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India’s Signature Dish? Masala Dosa!

by admin on August 19, 2010 | 4 Comments

What is made with ground rice and white split lentils batter, circular or oval in shape, golden brown on the outside, fluffy white on the inside, roasted to perfection on a griddle, with its inner white walls coated with a liberal dollop of garlic-red chilli chutney before a cup of boiled potatoes fried with sliced onions and slit green chillies is ladled onto the middle, then folded over into a perfect arc, a small tor on a plate or a nonchalant shape and served with a spoonful of butter on top and a cup of fragrant coconut chutney tempered with mustard seeds and curry leaves?

Potato-filled South Indian crepes, as Epicurious labels it in its “Around the world in 80 dishes”.

We’ll stick to the time-tested, easily rolled-off-the-tongue, pentasyllabic ‘Masala Dosa’ that doesn’t need accentuation in the form of carets or tildes, what say?

This could be seen as a proud moment for South Indians who’ve long had to deal with well-meaning countrymen from north of the Hebbal Flyover, as Thejaswi calls them, pronouncing the “Do” half of the second word as a hard consonant rather than a soft one.

It’s pronounced Though-Sah. Yes, like that. Try it, it’s not tough at all.

I’ve seen some very ladylike friends try to eat it in small nibbles with knife and fork – you can’t commit a bigger sin than try to eat a Masala Dosa with any instrument other than your fingers. For one, your digits are God-given. Secondly, they don’t add a metallic taste to the dosa-eating experience. Thirdly – um, do you need a third reason when a Masala Dosa is staring you in the face?

Much as I love paratha and vada pav and aloo poshto, my South Indian roots and gastronomical leanings have been validated that India is defined by the Masala Dosa amid food-loving circles the world over.

Source
http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/cuisines/aroundtheworldin80dishes/indiadosasrecipe

Eating habits for a school going child

by admin on August 10, 2010 | 2 Comments

By the time the child enters elementary school, a firm foundation for lifelong eating habits has usually been established.
Food habits of preschool children also apply to school children. Group acceptance is an important factor at this age. The child is greatly influenced by the food habits of others in school and needs to keep up with his or her classmates.
Children of this age have a good appetite but are usually in a hurry and don’t like to take time for meals. Breakfast is likely to be skipped. So the dishes prepared should be quick to eat and nutritious.
Another peculiar feature of this age group of children is that they usually eat most of the foods except vegetables. The importance of fiber, vegetables and fruits must be stressed. Limit the use of sweets and sticky foods that remain in the mouth for a long time as they can increase the risk of tooth decay.
School children are also subject to various other stresses, which can affect their appetite. School work, competition and emotional stresses in getting along with other children have adverse effects on the child’s appetite along with an unbalanced plan of activity and rest. There should be a good balance between activity and rest. Proper planning is essential so that the child can balance every activity in a relaxed way. Maintain regularity in meal timings. It is this clock, which enables us to keep some kind of an order in one’s life. Make it a rule that children will eat at certain time only and they will eat only at the dining table. This rule can be relaxed in case of illness, where a child can be offered food more often as desired since their capacity to eat more at a time is reduced during illness.
It is important that parents and children spend certain time together at the table, say 15 – 20 minutes so that the child will take time to eat. This is also the time to teach them good table manners. Be a positive role model for your child. Children learn good habits from what you do and not by what you say. In spite of your efforts to make them eat fruits and vegetables, you fail, then you can start them on multivitamin supplements as per your doctor’s advice.

Diet for a school going child (6 – 12 yrs)

by admin on July 29, 2010 | 2 Comments

The rate of growth slows down in children and body changes occur gradually. The requirements of calories and proteins are increased further. Include two or more extra servings or protein rich foods like pulses, nuts, paneer, tofu, and soy products etc. Requirements of other nutrients are also increased because reserves are being laid down for the demands of the approaching adolescent period. The increased requirements of protein would meet the demands of growth. Girls between 10 – 12 require more protein than boys, since they approach menarche early. During 10 – 12 years children require more calcium to meet the demands for skeletal growth. Therefore include at least three servings of milk or milk products like paneer, cheese, curds, green leafy vegetables etc in the child’s diet. The iron requirements are increased since the blood volume is increased. Include iron rich foods like whole grain cereals, leafy vegetables, dry fruits and nuts.

