eat filled the air: “eat something”, “eat more”, “ have another”. These were the jingles of our childhood .