Once Upon A Burnt Finger

This is the story of a sad burnt finger, an unwelcome balloon, and a miserable me!
In a Desi household it is common to see Pakoray (Dumplings), Samosay, Paapar, Namak Paaray, and the list may just go on and on forever. Be it in Pakistan, or here in America, this is one thing that does not change! I have experimented just SO much with Pakoray the year when mom was travelling. Ah, the kinds of pakoray I can make, paalak (spinach), pyaaz (onions), aaloo (potatoes), achaari sabzi (pickled vegetables) ...

One fine day, my sister and I were making Pakoray in bulk, this time for Dahi Baray (Yogurt Dumplings). Even though my sister was supposed to fry them, for some strange reason I decided to be excessively sweet (the awesome sister that I am *winks*) and went over to fry them for her. While frying the very first pakora I dipped a Spinach leaf into the Besan (Gram Flour) batter and dropped it into the warm oil. Splat! The oil decided to shake hands with me and landed on my left hand's ring finger! It was just a drop but it trickled downwards towards my knuckle before I could rinse my hand under cold water!

I rinsed my hand under cold water for long, but the damage was done. It was burning under my skin so bad, I had no clue why such a little burn could cause so much pain! Maybe because this place on the finger doesn't have much skin or flesh? Gah, I don't know, what I know is that it was burning! Washed, I dabbed a load of Mycitracin onto the burn and waited for it to numb the area. But it didn't for hours, and even with all that hurting, all I was thinking of was 'Oh God PLEASE don't let this leave a mark on my finger!!!'

Gradually I noticed it started swelling ... and swelling ... and SWELLING majorly. That bump in the picture is not my knuckle or my chubby finger!

When I woke up the next day, I immediately looked at what had become of the burn! Only one thought in my mind, 'PLEASE LET IT NOT LEAVE A HIDEOUS MARK'! There was a balloon over the burn now .. a disgusting ugly hurtful balloon that looked like it was filled with stinky air and water! EEWW!

I assure you, I LOVE BALLOONS! But not this one!!! The picture shows the balloon when it was half its size .. it grew some more, and soon was looking back at me. And still .. all I could think of was 'PLEASE DON'T LEAVE A MARK YOU STINKY BALLOON'.

Lesson learnt: Not all balloons are nice.
Advice to give to you guys: Be careful when frying Whole Palak's pakoray!

After that balloon formed over the burn, one fine day it exploded and water oozed out *disgusted*. And then followed a painful few days of dead skin, and partial meat-show! Just wishing the dead skin would peel off so at least there would be no mark left on my RING FINGER!

Thank Goodness though, it did not leave a mark forever. There was a mark alright, but it went away some time later!!
My finger today is as beautiful, happy, and healthy as it used to be pre-burn.

Just gotta be more careful in the kitchen next time ...




Until next time, Happy Cooking!

- S. Ali