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Aaji's Poli

Each time I remove these poli from the cast iron I find myself wondering: Are they too dry? Too doughy? Not enough salt? Too much salt? 

It's these thoughts, more so than the poli itself, that makes me think of my grandmother, 'Aaji' as we call her, the materfamilias of this poli line.

Aaji is:

  • A spectacular poli maker
  • Spectacularly self-critical of everything she makes

    • So much so that in my transcription of her recipe — performed as she taught me to make polis for the first time — I write:

  • "For maximum authenticity, it is suggested that you defer any compliments by responding that “it’s too dry”, or “I should have added more water,” or “I should have added more atta (flour),” etc. etc."

    • Of course, Aaji's poli are invariably perfect.

    And so, years later, as I take yet another drab poli off the pan (tawas are ideal, more convex), I find myself yearning for perfection lost (the poli yes, but really the person), comforted in some measure by the sense of her presence, lingering like the smell of the tawa deep into the evening.