Toddler Steps: An Indian's Guide to Toddler Food

TODDLER ALERT!! I have one right now on my feet, trying to chew my clothes. They are such adorable little creatures. Walking around the house like a drunk penguin, smiling and uttering words in alien languages. They just make a working day go by in a breeze, with half the work done, but keeping you doubly tired at that. I sometimes wonder, what the secret behind their energy is. A HEALTHY DIET goes a long way in keeping them active and gaining weight at that. And more so for us in India, where we are blessed with fresh fruits and vegetables, much lesser in price than their tinned varieties.

My beautiful food-story!

Mumbai is finally raining! Ahh… Such relief from the hot and humid. It’s cool now, and I have a view of green covered mountains from my window ledge. I just want to sit on it with a steaming transparent cup of white leaf tea, the perfect brew- which shines golden in the cloudy sun outside; and remember that beautiful time when we were together! The perfect candlelight dinner I made for u to surprise you. You craved for that cheesy lasagne for long. I delivered it with just the perfect amount of naughtiness in the form of 2 well rounded cheeses- cheddar and parmiggiano. Perfect amount of tang in the form of the ruby red tomato-meat sauce that I made from the scratch. And not to forget, was the sweetness of grilled veggies that I lined on to add a twist of nutrition just for you! It was layered perfectly, but would have looked much better in a borosil lasagne dish, but I didn’t think of it then!

I was busy kneading back then rather to think of presenting my food. You remember, I also made the fluffy and dented, olive focaccia. Ah the romance of the yeast rising, the aroma of the fresh olive oil, the madness of the all-purpose flour. How wonderful would it have looked in a transparent vessel, I wonder now. The little pockets of air, which transformed the flour into a pillow, all visible from the sides. And the best would have been the fact that it would be perfect to put in the oven, and get it to the table too. If only that day I had realised! With you inside me, the comfort of such bake and serve would have been the greatest!

And for the sweet dish, ah, my homemade Peanutella Mugsy with a dollop of cool ice cream on top. I made peanutella, rather than exposing you to store bought nutella. Noise of the blender excited you, but smoothness of the sauce calmed you. And when I made the flourless cake after the very carb enriched dinner, you were beyond yourself in joy! I could feel your excitement when you saw the mugsy batter rising in the microwave to the brim of the pretty dessert cups. Your kicks of joy sent flutters down my spine. Yeah not one of the super nutritious meals, but definitely one of the most celebratory one! The hot, out of microwave cake, combined with cool, out of freezer ice cream; heaven in a bite!

You loved it then, and today, when you have developed your own little 1 year old taste buds, your mom is curious. Yes, the candlelight dinner that we had was when you were literally a part of me, 7 month old inside me. But today you are out. And you have distinctive likes and dislikes. Hopefully your mom’s food will always be a part of the former, and not the latter.

Today I am trying to do something I have never done before. I am trying to unleash the storyteller in me; on to you but without pictures! This is my entry post to #BeautifulFood hosted by MyBorosil.com and Indiblogger.in.

Cheers!!