Ambu and Rajalakshmi are two young women, and cousin sisters; now in their thirties. They are delighted to meet each other after many years, albeit on the occasion of a death in the family, in a small town in north India.
Ambu, who is well travelled and a young contemporary woman, has a simple wish: she wants to have a katori of fresh home-made malai with a dollop of sugar on top. But since it is a period of mourning, Ammi, the matriarch of the family says "no". That's when Rajalakshmi, a housewife with triplets, decides to sneak into the "holy" kitchen in the middle of the night and conjure malai from the secret family recipe.