Lilypie Kids birthday Ticker
Lilypie Kids birthday Ticker

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Something Indian

When I got pregnant with Gudiya things related to housework took a different turn. Hubby always prefer American stuff, no masalas or hot & spicy stuff, and it require very less work but during this pregnancy I didn’t feel like eating non-veg and I was too tired to cook 2 different meals cuz I used to feel nauseous all day long. The craving was just too much to ignore. Fortunately that time a guy opened a new shop in Jersey City. I went to that place couple of times & asked what other veg they cook & when. He said that he could cook whatever I like as long as I call him few hr. advance. That solved the purpose:-) We ordered from that guy for a long time even after Gudiya was born. It was worth it cuz if I think about going to Indian market, buy vegetable, cut it and make it with 2 crying kid, I loose interest even before eating That guy was Gujarati and I got to taste some good traditional dished too. And that time I mostly liked methi & saag dishes, which require lots of & rinsing so it seemed worth to order it:-)

Then that guy had to close his place but by that time I was ok with non-veg and we have a special place for non-veg food and we were fine. For a long time we ate outside food every meal of the day.. Actually I did. Kids were getting their stuff like chicken nuggets, mashed dal & kichdi (they didn’t prefer this though). Hubby was getting his sandwiches, egg salad and tuna salad, which requires very less time. I used to cook big pack of 2 kinds of different meats & make 2-3 side dishes on weekend, and hubby was all set for few days with additional chinese food & pizza take-outs:-). Kids are like hubby too. They prefer American food to Indian. They love all the sandwiches, egg salad & chicken. Every time I make paratha, any veg or dal, I end up eating that.

I don’t make resolutions but this year I though I have to try something otherwise my kids will never develop a taste for Indian food (Keshi are you reading this? Forcing the first generation;-). In our house we cook Indian food only on Mondays cuz that day I keep fast but even then my hubby & kids don’t eat Indian food. I usually order pizza or make khichdi (they like it) for them. But now I have to force my kids:-) So I decided to make 1 new dish every week and if it’s a hit I will write it down for Gudiya:-)

Last night hubby & I had talk about this

“Because of you we don’t cook Indian food. Before I used to think that I don’t want to cook all that just for me but now kids are becoming like you too so I have to do something. I don’t care if you want to or not; you HAVE to eat new dishes. I will pick the ones that you guys like & make a collection of atleast 365 dishes and I will leave those recipes for Gudiya:-)”

“Ok but will SHE use it or A:-)”

“I don’t care. Both will get a copy and if she doesn’t want to cook she can tell her hubby that I want that dish on page# 24 and he will cook for her;-)”

“OK, as long as you make Italian or Mexican food, I will eat ”

I didn’t get chance to make any new dish for weeks but since last week Im on roll:-) First I tried Coffee’s dhokla



Then Asha’s falafel



Yesterday we had Trupti’s ragda patties



And today I made idli & kind of dosa from the leftover dhokla batter with some more urad dal in it and we had Asha’s chana dal chutney.



And tonight I made Asha's peanut chicken



This I have to cut in pieces instaed of on skewers cuz then I don't have to worry about them poking each other:-) Gudiya was asking for corn which I wanted to put it in the chicken but forgot so I just put it on top of the chicken.. She took few bites of this chicken mixed with rice. great recipe even though I didn't marinate it still It was great:-)

Even though I made last 2 dishes today, consider this made yesterday (in January;-) I am planning on posting this kind of post in the first week of every month. And until I get at least 365 dishes for my kids booklet there will be a post every month;-) They have to have something Indian in their life, right? or something to remember me by and all the food bloggers whose recipes they will be using (I hope:-) ;-)

P.S By chance I tried all starters, which is the theme of Coffee’s MBP:-) So this is my contribution to the event :-)

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

CLAP!! CLAP!! CLAP!! Keep up the spirit girl!!!! WAY tO GO!!!!!!

With tish kind of determination I am not too sure if they can stay away from Indian food!!!!!

Can I give you a tip. Try giving an americanised name to any indian dish .... and see them gobble it up quickly.....

eg. dhokla = rice cake
radga patties = potato cakes with garbanzo curry or somehting like that!!!! Wat say????

Let me know if it works. :) I can help you with the naming ceremony if you get stuck somewhere. ;)

Itchingtowrite said...

hey.. lovely food u hav here.. ur kids wud soon start wanting ur special dishes only
that reminds me of my resolution- 1 new dish every month- so far i have january arrears to clear...

Ganesh Ranganathan said...

mmmmmmm...looks yummy...

hoping you will invite me to your house for lunch if I come to US.. :-))

Has to be me said...

Kewl....innovative mom! :)

FH said...

MY MY!! You are on a roll M!! Great looking dishes! 3 of mine and they look better than mine!!Whoa!!!:))))

Enjoy! With kids,that's exactly what I did!Cook more Indian ,they have to eat whether they like it or not!Hope they will still like them when they are in college.They love Butter Chicken,recipe will be out on the 14th!

Enjoy the Super Bowl!!

Anonymous said...

WOW!! Way to go! Make way, food bloggers, we have a newbie on the horizon and she's set to take on the world :) (at least the food blogging world!)
I love the spirit and determination and this is a good initiative! Agree with coffee, call it fancy western names and they'll gobble it up :) Also, how abt fusion cooking? Making pizza with parathas and mac'n cheese desi way...thats a good way to transition them into the lovely world of Indian food and once they are hooked, there's no turning back :)

Anonymous said...

