7 pheras around the buffet

Celebrating the only real love affair each wedding season: me and a feast.

- SIMONE DHONDY

IF INDIA IS a veritable melting pot, then in that pot slowly simmering is a kaali dal. Or a payasam, or a jardaloo ma gosht, maybe it’s a prawn curry, perhaps pasta or stir-fried noodles—any will do, preferably all. But till I secure my plate and my seat, it’s Schrödinger’s Pot. The contents of which remain my largest motivation to tame my hair, look presentable, and venture out to what is likely the third function of that week. And so goes the wedding season in India.

Of the more than 10 million weddings reportedly celebrated in India every year, I somehow manage to claw my way onto the guest list of approximately five to 15, which can mean anywhere from 10 to 45 functions and, I’m happy to report, as many plates.

Some affairs lack innovation with your run-of-the-mill dals, do pyaazas, biryanis and laddoos. But where they lack ingenuity, they usually compensate with artistry. Like the truffle kulcha I recently had an intimate encounter with. Charred to perfection, stuffed with cheese, flaky and drizzled in oil pressed from the fancier cousin of the button mushroom. I was told the genius behind them travels the globe during wedding season. Going from sangeet to sangeet, anointing cheese kulchas with truffle oil—an auspicious occasion for all involved.