When Madhur Jaffrey writes of being 4 years old and perched with the other children in the mango trees in her grandfather 's orchard by the Yamuna River in Delhi , describing how the older ones on high branches peeled and cut the fruit and passed it down so the younger ones could dip the slices in salt , pepper , red chilies and roasted cumin -- all this while the grown-ups snored in nearby rooms cooled with vetiver-perfumed curtains -- she 's not just telling us about her first explorations of the notions of hot and sour .