The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years

by Shubnum Khan

Just then Fancy takes a bite of the biryani and exclaims, “Oh, Bilal, beta. This is delicious. Really. I haven’t tasted food this good in years.” “Really? Even better than Razia Bibi’s?” asks Zuleikha with a wry grin. “Don’t be so ridiculous, Zuleikha,” interrupts Razia Bibi. “How can a man’s food be better than a woman’s, eh?” Just then she dislodges something from her mouth. She inspects it for a moment then shouts, “Aha! Look, elachi,” she says, holding up the offending cardamom seed triumphantly. “Any woman would have removed that before she served the food. Didn’t your wife teach you how to cook properly?” “Oh, I’m sorry—I forgot. Actually, Razia Bibi, my wife didn’t teach me how to cook . . . I sort of learned by myself,” replies Bilal.