You know what they say- you are what you eat. So when you don’t feel good, nourish yourself with food that can build you into who you want to be. Or to remind you of how amazing you are already. Green juices and complex biryanis can follow in a few days- first, comfort food for immediate relief. Here’s a simple pasta you can make with pantry staples.
This recipe does not include some of the usual ingredients for a “proper” pasta. Heritage tomatoes and freshly picked herbs are for good times when your sanity is intact. This is a concoction to expel demons, a potion to heal pain. The ingredients are like spiritual medicine- designed to infuse you with some much-needed magic to transform your life.
This one’s for a bad day or night. When you get terrible news, nothing goes your way, you get an anxiety attack, your heart is broken, and on and on life goes without ever giving you a break. Make this pasta to give yourself pause. Make this when you’re hungry but don’t know what to eat. Just cook and eat right now, and you can go on to figure out your life.
You will need-
· Garlic- to ward off vampires
· Green chillies- for courage
· Lemon zest- for a surprise twist
· Butter and olive oil, and cream- for that fatty comfort
· Ketchup- for ease
· Salt- to lick off your wounds
· Oh, and pasta- because, duh
Stumble your way into the kitchen. Add water to a pot- throw in salt. Trust yourself- you know how much, and you can adjust later. Summon pasta from the pantry- any kind is fine. Add pasta to the water- no need to let it boil first as you surely don’t have the patience for that right now, do you? Turn stove on full heat.
While the pasta boils, play some music- nothing sad as you’re sad enough already and don’t want to wallow.
Grab mortar and pestle- solid grounding weights preferred over the flightily light sharpness of knives. Pound a green chilli and a few cloves of garlic. Pretend you are a medieval witch whom the world doesn’t understand and so it attacks you. Mouth gibberish spells over the spices.
The pasta should be just about done now- fish one out, give it a bite. Strain- no need to save the pasta water. Remember, we’re not being proper here. We’re simply being…
Put the empty pot back on the stove and add butter and olive oil. Again, trust yourself- you know how much, and you can adjust later. Grate lemon zest on to the hot pasta as the butter melts. Add garlic and chilli paste- fry until slightly golden. Add cream- stir continuously. Once the cream is, well, creamy- add pasta and a dash of ketchup. Stir it all gently and let it bubble and boil until it reaches the consistency you desire.
Get your silliest bowl- serve, and sit in front of tv/computer. Put on the stupidest show or movie you can think of. Don’t burden yourself with the world’s most intelligent issues. Right now, be stupid and relax. What’s your guilty pleasure? Let yourself laugh and go to a happy place- feel superior to whatever it is you are watching and be thankful for it.
Eat slowly. Feel the garlic and chillies clear your sinuses, then tingle upon your tongue. Play a game with yourself- try to guess which bite will be a bit brighter, suddenly hit with lemon zest. Don’t keep score. Just play. Remember what they would say to you when you ate as a child- khao? hami hami? here comes the aeroplane? Say it to yourself in the voice of a loved one, and eat.
Notice how the breath has slowed down and the brain is engaged in whatever frivolous drama is playing on the screen? The body is slowing down too.
Indulge yourself a bit more with dessert. Look into the fridge and stick a spoon into any convenient sweetness- Nutella, jam, condensed milk. If there’s nothing else, have some sweetened milk or cream or simply a spoonful of sugar. Then wrap yourself in your cosiest blanket and rest.
Whatever the problem is- the solution will emerge in a while. Right now, your only job is to let your body digest the comfort you just ate- to let it become you, so you can be a bit more comfortable in your own skin.
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