'Egg love' is an inherited trait in the family. We love them scrambled, poached, sunny sides up, boiled and curried and all sorts, Omelette being the simplest of the list. I give my son an omelette or two every day and the best part of the evening omelette exercise is that my son participates in it. He likes to cook, (is a proud owner of the 'Sheetal Plastic Complete Kitchen Set') and breaking eggs gives him untold gratification. Any breaking activity does that to a boy I guess. Anyways, coming back to our story, Rudra arrives in the kitchen, hands washed, hair combed, holding two eggs, cheese block from the fridge and the mechanical egg beater. He sits coolly on the kitchen counter and recites the ingredients: - Two eggs - One spoon milk - One pinch salt - One pinch chilli powder - Cheese block We break the two eggs into a bowl and Rudra adds the milk, salt and chilli powder and goes at the egg batter with the beater till its frothy looking. Then mummy qui...

"If you don't eat your vegetables, how will you grow up into big, strong dinosaurs?", Sid gently reprimands (elephant sized) baby dinos in Ice Age - Dawn of The Dinosaurs. That must be a standard meal time line for every mom. I am no exception. For the first three years of his existence, Rudra depended on tomato rasam with rice or Pappula podi with chapati or dosa for survival. Being a highly self critical mom, I couldn't bear it. Many would agree there am sure. Consequences of nutritional deficiencies looming large on our consciences isn't exactly comfortable. I must have tried curried vegetables, boiled vegetables with sauces mixed into them, boiled, roast and seasoned veggies...but nothing works. After a morsel, they are relegated to the dustbin. Finally, we are now skirting the problem thus. Veggie Rice: - Wash rice of required quantity, soak and keep aside. - Pick a selection of vegetables (leafy greens also can go into this) keeping compatibil...

My best friend and one of the amazing mom's I know, Sandhya, suggested this recipe when I told her that am at a loss for a dosa/ idli accompaniment for my son. I was sure I did not want sauce or ketchup on my son's plate this early. Neither did I prefer curry or chutney as he has only begun learning of tastes. Sandhya adviced Pappula Podi and its a huge hit. Rudra, my son, has it with most south Indian breakfast items as well as with rice at times. Pappula podi is mildly spicy, contains ingredients that aid digestion and is a handy serving accompaniment even for adults. Ingredients: Jeelakarra(Cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp Miriyalu (Pepper corns) - 1/2 tsp Dhaniyalu (Coriander seeds) - 1tbsp Dried red chillies - 5 Menthulu (Fenugreek seeds) - a pinch Putnala pappu (Roasted bengal gram) - 1 cup Salt to taste Process: Roast all the ingredients separately, except the putnalu and grind them together in a mixie. Add putnalu at the very end and run the mixer once again. Adjust salt as per p...

I live by the golden rule that 'An egg a day keeps every illness away'. And someplace, I did read an ad released by the National Egg Co-ordination Committee which said, 'Tasty treasure of mighty minerals'. Rudra ate his first egg when he was about seven months old. Some of my mommy friends felt its too young an age to eat egg. But it's done now and the boy is three plus years of age and three and a half feet tall. Am only happy about my son's progress upwards and across, but is it because of all the eggs? Can't assure an answer there. Well, I did not boil the egg. I poached only the albumen (egg white) in water. The result was extremely soft, firm and jelly like egg that was easy to eat for the baby. Recipe: Ingredients: - One Egg of course, only the white and no yellows for babies below one year of age - Water - 2 cups - A hint of pepper and a touch of salt Method: Boil the water in a deep dish till it is bubbling over furiously. Make ...

Late in summer, when the first sprinkles of monsoon sign in...when monsoon is just about the corner...thats when I see these glorious orange-yellow mangoes. They have a mature, robust, full bodied flavour that lingers. These are my favourite. My son lapped up mango mash as an infant, but after a season away from the divine fruit, it took some time to get him to fall in mango love again. Here's my recipe for a Mango finale with some Cashew fanfare: Ingredients: Fully ripe mango - 1 cut into bite sized pieces Cashew - half cup soaked for about three hours Sugar - To taste Milkmaid - Two tablespoons (optional) Process: Grind the soaked Cashew first in a mixie, then add the sugar. Add mango pieces and the milkmaid to the jar and blend till silky smooth. Adjust the quantity of sugar according to taste. Those who are concerned over the sugar intake can skip adding any. What comes out is flowing mango garbed in heavenly yellow. The cashew flavour is just a hint and the milkmaid gives a fr...

An Apple a day keeps the doctor away. No arguments there. Which is why I fed my son Rudra a mashed apple everyday for his first eighteen months. Thanks to Ms Gamedar, my son was fortunate to have a balanced diet comprising of Uggu, properly cooked fruit and other yummy food that was very very good. Here is the recipe for ' Apple mash ': Ingredients: . 1 Apple peeled, cored and cut into tiny pieces . One teaspoon sugar . One or two tablespoons of milk Process: Take the apple pieces in a dish that has a tight fitting cover. I used a steel tiffin box. Put this box in a pressure cooker and add water to the cooker. About an inch's depth should be fine. Do not add water inside the dish with apples. The moisture in apples is enough to cook them. Pressure cook for about five whistles. Remove the apple pieces, allow them to cool a little and then blend them with the milk and sugar in a mixer or a blender. Remove the mash to a bowl, drizzle a lil honey on top and feed baby while the ...

Its all things tomato for my family. And my son Rudra is no better. Tomato rasam is his all time favourite. There are a number of variations to tomato rasam recipes and this is the one specific to my family, the one I learnt from Rangamma, my peddamma. Dressed in vivid Gadwal sarees, huge moon sized bottu and traditional telangana jewelry, she has to only touch a dish to make it taste like heaven. Here goes: Ingredients: 2 Large ripe tomatoes - this makes enough rasam for two people. Masala: Peppercorns - 1/2 teaspoon Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon Coriander seeds - 1/2 teaspoon Garlic pods - 4 to 5 Tadka: Cumin seeds - 3 pinches Red chillies - 2 long ones Black gram - 3 pinches Mustard seeds - 3 pinches Preparation: Boil tomatoes with the skins on in three cups of water. Once the pulp starts to seep out of the skins, the tomatoes can be considered done. Wait till the tomatoes cool down and then squeeze them to extract the juice. Separate skins and other undissolved fibrous content from ...