WOW!! Way to go! Make way, food bloggers, we have a newbie on the horizon and she's set to take on the world :) (at least the food blogging world!)
I love the spirit and determination and this is a good initiative! Agree with coffee, call it fancy western names and they'll gobble it up :) Also, how abt fusion cooking? Making pizza with parathas and mac'n cheese desi way...thats a good way to transition them into the lovely world of Indian food and once they are hooked, there's no turning back :)

By Deepa and Supriya said...

And here I am complaining of being boring and predictable..simple resolutions like these can really spice up your life..what a neat idea..I want A to grow up eating Indian food too..at least at home :)
I really applaud your plans, your efforts and your thoughtfulnees..maybe you can give us a copy of the book as well ?

TNL said...

Great Idea...keep trying new Indian things,and who knows,it might become a favorite! Good luck,your efforts won't go wasted, I am sure.

Trupti

Sree said...

i am impressesd... they look soo yummy... I am sure kids would be wanting more of Indian food in just a matter of few days... looks like I need to make a trip to NY sooner to taste them... :0-)

Anonymous said...

What a fantastic idea, mommy of 2!!I sure do hope you will be sharing the recipes too!! :-)

Anonymous said...

Hardworking girl in the kitchen making new recipes. hmmm good for you. Nice ones ther.

Keshi said...

OMG ur food looks soooo yummy! It's a neat idea...do that or ur kids will forget their origins, which they never should.

** have to try something otherwise my kids will never develop a taste for Indian food (Keshi are you reading this? Forcing the first generation;-)

hehe yes Im reading baby :)


Keshi.

Artnavy said...

that looks incredibly appetizing

mommyof2 said...

coffee: thanks:-)

“Can I give you a tip. Try giving an americanised name to any indian dish .... and see them gobble it up quickly”

Tried that too:-) but these little creatures stare at the food for few seconds before putting in their mouth & if its something they don’t want, it comes right out with “Here Mamma”. Y’day I tried poha & sabudana vada but nope, they weren’t interested. Hubby ate vada as sandwich still A didn’t eat:-(

You can suggest me some recipes :-)

I2W: I read it on ur blog too:-) I didn’t want to write that Im thinking of same cuz I think of doing lots of things and ends up doing nothing:-) Somehow looking at wonderful dishes on food blogs made me try all this:-)

ganesh: sure:-) thanks:-)

HTBM: thanks:-)

Asha: So nice of you to say that but no, your looks yummy:-) Now we know the outcome of out effort, as you did the same & ur kids start eating Indian food:-) great motivation:-) And what’s up with ABCD’s & butter chicken? My kids eat chicken tikka masala (kind of butter chicken way) with no effort at all. Looking forward to try ur recipe:-)

@: Oh no no no, no plan to become a food blog Don;-) Just an effort to feed my kids & “big kid”;-)

“Making pizza with parathas and mac'n cheese desi way.”

Great idea.. I will look for the recipe :-) Im thinking of making whole wheat garlic pizza (coffee’s & madteaparty’s recipe) and I will try both the same day then:-)

Orchid: thanks:-) Moms think alike:-) Let me make one then you can get a copy too :-)

madsies: thanks:-) So did ur kids like the pizza? Share the recipe please:-)

trupti: thanks:-) I will try my best and because of all you wonderful food bloggers I feel like trying new recipe everyday (even though I can’t:-)

Sush: Thanks Sush:-)

Jay: thanks:-) I will try to write one food post with recipes in the first week of every month:-)

Priya: Thanks Priya:-)

Keshi: Thanks:-) Im going to try my best:-)

artnavy: Thanks:-)

Anusha said...

no plan to become a food blog Don my dear, you are already in a foodie event - there is no going back now! lol!

mommyof2 said...

@: lol! It was an coincident:-) and surprisingly her theme was starter too, which is something I made:-) so couldn’t resist;-) but you might be right.. it could be my next hobby(making dishes for these events;-)

btw Im waiting for ur recipe;-)

starry said...

WOW all the dishes look good. I had the same problem when the kids were little and once they started schol they wanted nothing Indian but now that they are teens they have started liking Indian food. I always made Indian food for me and my husband ,did not force the kids to eat but I think it is in their genes.

Alapana said...

I am so happy you stated with this resolution,i am saying this because how much you eat from outside somehow the simple daal chawal cooked at home feels great.i started cooking only when i got married and thankfully i am fairly a good cook and i knew that only now that i started doing it so,before i used to think i dont know how to cook rice in a pressure cooker,and i strongly believe that a way to a man's heart is through his stomach and thank god its working with my "Oh so very unromantic and boring hubby" as of now.and the only romantic mesg i got from him after staying away from me for more than one month is "missing your food" sigh!!!!

Blogrolled you so that i dont forget to visit your place whenever i get time:)

Anusha said...

btw Im waiting for ur recipe I know, I know - am trying to post that on the blog, but as you know that involves picture taking, uploding, yada, yada...so I'm hoping to get it up this week...

mommyof2 said...

starry: thanks:-)
atleast your huby ate indian food with u. Its hopeloess in my case unless I force him;-)Still I gave him the warning;-)

alapana: thanks:-)You are right about home cooked food. About "ways to men's heart", it didn't apply in my case;-)I tried to make dishes he like and he tells me "I don't like the way you smother me".. So I left him alone but now its about my kids so Im on roll until my rolls will get roll after eating all that food;-)

@: take ur time:-) I love recipes with step by step pics. This way I have pictures in my mind & I don't have to worry about writing down the recipe;-)I never find any pen, pencil when I need one and I swear we have atleast 100 of them somewhere;-)