Falling In Love With My Brother-In-Law ( M×M )

Chapter 10 : Pehli Rasoi

Pehli Rasoi

By the time Anjali reached downstairs to the third floor, everyone had already gathered in the hall.

" Good morning mummy ji "

" Good morning papa ji ", Anjali greeted them.

" Good morning to you too Anjali beta ", Sarita said smiling at her.

" Woah bhabi you look fab ", Arun complemented and Anjali blushed.

" Everyone it's puja time ", Sarita said and all of them walked towards the puja Ghar.

Sarita and Suman started singing Aarti as they worship while the others stood and took part. Once they finished the Aarti, Anjali and Varun were called to perform an Aarti as a couple and both of them stepped forward. Burying the morning incident deep in their minds, both of them performed the Aarti together and offered their prayers. Once the Puja was finished, Anjali walked towards the kitchen since it was her Pehli Rasoi and she had to cook something nice and delicious for everyone.

Sarita, Suman, Anjali and Kusum all gathered in the kitchen as they decided what to make for the breakfast. Since they just finished their prayers, for morning snack Sarita had already told her maids to give everyone some fruits and fruit juices.

" Mummy ji, what should I cook ? ", Anjali asked in a soft tone.

" Whatever you have in your mind beta, you can cook. We are only here to help you but don't force to cook at least one sweet dish ", Sarita said and Anjali nodded her head.

She thought for a few seconds before deciding a few dishes in her head. Once she was done she looked at her mother-in-law excitedly.

" Then how about some Aloo Parathas, Pudine ki chutney, Sooji ka halwa, fruit salad and a mix vegetable curry ", she asked.

The others looked at her before nodding their heads in agreement and then all of them started to work together. The Pehli Rasoi was performed by a new daughter-in-law, in which she cook for her family which portrays the image of Goddess Anapurna, the Goddess of food and nourishment. The ritual also marks a sign of new beginning, acceptance, love between the in-laws and the new bride.

Kusum washed some potatoes nicely before putting them in a pressure cooker to boil them. Both Sarita and Suman started cutting fruits for salad while Anjali started preparing the dough. Once the dough became semi stiff, Anjali kept it aside and started cutting down some mint leaves for chutney. She put the finely chopped mint leaves, a few pieces of garlic, green chillies, tamarind along with chopped coconuts into a blender. After putting them inside the blender, she blended all the ingredients to make a fine paste. Once the paste was finished, she put a pan on the stove and kept the flame medium. Adding two tablespoons of oil, followed by some mustard seeds. As the aroma of mustard seeds diffused in the air, she added few curry leaves and prepared the tadka. Then she added the tadka in the chutney and mixed them properly. The beautiful aroma of chutney brought a smile on her face as she successfully prepared one dish. Keeping aside the chutney, she picked up the dough which was kept aside.

Kusum put all the boiled potatoes in an ice cool container so they could became a bit cool before she smashed them and made a fine paste. Adding finely chopped onions, salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, kashmir chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, two tablespoons of garam masala and one tablespoon of chat masala. She mixed all of them together so the flavor of all the spices mixed with the smashed potatoes as she prepared the stuffing for Parathas.

" Thank you so much ", Anjali said to her and she smiled brightly. She was about to help her more but Anjali told her to take a rest and she could manage from here on by herself.

Satisfied with her dough, Anjali divided the dough into many small portions. She took a small portion and using some flour and rolled out to make an even sized circle. Once the circle was prepared, she hold it like a ball and put the stuffing in the centre. She pulled out all the corners of the ball and flattened it with her hand. Then she rolled it again using some flour and made sure to roll evenly so the stuffing would be filled even at the sides not just in the centre of the Parathas. Once the Paratha was ready, she put on the pan and greased it with one tablespoon of butter. Once the butter sizzled, she put the paratha on the pan and cooked it nicely. Since there were around more than twelve people she made thirty Parathas, so everyone could eat enough.

" Mmmhhh... ", Sarita moaned as the aroma of Paratha made her mouth watered and Anjali smiled, feeling satisfaction.

Since the Parathas took long time to prepare, she hurried up to make the halwas. Putting another container on the stove, she added three tablespoon of butter. Once the butter sizzled, she added the sooji and fried it until it became light brown. She put another container and added some milk. Once the milk boiled, she added sugar and kept stirring it to make a fine syrup. Once the syrup was prepared she poured the syrup to the fried sooji and kept stirring it until it became a bit soggy. Adding three teaspoons of cardamom powder, she finished the halwa. Once it was done, she garnished the halwa with chopped cashews and almonds. She took a breath and then sighed happily seeing everything was done under one and half an hour.

" It all smells so nice Anjali ", Suman said.

" Thank you so much aunt ", Anjali said as Sarita nodded her head, agreeing to her sister.

" Why don't you take a rest for few minutes while we prepare the plates ", Sarita said and Anjali gave her a look of gratitude. As she rested, the others carried all the dishes and arranged the dining table.

" Woah it all smell so delicious ", Arun said as he sat on his chair.

" Indeed son ", Mr. Malhotra said taking another whiff of the delicious aroma.

" Where is our star chef then ? ", Mr. Malhotra said and at the same time Anjali came out of the kitchen.

" There she is. All of this looks so delicious beta ", Mr. Malhotra said while Arun nodded his head. The ladies helped in serving then the dishes and Anjali impatiently waited.

" Please God, please please ", Anjali kept prying as she watched her father-in-law took a bite of the paratha. Her heart beat faster as Raj's face immediately became serious and Anjali's face fell thinking the Parathas weren't tasty.

" This is... ", Raj whispered with a straight face while Anjali felt like her heart pounding inside her chest so loud that everyone could hear it.

" Awesome ", Raj yelled and Anjali exhaled her breath. Everyone sighed while Raj laughed.

" Yeah, it's awesome bhabi ", Arun said stuffing his mouth with another bite of paratha.

" Uncle taste the halwa, it's even more delicious than the paratha ", Kusum said and Mr. Malhotra immediately took a bite of the halwa.

His expression said everything as the flavor melted in his tongue and Anjali felt relief and satisfied.

" Now come on eat everyone or else I will finish everything ", Raj said chuckling making others chuckled too.

After breakfast and heavy praises Anjali was feeling really good. She was about to go into the kitchen to wash the dishes when Sarita stopped her.

" Leave those beta, you have already done many things. The maids will clean all the dishes after their breakfast. Come with me ", Sarita said and walked upto her room with Anjali behind her.

Anjali stood in a corner of the room as she watched her mother-in-law opening her closet to take out a jewelery box.

" This is for you, for your pehli rasoi ", Sarita said as she handed the box to Anjali.

Opening the box Anjali's eyes widened when she saw a beautiful gold necklace set along with earrings.

" Mummy ji.. ", she started but Sarita didn't let her finsih.

" This is yours ", Sarita said and Anjali thanked her.

" And this is from me ", someone said and Anjali immediately startled. Turning back her head she realized it was her father-in-law who was holding a cheque.

" For the delicious Parathas and halwa ", Raj said as he handed her a cheque.

Anjali took the cheque and saw it was a cheque of fifty thousand rupees.

" Papaji.. ", she started but one glare from Raj stopped her from saying anything further. She also got gifts from other uncles and aunts and thanked them. After putting everything in her closet, she got a call from her mother and immediately received it to tell her everything that had just happened.