Source
Healthy eating habits for children(3-12 years)
www.prismbooks.com

Eating habits of a preschooler Part – 2

by admin on July 22, 2010 | 1 Comment

Children sometimes hate drinking hot milk but enjoy drinking it if served cold. In such cases try serving cold milk. Also keep changing the color and flavor of milk by adding cocoa, honey or by making milk shakes of different kinds. There are also malted foods, which add flavor and taste to bland milk. You can also give them milk products like paneer, cheese, yogurt with fruits etc in place of milk. Tea and coffee should never be given to children, as they are harmful to their health.
Maintain regularity in meal timings. Allow the child to eat meals with the rest of family. Cultivate the habit of eating home cooked foods. Let them learn about your traditional food habits and customs. Children are great imitators. They enjoy doing what their daddy, mummy or other children are doing. Teach them good eating habits. The food habits that they learn now ill last their lifetime. Encourage plenty of fruits and vegetables in their daily diet and explain the importance of eating the right kind of food start by serving little at a time. And show them how good they taste. You can serve their favorite dish along with the newly introduced food. Also encourage them to eat everything that is on their plate. But at any cost, do not force them to take more than what they can. This may lead to overeating or the development of food aversion. Also never show any dislike towards a particular food in front of the child. This too may lead to the child’s rejection of food.

Try to share their food choices along with the rest of the family. The children should not always be given total freedom in their diet. Otherwise they become picky eaters.

Children are slow eaters. Allow them enough time (approximately 30mts) to eat so as to chew the food properly. Never spoon feed the child. By now they should have learnt to eat by themselves. Allow them to eat by themselves even if they mess up the table and themselves. Otherwise the child gets into the habit of being fed and will never develop a desire to eat by herself. Some parents whose children are fussy eaters feel that their children eat more when they feed them.

Lastly, avoid using desserts and sweets as rewards for finishing a meal. This teaches that dessert is the most desirable part of a meal and increases child’s preference for sweet foods, and reduces subsequent acceptance of non sweet foods.

Source
Healthy eating habits for children(3-12 years)
www.prismbooks.com

Eating habits of a preschooler Part – 1

by admin on July 15, 2010 | 1 Comment

Preschoolers are impressionable, so are influenced by parental food habits, likes and dislikes as well as the food habits of siblings. But by all means the RDA’s for growing children has to be met and this is the responsibility of the parents.

A preschooler can eat all the dishes prepared for the rest of the family. But avoid highly spiced foods. Kids of this age group seem to be the fussiest eaters. Feeding then robs all your time and effort. So try to make the food interesting and appealing to tempt them.

Children enjoy colorful and attractive foods. For e.g. sandwiches can be cut into fun shapes using a cookie cutter and the fillings can be colorful vegetables or just cheese or honey, jams, mint chutney, sauce etc and served in attractive plates. Chapattis, puris or cutlets can also be made into fun shapes. Make chappatis into miniature sizes. Add natural colours like ground spinach to give a green color and beetroot juice to give a pink color to the chappati. The same could be added to dosas too. Rice can be made to look attractive by putting then in different fun shaped moulds or cups and then transferring it to the plate so that it acquires the shape of the mould. This can be decorated with boiled peas. Peanuts, sprouts, vegetable cuttings etc. You can create more variations in the presentation of food to make it look more attractive. Instead of throwing the squeezed lemon, shape it into a cup and serve their favorite sauces, chutneys, etc. in this cup.
Mothers can sing various nursery rhymes that describe food items in them. Singing such rhymes often arouses some kind of interest in eating. Giving a different name to the dish sometimes works the same dish can be given a different name (with slight alterations) which makes the child believe it to be different dish.

