Pujo is a spider web of memories and longings for people who enveloped my life in love. The love stayed behind as a lot of these people exited the realms of tangible. Baba, Dadumoni, Thamma, Dadubhai, Bimalanghu Jethu, Jethimoni…there are so many memories that these wonderful people made with their ready wit, zest for life and huge capacity to love that a whole lifetime will not be enough to fade the colours. Colours, that especially become vivid and bright during pujo!

Dadumoni competing with us grandchildren about who visited more pandals, Jethu would try to convince us that the perfect antidote to shoebites was to hang our new shoes on our ears before wearing, Thamma’s scrumptious khichuri and Dadubhai’s budget of Rs.9.25p every year for our pujo shopping. Every memory comes back to spend these five days with me.

But as all of them would say, when love outlives flesh and blood, nostalgia is useless indulgence! These memories are a reasons for happiness, not an excuse to be sad in the five most fabulous days in a Bong’s annual calendar.

So, ushering in the happiness I cooked up this Chitol Koranir Pulao in my head, while going about fool proofing my pujo wardrobe and smugly counting the number of new things in the ‘Pujo’r kapor’ pile! The dish combines two things that are premium, famed and opulent in the Bengali rapporteur of recipes – Chitol maccher korani or muittha and a ghee laced, gorom moshla smeared pulao. It also a combined ode to two stalwarts who epitomise endless zest for life and cooking prowess in my life – Ma and Didubhai, because no one nails the korani to perfection better than Ma and Dadubhai’s pulao would remain unattainable.

So, this pujo we begin celebrations by creating a new family recipe. Happy Pujo everyone.