He paints, puts the lentils on a slow fire, paints a little more, stirs the pot, throws in spices, paints—the meal that follows is infused with the freshest ingredients and cooked in just-squeezed mustard oil. Like Bim Bissel’s Christmas lunch or Vinit Jain’s Holi bash, Bawa’s Lori dinner is fast gaining cult status in Delhi. He is fussy enough to throw a temper tantrum when lumps of cottage cheese are sprinkled over sarson saag (spinach Punjabi style) and remaining a purist, cooks it without the leaves. The flavours are interesting if you get the drift of what I’m saying. ]