Rainbow Roti Jala

I have always wanted to make roti jala and my wish finally came true when Syareena suggested making it for my birthday party. Preparations started 2 days before on Thursday night when I went to get groceries from Mustafas at 12 am after work. Close by Mustafa's I met Arthur and Chris who were having beers at a coffeeshop before shopping for stuff for their Bollywood-themed office party. But before I could get started on my shopping Arthur dragged us along to the basement to buy a tumble drier as the recent wet weather has been making it impossible to get clothes completely dry. I was hoping on getting home soon to start preparations so I could start cooking before work the next day but that didn't happen because we ended up having dim sum and beer at a nearby coffeeshop till about 3.30am. So I took half a day off the next day to cook some of the curries to go with the roti jala. I was pooped by the time I was done cooking the chickpea masala, chicken curry and paneer with peppers, and the kitchen was in a very bad state. But I had to leave for the office so I caught a cab to the office. In the cab I scratched my chin and could immediately smell my fingers that reeked of the copious amount of garlic and onions that I had to peel and chop. It was really bad. And work was a bitch cos of the friday rush with sub editors breathing down my neck. I didn't manage to clean the kitchen when i got back and did most of the cleaning the next morning.

The first time I had roti jala at Syareena's house, it came in a rainbow of colours. Now almost 9 years later she is at it again-going overboard with food colouring. First timers at making roti jala were Sheila and Rehan, who got into the technicalities and figured out the the technique for near perfect roti jala. Amran however seemed like a roti jala natural. I started making martinis with my Mustafa's bought cocktail shaker and just two drinks immediately turned Syareena into a generally funny but sardonic jester spewing somewhat crude jokes that should have been kept far from the dinner table. The chicken curry was a hit, though i didn't get any squeals of extacy from anyone regarding the chickpea curry or the fish curry. Oh well, you win some u lose some.

We finally made it out of the house for Velvet at about 11 plus. After having countless martinis at home and 1 can of beer in the car, I still didn't feel particularly tanked up. The jugs of watered down bourbon coke that I got at Velvet didn't help either but I got pretty sloshed from more beer and martinis. I think I have turned Herda into a monster. I dared her to pinch the butt of a bouncer who had his back to us. She did it without any hesitation, but what was even stranger was the reaction of the bouncer. I think he took a while to react. Mebbe he thought I did it. He took a step away from us. A minute later he was a meter further. A little while later he was gone. Perhaps he had to cry in the little boys room.

When I was done drinking for the night, Sheila's friend Tommy bought me a jog of vodka spritzer which I tried very hard to finish out of courtesy especially because i barely even knew the guy for 15 minutes and here he is buying me a drink. What ever was in the drink, it got me pretty wasted and in the cab back I was suprised at how slurred my speech was when I was giving the cab driver directions...(I found out later that it was a double vodka spritzer. i am having a pretty bad hangover now btw)

I think I can compartmentalise almost everyone from this party...., Rehan and Sheila the roti jala technicians, Rama and Farah the martini engineers, Syareena the in house jester(fuelled by a steady flow of Martinis of course), Amran the wonderful helper, Herda the groper, Chris the unassuming dishwasher, Arthur the 'mood setter'. Mebbe the next party there will be a reversal of roles or somthing.