Hurry up will you.

While dating N. who is now my husband I began to pick up snippets of the second language he spoke which is Urdu.
We joke about it now but one of the first words I learned had to do with being punctual or rather "stepping it up".
I cannot spell the word correctly but sufficient to say the translation was to the tune of, "hurry up".
Along the dating process I also learned how to make a curry.
And, as I have learned that unless you simply open a bottle of some pre-made sauce, you cannot and should not hurry a curry.
Which brings me to my next story.
Recently I have learned about a group of teens from our church whose intentions are to travel to India. Their leader is planning on a curry dinner for about the 30-40 teens who show up every Wednesday.
When I spoke with the leader this last Sunday I was under the impression that plans as such were covered. But since that conversation (yes it is only Tuesday) I have learned differently.
And I have no problem cooking for that number of people except that planning a curry dinner for any amount of folks takes time.
The one thing about making a curry and I might add is an important step in the process, would be the preparation and subsequent cooking of the "masala" that is to say the onion, garlic, ginger mixture that will determine the outcome of your dish.
Did I mention that I could be cooking for about 40 people?
That is a lot of onions to chop.
Funny enough, now that I have added this catering to my weekly calender I see that I will be having curry two additional evenings next week.
My husband will be in heaven.
For it does smell heavenly once that masala gets cooking. The aroma of onions & garlic will linger for a number of days following but I am willing to live with it.
The combination of spices though pungent, along with the addition of tomatoes or coconut milk will produce a most flavorful sauce be it for a meat dish or vegetarian meal. And, if you want it hotter, then just add one or two more jalapeno peppers.
The taste is heavenly and that first bite somehow magically transports me back to Pakistan, recalling with fondness the memories of previous meals.
My job next week is to produce a meal, a curry for these teens and somehow make them feel as if they too were along for the ride.
The Menu-
Chicken Curry
Dal (lentils)
Aloo Muttar (potatoes & peas)
Pilau(rice)
Roti

All of which will take time to prepare and for those of you who have ever prepared such a meal you know, you cannot hurry a curry.