When mothers get inspired by rude boys.

It was a normal day of domesticity yesterday, as my mother sat sprawled on the semi-easy chair in the hall and i was somewhere near her feet like a servile daughter or sprawled on the Diwan like cheese spread - can't remember which. We channel surfed for something interesting, and settled in with our default TLC. Who should be strutting across the screen on a pavement but the hat-wearing, chain-dangling, finger ring-clunking hunk of Oomph named Aaron Craze, host of Rude Boy Food on TLC. He isn't hot by conventional standards - English, maybe - and he's certainly not my type but he does make me want to... do things to him that might be considered rude in public. Jamie Oliver's protege. *Sigh* That about does it for me.

Now, mother and i love watching cookery shows regardless of language barriers and all that, so when i turned to her and told her "Oh Ma! Look! Rude Boy Food!", she replied with a sassy "I know". Well, well, well, what have we here?

Turns out she's caught a few episodes of our man all by herself sometimes. Yesterday, though, she was not only in the mood to catch his oomphy self (on TV) but also cook something he made: chicken burritos.

So, she went to Thom's Bakery today for all the required ingredients and seeing as there was too much effort involved, she ditched the burrito part of the recipe and made only the chicken. May i add that it was amazingly good. Who knew the flavours would come together so well? (Cumin seeds, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, a couple pods garlic, red chilli powder and olive oil ground to a paste and used as chicken marinade; those interested can figure out the quantity by trial and error!)

She sat there, feeling real proud of herself and saying excitedly, "Next time we'll try the other recipe okay?"

And i thought to myself, well, if this is what the rude boy can get her to do, then by all means, unleash him!