As I started writing today, I realized that it has almost been two years since I started this blog. In these two years, I have seen the terrible twos and horrible threes, although, I have to admit there were some ‘oh so cute’ moments sprinkled in too.
Parenthood has taught me that parents are human-beings, who are not perfect, who have their own mood swings, who are not always right and need not be ‘friends’ to their kids. This is quite a revelation for me, someone who was culturally brought up with the notion that parents are always right. My own experience as a parent has taught me that often parents will resort to tactics, fair or not, just to make things work. After all, we are trying to survive yet another day, just like anyone else, but with the added responsibility of providing care to the nextgen.
As a mom, I often try to ensure that my daughter has enough greens everyday. Note that it is not an easy task where a three year old pre-schooler is concerned -- one who often picks the best things from her lunch box or dinner plate and then runs away when not in a mood to eat or finds something else that is more appealing. One of those ‘unfair’ tactics that I apply is when I am trying to get my child to eat spinach. The spinach leaves, as soon as they become visible, are discarded by her right away. So, I came up with this recipe to get her to eat whatever little spinach I can.
Ingredients:
Chicken drumsticks (skinless) – 8
Spinach – 2 bunches (alternatively, use baby spinach)
Onions – 1 (chopped)
Garlic – 3 cloves (chopped)
Tomato – 1
Turmeric powder– 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 2tbsp
Black pepper powder - 1tsp
Garam masala powder (dry ground cardamom, clove, cinnamon) – 1tbsp
Salt to taste
Olive oil – 4tbsp
The night before, I had boiled the spinach for about 15 minutes. On the day of the cooking, I just pureed it in a blender. I heated the oil in a wok and added the garlic and onions to it. After cooking this in medium heat for about 5 minutes, I added the turmeric, coriander and black pepper powders along with salt and tomato and cooked for another 5 minutes. Then I added the chicken drumsticks and cooked in medium heat for about 10 minutes. The spinach puree was added last and cooked for an additional 30 minutes on medium-low heat – halfway through I ensured that the cover was placed so that there was enough gap to avoid splattering but allow the escape of steam as the gravy dried to a thick consistency. The garam masala was added in the last 2 minutes.
During dinner, my daughter emphasized that there should be no ‘sauce’ on her plate so I gave her the chicken bits with a little spinach smuggled in. As long as she does not realize it, do I care? For the imom, a full tummy is equal to a happy child, which in turn is equivalent of sane parents at home.