Source

Healthy eating habits for children(3-12 years)

www.prismbooks.com

Balanced menu for a child

by admin on July 9, 2010 | 1 Comment

Meals	MENU – On a Week Day	MENU – On Weekends
Breakfast	Garden Sandwich and milk	Tofu uttapum and fruit
Mid Morning	Crunchy cerealor Peanut chikki	Till ladooor Mango cups
Lunch	Paneer paratha Tomato chutney Fruit	Noodles in bean sauce Rainbow salad Fruit
Evening Tea	Mixed vegetable hotdog Mixed fruit cocktail	Sweet corn bhelpuri Badam delight
Dinner	Protein pulav Julienne chinese fry Sponge cakepudding	Chinese fried rice Stuffed potatoes Fruit basket
Bedtime	Milk	Milk
Source Healthy eating habits for children(3-12 years) www.prismbooks.com

Diet for a pre schooler: (3-5 years)

by admin on July 9, 2010 | 21 Comments

The requirements of different nutrients vary according to children’s age. Body size and activity also influence the child’s caloric requirements. Their calorie requirement is high, since energy is needed for growth and to replace energy used up in their busy active day. Whole grains or enriched cereals are high in calories. Fats and oils are important sources of energy for children but their use should be limited. Restrict the use of fried foods and foods with a high fat content such as creams, biscuits, cakes, pastries, chocolates, etc. These foods and other sweets can be offered only as occasional treats. Eating excessive sweets can cause tooth decay. Train children to take unsweetened milk right from the beginning.

Vitamins and minerals must be supplemented adequately. Calcium and iron are the two important minerals. Calcium is needed for their growing bones and teeth. Foods rich in calcium such as milk products, ragi, and green leafy vegetables should be included daily in the children’s diet. Lack of iron in the diet can lead to anemia. To check these problems, include plenty of iron rich foods like rice flakes, green leafy vegetables, fruits and vegetables, dry fruits etc. Preschool children are susceptible to various illnesses such as diarrhea, measles, and respiratory infections etc, which are the main causes of malnutrition. These infections coupled with medication take away the appetite and reduce food intake often for many days. They inhibit the absorption of food that is eaten; drain the body of nutrients through vomiting and diarrhea, and burn up calories in fever. The end result is frequent weight loss. All these factors also increase the requirement of various nutrients during this age.

Source

Healthy eating habits for children(3-12 years)

www.prismbooks.com

After school snacks for kid’s

by admin on July 1, 2010 | 1 Comment

Back home from the school, kids are hungry, tired and exhausted. Children seem to have the biggest appetite at this time. They need some good heavy snacks that contain some amount of proteins along with carbohydrates to refuel their body. After school snacking also contributes to the daily nutritional needs. You can include any healthful snacks like sandwiches, pav bhaji’s, dhoklas, upmas, pohas, veg pancakes, pastas, cutlets, etc. Restrict the use of too much sweets, fried foods and processed foods. Ensure that you provide some calcium rich foods like milk, yogurt or cheese every day on their arrival back home from school. However, during holidays and vacations the children may not have much appetite during tea time. On such days, a glass of milk and biscuits or sandwiches may be given.

Source

Healthy eating habits for children(3-12 years)

www.prismbooks.com

Planning healthy menus for children

by admin on July 1, 2010 | 1 Comment

Some basic points are to be considered while planning menus for children. You need to consider which foods will supply the essential nutrients, how much food they need, their likes and dislikes etc. This can be done using the Food Guide Pyramid.

Children need a variety of foods from five small meals a day. As children up to the age of 10-12
years need to eat every 4-6 hours to maintain a blood glucose concentration high enough to support the activity of the brain and nervous system. Hence, 3 regular meals and 2 snacks which include breakfast, mid –morning, lunch, evening snacks and dinner are a must.

Varieties in Foods are a must

With a mix of food the child consumes a mix of fibers, both soluble and insoluble and they get the benefit of both the types.

Source

Healthy eating habits for children(3-12 years)

www.prismbooks.com