While the chicken and sauce simmered, they moved onto the roti. Bits of flour got everywhere as they stirred water into the flour and a little bit of oil.
"This is a heavy dough," Harry said as he kneaded it out, rolling the dough with his hands and pressing down with the heels. "Makes sense if it's just water and flour though."
"Use your knuckles too. Especially if you knead it in the bowl," Parvati suggested. She rolled her eyes at Padma's shocked look. "I remember some things!" She and Padma started arguing again.
Lavender nodded reassuringly to Harry. "Yup, still normal," she said.
After letting the finally smooth dough rest, they kneaded it once more and portioned it out into small balls that they flattened into round shapes. Each roti was brushed with butter and then cooked over a skillet on the hob while the butter chicken continued to simmer.
"This looks exactly like it should!" Parvati took the first completed one and juggled it from hand to hand. She eagerly tore it into four pieces, hissing slightly as she kept flicking her fingers to keep the tips from burning.
"It tastes like it should," Padma gasped as she chewed on the flatbread. "I didn't think we'd get it right the first time!"
"It's a good recipe," Harry said as he blew to cool the steaming roti. "It tastes really nice! Chewy and buttery. Really simple."
"You're an amazing cook," Lavender said as she nibbled her piece, also blowing on it.
"Let's wait for the butter chicken first before you say that," Harry said with a smile and pink cheeks. He added the cream and stirred the curry, watching the deep red tomato sauce become rosy red. He scooped up some of the sauce onto a spoon and took an experimental taste.
"Well?" the three girls asked.
"I have no idea if it's supposed to taste like this but it tastes wonderful," he said sincerely.
"This is it!" Parvati cried as she tasted it.
"It really is!" Padma agreed.
"This is so much better than the takeaway I've had!" Lavender smiled.
Harry poured out bowls of butter chicken and set aside portions for Inky and the other House Elves and Flitwick. He smiled as he saw the girls digging deep into their bowls, eating with big smiles and evident delight.
"Harry, what are you doing?" Lavender asked, seeing Harry standing further away and eating. "Come and join us silly."
"Oh! Uhm, okay." After some hesitation, he moved closer and sat beside them at the table. Slightly embarrassed he tucked in too and after a moment, the girls resumed eating.
"Please tell me there's more," Parvati said as she wiped up the sauce with a piece of her flatbread.
"Plenty more," Harry said. "I'm going to want seconds too."
"You might want to eat some more roti with it," Padma said. "If you haven't really had curry before and eat too much of it at once, you can get an upset stomach."
"Oh thanks. I can't believe I missed out on curry for so long," Harry said.
"Curry is pretty popular for British people though," Lavender said.
"I guess but like I said, the Dursleys never cared for anything they thought was foreign."
"That's sad. I can understand not eating something if you're allergic but that sounds like a silly reason," Padma sniffed.
"I think so too," Harry agreed.
"Do you do this at all your club meetings?" Padma asked.
"We've only made muffins and biscuits so far but yeah," Harry nodded. "And we sew and learn spells for both things."
"I have to start coming now," Padma said. "I've been missing out."
"I missed out on the first one too," Parvati said, giving Lavender a look.
"Harry was my friend first," Lavender said smugly.
"But we're friends now too," Parvati said. "You can be friends with Padma too I guess, if you want." She glared at her sister when Padma threw her napkin at her.
"I'd like that a lot," Harry said sincerely. "You two are really nice too."
"Not to each other though," Lavender giggled when the twins started throwing things at each other. "Again, perfectly normal."