Chicken Angara and Garlic Naan
I was meeting a friend after years. Yeah, I am from the generation which talks daily but meets rarely. But anyways, I was pretty happy and excited to meet this friend after a long time. It had been a coincidence that we had registered for the same conference and planned to stay at the same hotel. This surprise element was an extra topping on our excited moods!
As I was waiting for my friend I smiled at myself thinking about our friendship. For all those who knew us, it was a big surprise that we were so close-knit friends. Me being extra emotional always hovered between the bipolar extremes of my moods whereas he always handled emotions calmly and discretely. I was very punctual and disciplined and he was almost always clumsy. He indulged in English songs and I hardly understood them and was happy with my Hindi collection. He was passionate about alcohol and I was sober from my heart. So many mismatches and yet we were a part of a long, time tested friendship. We had shared so many ups and downs of our lives and there was never ever a dull moment when we were together.
We met and hugged each other. And then the conversation flowed seamlessly. We didn’t even realise when the late afternoon turned into an evening and then night. We both love food, a good meal is like a meditation for us. We had planned to visit an exotic restaurant in the city but the flow of our conversation was too good to break. Eventually we settled for the in-room dining. Our change of plans had been smooth like this always, without any hurt or regrets, always with happy consents! While talking itself we quickly went through the menu and ordered a Chicken Pasta, Chicken Angara and Garlic Naan. The room-service person on phone reconfirmed our order with an element of surprise in his tone. But we were too busy talking and too happy to notice.
After a while the doorbell rang and the order arrived. As we opened the lids, we saw each other’s faces and just smiled at our stupidity. Pasta was fine, but we had ordered a dry starter chicken dish along with the garlic naan. There was no gravy. For a moment we thought about ordering another one but then as always we smoothly changed the plan and had whatever we had ordered. So it was pieces of Chicken Angara with Garlic naan for us. As we took in our first bite of this mismatched combination we were pleasantly surprised. The delightful combination of garlic and butter was tasting divine along with juicy chicken. The mismatched combination had worked superbly well for us!
I don’t know what attracts more - similars or opposites. But when the wavelengths match, even the mismatches become enjoyable!