Filling of the kadi patta void

As I write this a network of anonymous forces is abuzz catering unknowingly to a singular mission mdash ensuring a package sent by a friend in Berlin through the post arrives at my location in South Tyrol I may have casually mentioned on social media how alienated my culinary existence has been on account of being cut off from a crucial ingredient curry leavesWhile I had been able to remedy the dearth of coriander and green chillies in my local vegetable shop after having discovered potential access to a regular stash in a Pakistanirun shop in Bozen I had been unable to fill the kadi patta void Until recently when an artist friend on Facebook wrote a beautiful post detailing how she frequently transported back the ingredient with her to Berlin each time she visited Karachi storing portions of the leaves in her freezerI expressed my longing which our mutual friend Saskya picked up on Some days later she messaged me privately to tell me she could dispatch some to me when her local Tamil shop got fresh stock She told me that a Gujarati aunty from London once told her that the best way to preserve them over longdistance hauls was to shallow fry them in ghee before freezing them Saskya said shersquod do the first step and I could then freeze them immediately upon receipt I gave her my address and asked for hers A gesture so moving deserved to be returnedYesterday I received a WhatsApp text with a photograph of fresh curry leaves from Saskya with this accompanying caption lsquoThe path to food heaven it smells divine in my kitchen right now after frying the whole bushel in gheersquo I knew exactly what she meant those wafts wholly peculiar to curry leaves roasted in fat lsquoDivinersquo indeed The second photograph revealed glistening translucentgreen leaves post their treatment in ghee still cooling perhaps after being roasted Later in the evening she texted me confirmation that she had put them in the mail that afternoon I was elated and thanked her She responded saying she was happy to help ldquoI know the kadi patta blues until just recently they were not so readily available hererdquoTomorrow I will be posting in the mail a jar of honey local to Tramin the work of our resident bees I thought the rich amber liquid could serve as an equivalent to her gesture Irsquom still unsure whether to send fluid honey or the heartier slightly crystallised version from the neighbouring town of Kurtasch which I love so much because of the ambiguity of its state of matter mdash it looks solid and yet melts immediately in your mouth upon contact with your tongueIt is sufficiently unique considering its rarity and I imagine that Berlin is not necessarily the kind of city where you know where your honey comes from Because Irsquove been intently studying all the prespring eruptions upon every inch of the surface of certain fruitbearing trees Irsquove become even more attuned to the sources of honeyRight now the almond and cherry trees have me completely enthralled Their intense liquorlike fragrance has served its invitational purpose The bees are busy collecting nectar and invariably crosspollinating the landscape I like to pick at the ground underneath to forage for fallen blossoms which I then press in my books in the hope of using them later as part of my gifts and correspondenceOf course Saskya was making this gesture from the goodness of her heart And because I was raised by my mother to constantly imagine equivalences to these forms of blessings made by another without any promise of return I like to respond with a correlating manifestation of my grace It intrigued me though to think that something that grew so much in abundance in Delhi to the point that vegetable sellers didnrsquot bother stocking curry leaves is in this other context rare and hard to come upon Itrsquos an ingredient one can make do without Yesterday for example I made poha and the presence of green chillies bought two weeks ago compensated for the absence of curry leaves and coriander But the catch is always that I know whatrsquos missing even if my partnerrsquos family has no clue because theyrsquove never eaten poha beforeAs I eagerly anticipate the arrival of my precious package I find myself constantly debating what I should make with it My brain was moving in the direction of a Kerala beef fry and I remembered a sexist remark I once was privy to in Fort Kochi It was back then when young people were kissing each other openly as a gesture of protest against moral policing Their daring acts had made frontpage newsMy host a female patriarch was visibly offended to have to confront an image of two women kissing I was eating breakfast in her kitchen She began spewing anger and hate She referred to them as curry leaves because men love to lick the flavour off lsquoslutsrsquo like them and then dispose of their bodies I rolled my eyes took a deep breath and said nothing It was too early in the morning to argue intelligently with someone whose world view was shaped by hatred It was a pity that she wasnrsquot able to access the divinity of curry leaf its ability to give of itself infusing everything it touches with unspeakable joy while still retaining its identityDeliberating on the life and times of Everywoman Rosalyn DrsquoMello is a reputable art critic and the author of A Handbook For My Lover She tweets RosaParxSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper