Isha checked Twitter and announced that ShaRaFam had started a trend that morning with the tagline "Shamita Makes Puranpoli". It had already crossed a million tweets and was trending at the number two position worldwide. All their hashtags—#ShamitaShetty, #RaqeshBapat and #ShaRa—were trending too on fourth, fifth and sixth places, respective.
For the past year, her kanda poha and puran poli had been kindled national interest. Though she did visit Pune a couple of times before, the rushed-up visits and her busy schedule never quite ended up testing her puran poli-making skills. But now, it was as if the whole nation was interested in Shamita's puranpoli-making skills, putting unimaginably undue pressure on her.
Once the lunch was over, some people left after blessing the couple. Close family and friends stuck around waiting for the epic puran polis. They sat in the living room, chatting over tea and coffee and chilling. Samisha and Viaan played with Murphy.
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Shamita was a flutter of nerves as Tai showed her around the kitchen. Shilpa and Akku accompanied them. Shilpa seemed just as tensed as Shamita since it had become this major izzat ki baat.
While Tai was taking out the ingredients, Nishant came in smiling, "Shamita, ready?"
She looked up at him, rolled her eyes and made her famous baby face, as if to say, "Please rescue me."
"Sorry, Shamita. Too late. No getting away now. But I am there, na." Nishant giggled.
Tai laughed, "I don't think Shamita needs help."
Shamita looked around helplessly. Though she and Nishu had discussed the recipe umpteen number of times, in theory, they couldn't manage to find time for a practical. And now Shamita was regretting it.
"Come on, Shamita! You can do it." Nishant thumped her back.
Congealed into a lump of nervousness, Shamita realised that this puran poli was causing her more performance anxiety than she ever felt. Not even during her last web series, which led to her nomination for the National Award for the Best Actress on OTT platform.
To ensure her saree didn't get messed up, Tai handed Shamita a new, red-coloured apron that matched her golden yellow navvari with scarlet edges. Shamita unfolded the apron and her face lit up as she read the embroidered words. The others went, "Awwww". It had "Team Puranpoli" embroidered on it. She was touched with the enthusiasm and gave Tai a warm hug. She braced herself for this challenge for the love of her man and her new family.
"Do you want us to stick around?" Tai asked. "Sakku bai is there to help you if you need anything," pointing towards the kitchen help.
"I'll be fine. It's you all who will face the brunt if the puran poli goes wrong," she assured them with a smile.
Almost alone in the kitchen, Shamita got started with kneading the dough. She was adding ghee and milk with her left hand and kneading with the right when a strand of her hair landed on her face, covering her eyes. She tried blowing it away to no success. Both her hands were messy. Just then, Raqesh burst into the kitchen.
"Tu kya kar rahi hai? I am missing you."
"Really, baby? Don't you know what am I doing? I've been barely away. Please find yourself some occupation and don't make me nervous." Shamita kneaded away, using all her strength to make the dough soft and light, while blowing away the hair. Seeing her struggling Raqesh asked if she wanted him to fix her hair. She looked up from the dough she was kneading to find two kind eyes gazing at her tenderly. Without waiting for an answer, her husband softly pushed the lock of hair away from her face. He went behind her and stroked her hair gently, smoothening them. Combing his finger through them carefully, he gathered her hair and wound it up in a loose bun on the nape of her neck, his hands as gentle as could be.
"I love you, my darling," Shamita kissed him on his lips, filled with love and gratitude.
He kissed her back, "Baby, the puran polis will rock! Try making them thin; everyone at home likes it that way. But if that's a problem, make it the way you want. It will be yum no matter what. Also, use turmeric and not saffron in the dough. Aai says that's how it is supposed to be." As an afterthought, he added, "Be careful, the dough is getting in your nails."
Shamita looked at her nails, "I wish I had shorter nails. But thanks, baby! You are making me nervous, but I'll do my best." She assured him. And when she noticed that he had plonked himself on the kitchen slab, she said, "But now, you go and be with the others, please."
Reluctantly, Raqesh left.
Shamita put the chana dal for boiling and continued kneading the dough till it was soft and pliable. She kept it aside and started with the puran. For the stuffing, a mush of ground chana dal, cardamom and jaggery had to be made. Though she liked her puran poli with coconut, the Mangalorean way, she kept it simple. She made sure the puran was silky smooth, else the stuffing would come out while rolling the poli.
All prep done, Shamita stared at the gas burner unseeingly, preparing herself for the daunting task of stuffing and rolling the polis. The first poli she rolled out came out almost perfect, but it tore at the touch of her nail. The next one too met the same fate. She knew one mistake could torpedo into a mess, and her nails could be just that.
It had barely been 15 minutes, but Raq sauntered in again as if she was standing in the garden and not the kitchen. He took out a nail cutter from his pocket. "Just in case you need it."
Love filled her when she looked at Raq and saw him standing there with a nail cutter in his palm. He shot back the warmest smile he could and took her hand in both of his. He asked, "Should I?" And when she nodded, he pulled her to the kitchen sink and clipped her nails short.
Not for a moment did Shamita think about how her nails would look. Right now, she just wanted to get the puran polis right. And with her nails clipped, she attacked the dough and stuffing with new gusto. This time she didn't ask Raq to go. She loved the way he always pre-empted her needs. She found his presence comforting. Though she was sure their friends would tease them endlessly, she was, in fact, grateful that he had plopped himself on the kitchen slab.
Raq stared as Shamita deftly rolled out the polis, wrapped them around the sweet puran stuffing and rolled it out in perfect circles. Shamz roasted each poli on the tawa, side by side. Raqesh scooped out a couple of spoons of powdered jaggery from the container and put it in his mouth. Shamz looked at him and shook her head, "Old habits die hard," and both of them guffawed.
It was a sheer pleasure to see Shamz roll out perfectly-shaped thin circles of dough. She patted them gently on the cast-iron tawa like a pro. Raq was delighted, "This smells good." He wasn't sure what was tickling his tastebuds ... whether it was the aroma of melting jaggery, roasting flatbread, the sizzle of ghee on hot polis or was it the gorgeous woman making puranpoli. His wife had made her first wafer-thin puran poli and he was a proud husband.
Shamita poured a generous dollop of ghee on the first poli and gave it to Raq. He went out of the kitchen to offer the first one to the gods. She wanted him to taste the second one to see if it tasted alright and gave him another ghee-soaked puran poli. He took a bite and smacked his lips, "Now this is heaven." Just an inch away from Shamz face, Raq couldn't help but smack down a juicy, noisy kiss on her lips as he took the second bite of the crisp, hot poli after dousing it with some more velvety thick ghee. Thankfully, he had just stepped back when Aai and Sunnu Ma entered the kitchen to see how Shamz was doing.
"Raqa, you have already started?" Aai smacked Raqesh's back, lightly, laughing. "The first puran poli had to be offered to the gods." "Aai, you have no idea who you are dealing with. Junior Mrs Bapat is just as much of a perfectionist as you. She already made me keep the first puran poli in the temple."
Aai looked at her daughter-in-law and then the stack of perfectly sized, gossamer thin puran polis and was impressed. Just then Raqesh put a bite of the hot puran poli in Aai's mouth and offered another bite to Sunnu Ma.
Shamita looked at Mumma, who was looking at her with pride, and smiled. She then looked at Aai nervously. Her heart thundered against her ribs as her mother-in-law took the first bite. She literally counted the times Aai chewed the puran poli with bated breath. She was relieved when she finally smiled.
Aai kept her hand on Shamita's head, blessing her. She looked at Raq and said, "Raqa, I feel blessed today. Annapurna just entered our house."