Start 'em young

What's the best way to introduce kids to the joys of cooking Indian food?

 

I have always been a fan of Jamie Oliver’s, having enjoyed his many TV cooking shows. I became even more of a devotee when Oliver dedicated himself to improving school dinners in the UK. But it was his recent initiative, 10 Cooking Skills for Life, rolled out for schoolkids to help them learn how to cook, that set me thinking: how could we best introduce our kids to the joys of Indian cooking? It must be done in a way that doesn’t scare them off the process. And yet, it needs to be challenging enough so that they learn the requisite skills to put an Indian meal together.

 

So, how do we reconcile these two objectives, while keeping things fun and wholesome in the kitchen? Well, here are just some tips I thought of in case you have children around the ages of 10-12, whom you would like to introduce to the art of cooking their own cuisine.

 

·       The easiest route to learning how to cook for a child is through the humble egg; and the easiest recipe to master is the akuri, the spiced scrambled eggs that make an appearance at most Indian breakfasts. Just chop up garlic, onions, tomatoes and green chillis, sautee them quickly, then add the whisked eggs with your choice of spices like cumin and coriander, and you are good to go. Once your child has mastered this art, you can move on to the other Indian breakfast staple: the masala omelet. 

·       All parents struggle to get their children to eat their vegetables, so cooking with them may present a challenge. But not if you start with something every kid loves: the potato. Teach them how to peel and cut the potato in thin strips to make aloo bhaja; to boil potatoes and sautee with masalas to make a tasty aloo dum; or mash it up with onions, chillis, spices and a dash of mustard oil to make a chokha. Once they have mastered these arts, you can incorporate other vegetables into their recipes: maybe add some aubergine to the bhaja; slip in some peas or even a few florets of gobhi into the aloo dum.

·       If you’re starting with the basics of Indian cooking, then you can’t really ignore the yellow dal. Thankfully, making this is not difficult and long-winded. All you need is a pressure cooker to boil the dal and some ingredients for the tarka. This can be as simple or as complicated as you wish. You can go the whole onion-garlic-tomatoes route or you could just teach your child to heat some ghee, toss some jeera or mustard seeds in, add a dash of red chilli for colour. Splash over your dal and enjoy.

·       While making a chicken curry or even mutton kebabs may be beyond your child’s burgeoning skill set, there are simpler ways to incorporate fish and meat in your meal. Fish may be messy to handle, but prawns are easy to peel and stir fry with your masala of choice. A finely-chopped keema is easy to put together with some beans for texture. And once you’ve taught them how to boil rice, they are ready to feed themselves for the rest of their lives. Bon Appetit, everyone!