One in a millet

There’s something about wanting your child to eat healthy food once you become a mother. That’s probably why I started looking into ingredients that are high in nutrients. The best part is that my 10-year-old daughter is very honest when it comes to food. She doesn’t think twice about how I might feel about her feedback, she tells me as it is. No complaints though she is what makes me want to improve it the next time I prepare it.

I was always fond of cooking and as a child used to help my mother with simple tasks. Whenever she prepared ‘dosa’ at home, I would add oil and chutney to it; sometimes I even made salads and milkshakes. They were mostly ‘no-fire’ sort of work. But the first time I was in charge of the kitchen was when I was 17. My mother had to go out of town so I ended up preparing rice, ‘sambhar’ and ‘rasam’.

Sadly, my brother had to eat the extra turmeric ‘rasam’ I prepared. When I was preparing it, I tried to recollect how my mother normally made it and thought she added more turmeric. I didn’t know how strong turmeric is and that only a small amount is required. Well, lesson learnt and now I’m always praised for making the best ‘rasam’. It’s these little disasters that encourage me to try new things.

I stopped working as an IT professional in 2007 and have been a homemaker since. I started researching more about healthy ingredients and how I can incorporate them into my daughter’s diet. ‘Plattershare’, a recipe sharing platform, helped me discover that side of myself.

Even if it’s a simple burger or pizza, I make it at home. I know these won’t have the restaurant quality but my family doesn’t complain about it when eating. One such experimentation is what led me to come up with the recipe of ‘Red poha cake’.

Millets are packed with nutrition but kids don’t like them. And with me being a chocolate lover, I figured this would be a cool way to show my daughter that healthy food doesn’t have to be boring. I first attempted this when her friends came over and to my relief, they devoured it like any other dessert. My mission was accomplished, so I can say that your family will enjoy it too.

Rajeswari Annamalai