"Hey what are you doing? Are you hungry?'
"Maybe. Let me guess, are you at Chai Shai?"
He laughed, "Of course!"
"Meet you there in 10 minutes"
"Okay, love you, see ya"
It had become a running joke ever since they had first discovered the corner cafe. He discovered it first, and after that harped on her constantly to eat there, until finally one day she stopped in and became hooked on it as well. The two of them had been friends for years and it was through food that they had first met. They had each had restaurants of their own, at different times in their past. That experience made them both picky and forgiving of the different places they ate. They could bicker like siblings, disagreeing on nuances, but in the end relenting to the other's opinion. The meals were just a backdrop for their enjoyment of lengthy discussions on life.
She walked into the cafe and saw him sitting at the counter conversing with the owner. Laughing, she snuck up behind and tapped him on the shoulder.
He stood up and gave her a quick kiss and hug "I'm starving! Let's eat!" A brief scan of the menu and orders were placed for spicy mango slices, chicken boti wrap, pakora chaat, moong soup with paratha and masala chai. "We always order too much. We'll never eat all this, well maybe we will..." he said
"I can't seem to resist," she sighed putting the menu back, "and, if we can't eat it all, it does make such good leftovers." They grabbed their chai's and headed outside to the patio. This was a true neighborhood cafe. Nestled in an older neighborhood, this corner had seen many businesses arrive and close, the difficulty of sustaining customers at an offbeat location proving to be too challenging. But this cafe had sprung up because of a family coming together during unexpected financial hardship, and the ambiance created from that was as addictive as the food.
The food arrived and they settled in for a long lunch. It didn't matter how many times they ate together, the conversation always promised to be endless and it was always with reluctance that the meal came to an end. Until the next time one of them called the other and said, "Are you hungry?"
INSPIRED BY WHAT I TASTE CURRIED VEGETABLE SOUP
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 T olive oil
3 pieces ginger, minced
2 T curry
1 T gram marshal
1/4 c sherry or white wine
4 large carrots, peeled and cubed
3 zucchini, cubed
1/2 cauliflower, broken apart
1 apple, peeled and sliced
vegetable stock, enough to cover vegetables
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/ 2 can coconut milk
Sauté onions in oil. Add garlic, ginger and seasonings. Sauté. Add sherry and stir through Add vegetables, apple and stock. Let cook until vegetables are tender. Puree in small batches in food processor till very smooth. Stir coconut milk and garnish with cilantro. Adjust seasonings. Serve hot or cold
