'How to make a spicy chicken curry' by Savera Zachariah

Tips: Always keep an eye on the curry when it is cooking. You may get burnt, even after forty years of marriage. Remember your husband’s password or guess. <your name> <year of marriage> or <your name><1 or 2 or 3 or…> <year of marriage>. Try these permutations.

Ingredients: Chicken pieces, spices, coconut milk, onions, garlic, ginger, curry leaves, salt and chillies. Also, add the number of out-of-station trips he takes. This may be excessive, so moderate a bit. You don’t want to add too much of a good thing. Count the number of times he takes calls on his mobile inside the house. Like salt, a pinch will do.

Method:
Step 1: Roast the spices. Don’t burn them.
The house is filled with the smell of warming spices. He forgot his laptop at home. Login with the permutations. Scroll through his sent box.

Hi Babes. Meet you on Thursday at  Arrow Lodge, Pinner, 7 PM.

Today?

Step 2: Add all the other ingredients except the chicken and the coconut milk. Fry till the raw smell disappears. Add chillies to make it fiery. Collect every shred of evidence, your lawyer had instructed.

Scroll. Read all the messages sent to Olivia. And others too. Filter and forward them to your mail address. Print them out for good measure.

Step 3: Add chicken pieces and mix thoroughly. Add the coconut milk, close the pan and cook for half an hour. After, check the My Maps app. Showing, at Arrow Lodge. Looks like location tracking is enabled on all his devices. After two hours, still there.

Check photos, history, chats…. Collect every shred.

Step 4: Eat!
The curry is cooked perfectly. He can’t chicken out now. You will suck every bit of the marrow from the bone.

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Savera Zachariah is a published food and travel writer. Currently writing flash narratives. She lives in India.