Prabhupada prodded it. "This chapati is raw." Vegavan went to the kitchen and returned with another -- burnt crisp, like a pappadam. Srila Prabhupada glanced at Vegavan with a look of irritation. Vegavan again ran into the kitchen, coming back with another chapati, this time half-raw, half-burnt. Prabhupada appeared disappointed. He tasted one vegetable preparation. "It is wrongly spiced," he said. Vegavan was flushed and shaken.
Prabhupada looked at Vegavan with concern. "Call Bali-mardana." Bali-mardana entered, his hands covered with flour.
"If you didn't know how to cook, why didn't you tell me?" Bali-mardana tried to explain that there was only an electric stove. Without a flame, the chapatis would never puff up.
But Bali-mardana's excuse annoyed Srila Prabhupada even more. He stood, washed his hands, and entered the kitchen. He worked quickly, preparing a simple vegetable dish, advising as he went. Simultaneously, with the same dough, on the very same electric stove, Prabhupada rolled and cooked a few chapatis which all puffed like balloons. After Srila Prabhupada left the kitchen, Bali-mardana tried to cook more chapatis, but they didn't puff up. It seemed a magical art that only Prabhupada knew.
Along with the standard fare, Upananda had made "Simply Wonderfuls" with Australian sun-dried currants and rich, golden, Australian ghee. Although not always taking sweets with lunch, today Prabhupada had tasted and appreciated one. "You can make more of these," he said. Upananda was relieved to hear it. At least something of Prabhupada's lunch had turned out right.
- From "The Great Transcendental Adventure" by HG Kurma Prabhu
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