Almost all my memories of my Nani involve food of some kind. If it wasn’t my favourite foods that she was making, it was a classic home remedy to cure whatever ailment I was suffering from at the time. Sometimes it was Joshanda tea, insistently served the moment I so much as sniffed. Other times it was chicken corn soup, boiled over hours into a healing broth. My favourite though, is haldi doodh - the cure to everything, as my Nani described it.
I used to watch her make it for me, feverish and cranky, as the warm wafts of spice steamed and shimmered over the stove top. She boiled the yellow, creamy concoction with such care and ease, because while sometimes our relationship was strained, here she was in her element - taking care of her family in the best way she knew how. A sick child was always in need of their Nani’s care and advice, and her home remedies are one of the things I miss most about her.