In nuclear families where the parents do most of the cooking, children are often fascinated with the going-ons in the kitchen and it’s a great family activity to rope in the kids in the cooking process. Not only do they learn the rudimentaries of the kitchen while having great fun, they also learn to appreciate the sumptuous meals placed before them at regular intervals.
One, must, however, take care not to involve children in exercises where one needs to do a whole lot of chopping and deep frying for obvious safety reasons.
Easy Drop Scones
Drop Scones are one of the easiest things to make with kids. All it requires is getting the ingredients together and mixing well. The cooking time is also under five minutes per batch. So it’s easy and fast to make and not too messy, which is what you are looking for when cooking with kids.
Ingredients
1 cup flour
½ tsp baking soda
1 cup milk
2 tsp sugar
Pinch of salt
1 egg
Butter or oil for frying
Method
In a non-metallic bowl, ask your kid to sift the flour and baking soda. Break the egg into the flour, add the salt, sugar and a little of the milk. The child can then mix them all together adding the remainder of the milk slowly. The batter should be smooth and not runny.
Heat a frying pan with very little butter or oil and slowly drop a tablespoonful of the mixture into the pan. Fry on medium heat for about 2 minutes till they turn golden brown. Flip
them over and fry a further 1-2 minutes. They will
have to be made in batches.
Serve with butter, jam and cream, lemon and sugar or honey.
Stuffed Parathas
While this is not as easy to make with younger kids as the previous one but with a little adult supervision it should not be too difficult. Kids love kneading flour, and though they generally make a mess of things, they derive huge satisfaction from the entire process. Stuffed parathas of all kinds is a great and healthy way to fill up young stomachs. This recipe is for aloo parathas but you can use any vegetable you want, or even a combination of different mashed veggies.
Ingredients
1 cup whole-wheat flour (atta), plus extra for dusting
½ cup water
Pinch of salt
2 medium potatoes, previously boiled
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
½ tsp amchoor powder
Oil to cook
Method
The child can have a fun time kneading the dough by mixing 1 cup flour, salt and the water. Add more water if needed. Knead the dough for a few minutes until soft and pliable. Make small balls of the dough.
Separately mash the potato and add salt, cumin seeds, coriander leaves and amchoor. Mix well and make into small balls, a little larger than the dough balls.
Roll the dough into 3 inch circles and place the potato balls in the centre. Seal by pulling the edges of the dough together. Make all the paratha balls like this before you start to roll them.
Heat a tava on medium high.
Roll the paratha balls in whole-wheat flour, press lightly and keep the sealed side on top when rolling. Make each one into approximately 6-inch circles. Whenever needed sprinkle some extra flour to prevent sticking.
Place the paratha on the tava and after a few seconds you will see the paratha change colour and puff up in different places. Flip the paratha over and cook on the other side for a few seconds, then spread 1 teaspoon of oil on the paratha, flip and put some more oil on the other side.
Serve with yogurt, pickle and butter.