Come See My Palak Paratha

Palak Paratha used like banana leaf with pickle at the top followed by Vinegar Onion, Orange marmalade, Tomato chutney, sugar in the center and a tiny bowl of curd.

Yesterday at Ved's dinner we got to meet all the colleague's kids. The youngest was 7-8 month old Anirudh and the eldest a teenager. All the kids were excited as the summer vacations have just started. It was their first party of the season.

We had a round of all the couples describing there partners and the singles describing themselves so that the spouses who are not part of our team get to know each other. Sathish sang a Tamil song and Parimala's husband sang a Rafi song really beautifully.

Sunil's son Advaith did a jig while Ved's younger one sang "Mere laundry ka ek bill"

All of us had some good time chatting up each other and it was the first time I was meeting some of the colleague's families as I have not been attending such functions so far.

Javeed's lil girl Fatima will be an entertainer I suppose she loved to be on the stage. Preeti's daughter was happy watching other kids have fun. She is now an elder sis and its showing.

I was watching the kids eat. All of them were fussing when it came to food. Anitha's Aditi refused the khichadi that she had got from home and the 1+ lil cutie wanted to try what elders were eating.

This is the time when kids can be introduced to some fun with food. So the recipe of the Palak Paratha is only a small reason for this post.

I made it today for my 68 yr old kid and inspite of all the choice of chutneys and curd he still grabbed the bottle of ketchup and was asking me what do I eat it with? That's when I told him that I did a poll here on the blog:

What do you like to have your parathas with? (See side bar)

Out of the total 27 responses not a single person had voted for ketchup.

So now you know why I call him the ketchup king!

If you get the kids to help you out and put together a plate like this I don't think they will fuss about food. I have always got my nephews excited about what they ate when I served them food in an innovative way.

My eldest nephew who is now in the Ist year of Engineering hated milk like all other kids. I would add just a bit of a different colored syrup to his milk and he would love to have it while he stayed with me during the vacs. Infact he would ask me what would be the color of milk on the day! His mother however just shunned off the idea saying she didn't have the time to fuss over it everyday, she is a working mother you see. Then would follow a battle between mother and son of shoving the milk down his throat while he was still half asleep and then get shoveled into the bathroom and then the school bus! This is the story in all the families every morning.

See what you can do to change it. If not try this Palak Paratha :) and serve it like here. After all this is the vacation season.

Ingredients

1 cup pureed spinach/ palak
1.25 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
1/2 teaspoon green chili paste
salt to taste
2 teaspoon oil

In a big bowl add all the items and knead slowly into smooth dough. Add the oil and knead for another 5 mins. Leave the dough still for 10 mins.

Now knead again for 2 mins and pinch of small part of the dough. Roll out a small round. Apply oil fold to half, then oil again and fold it to a quarter. Roll out the quarter folded dough into a triangular paratha. It looks exactly like a banana leaf.

Traditional Indian food has always been served on a banana leaf. In Maharashtra the banana leaf is laid vertical with the tip facing away from the body where as in South India the leaf is laid horizontal with the tip of the leaf pointing to the left.

Is this exciting for you as a parent then do it along with your kid. I'm sure you will have happy memories of this summer's culinary experiments. Happy Vacationing!