Pinkish Parathas, Little Victories And More!



What do you do when your kid is an uber-picky eater? You think of ways to introduce veggies into his meals. 

Since two days, I have been trying to make different types of parathas. Yesterday was peas-paratha. I boiled some peas until they turned soft (they turn soft quickly!). I grinded them into a fine paste along with green chillies, curry leaves and coriander leaves. Then I added some spices (turmeric, chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin powder), salt and crushed Ajwain to the paste. I mixed the paste with wheat flour. The parathas turned out fine. The kid first asked what kind of paratha it was, made a face, then ate it. Also carried it for snacks! So far so good!

Today I prepared carrot-and-beetroot paratha. You need to resort to desperate measures when dealing with a picky-eater! I grated two carrots and a small beetroot and stir-fried them in a pan by adding the above mentioned spices. Once cooled, I added the grated veggies into wheat flour and prepared a dough. Fair warning- the dough looks hideous, like something uncooked. One look at the dough, and the kid rigorously shook his head. 'Whatever it is, I am not eating THAT!' He said very firmly. I convinced him to at least taste the paratha. He took a small bite of it and nodded unconvincingly. 'I will take it plain - no need to add any jam, sauce or pickle to it.' He said finally. 

While the paratha looks somewhat pinkish, it tasted all right. Some people prefer to grind the beetroot-carrot into a paste. I have tried this but the dough looks entirely magenta in colour. Everyone may not like it when the paratha looks dark maroon! Hence I tried with a small beetroot and added more carrots so that the colour of the paratha is somewhat palatable. Also, using the veggies in grated form rather than the ground paste, helps in getting decent coloured parathas. You can also added crushed methi to the flour while preparing the dough. It gives a different flavour to the parathas.

The husband looked at the parathas and raised his eyebrows. When he took a bite, he nodded and calmly told to add in more of these to his lunch. Whew! 

It is fun to try out new recipes. Also, you learn to celebrate the little victories! There is no saying when the kid will change his mind. Probably he will bring back the said parathas untouched today from school. Probably he will refuse any more attempts at veggie-infused parathas and will ask for plain ones tomorrow. But today he had some, and that is a little victory for me! 

A small tip for mental health - enjoy the process of cooking, and relish your food when you eat it. After all, you went into lots of trouble preparing it! Cook happily, eat happily!

I think I should give the kid a break tomorrow and keep it simple. In the meanwhile, I am thinking of what else can be added to parathas. Well, that sweet-potato has been lying in the basket since a while...

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