Whats this?
Well it’s actually a liter of milk boiled think with a can
of Milkmaid emptied in, along with lots of pistachios, almonds, a little
saffron and some cardamoms.
But what does it mean?
It means a lot of love. It is a representation of love and
deep rooted genetically codified desire to keep your loved ones stuffed with
fat and feeling happy about it.
When I was young, on
a cold rainy day, my mom would heat up some milk, put in saffron and dry fruits
and serve to us. Hot masala milk. It was nice. Good warm milk. In fact warm
masala milk is my childhood version of chicken soup. I loved it and it brings
back some amazing feelings. Now with happy commercialization, we have Anando
Milk available in stores in Mumbai. Anando is the name of a store in Chowpatty.
He made his millions selling masala milk at Girgaum Chowpatty. As kids we never
had that milk as we were always afraid that having milk outside is highly
suspect. So I missed out on that brand. But now he has successfully expanded
and he puts visicoolers (fridges with glass doors) in restaurants and serves
across outlets. You also have it malls, serving Masala and special masala milk
in addition to strawberry and other flavors. Now as an adult, I love the milk! And
I introduced it to Jispa. Jispa has also grown to love it. So yesterday she had
it at a store and loved it when I mentioned that, I can make it at home for
her.
So we got home and I made it. Normally it’s a slow laborious
process where you keep heating the milk till it’s thicker, but Milkmaid
shortens the process for us. As a parent I am genetically coded to stuff her
with fat. So in the end, it turned out much sweeter and has a bit of an over
dose of almonds. It tastes more like Soft kulfi than milk but… it’s divine! It
was late when it was ready, so she will get to have it today. I tasted it today
morning and I have left instructions for Jasmine to dilute it with a little
more normal milk as well. We prefer it cold as opposed to hot so hopefully
today evening will be a treat for Jispa.
Once, I remember my mom making this hot on a rainy day. It was
a special thing in those days, to get mil with all those dry fruits and
expensive spices like cardamom and Saffron in it, so it was served like a
special thing. My mom even removed special silver glasses for us. Yes REAL
SILVER glasses to have warm milk. It was first lesson on applying scientific
principals in real life. When you take hot milk and serve in silver, in effect
you are using the best conductor of heat to serve something piping hot. You can’t
lift the glass without getting burnt. Forget sipping from it. Hahah Silver
glasses for hot milk. What a duh thing to do in hindsight. That was one fun
family moment.
But yes. For me making this milk more than anything else is an
expressing of love. I love you Jispa,
and no matter how much I would love to see you shape up as an athlete with an
eight pack ab and toned body, I will still derive the greatest satisfaction
from seeing you stuffed with sugar and fat. There is some deep happy feeling
that fat stuffing gives parents that a pack of chips cannot. Especially if you
are adding the fat and sugar yourself. Wow.
just - here is an image of the product that started it all! Brands do count for a lot of emotional connects in our life :)
