A writer-turned-full-time mommy sticks her tongue out at shapeless mounds of unappetising baby food and opts for Nigella Lawson's Linguine and Master Chef-esque Baby Potatoes in Thyme to feed her two year-old. Here's a "new mom's" account of how dip on the face can be a toddler's first unsteady step to becoming
a certified gourmet

Ever since Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver, Kylie Kwong, Master Chef and others set foot in our homes, the food coming out of my kitchen has morphed from the dal-chawal-roti-sabzi into something else altogether. For me, besides hunger management, food now plays another vital role -- it needs to seduce with the way it looks.



This held true, even more after I became a mother, as I was trying to introduce my son to the world of flavours and textures, having found baby-food too demeaning to keep him on it. I mean why should babies eat a pureed mush when they are actually ready for more?

Luckily, Rehaan, even at six months thought so too.u00a0u00a0It all started from his squeal of delight at seeing his purple palms stained with beetroot puree. I had decided that his first exploit with solids would be the vibrant beetroot instead of the more staid pumpkin. So I mashed up a boiled one and presented it to him. He dug his whole palm in it and was excited with the results. Soon, he was beetroot painting his face and mine.

Before he turned one, he exhibited all the signs of a potential gourmand, grabbing soup-sticks in restaurants, dousing Idlis in molagapodi (a spicy powder mixed with oil and served as an accompaniment -- it's also known as gun powder, rather fittingly) and chomping on one, besides helping himself to a mixed lettuce salad with vinaigrette dressing.

I knew I had birthed a foodie and raised the bar for myself. So I did what any sane mother would do. I bought him an Ikea kitchen set, complete with colanders, saucepans, cookie cutters, ladles, rolling pin, and even a gas range, while I went about perfecting my culinary art.

Baby potatoes in thyme
A for Aloo is probably what they should teach at preschool, since in India, no matter which region you come from, your child's relationship with potatoes runs deep. Aloo was also Re's favourite vegetable of play, with him tossing them into real cauldrons (mine) and pretending to stir fry, or sometimes pierce them with a fork.



While I continued to render Aloo Parathas, crispy Aloo Sabzi or Aloo Raita, I found myself wondering what else to do with potatoes that looked good enough for Re to eat them whole. Mashed potatoes were not goodlooking enough, hash browns needed an accompaniment, roasted potatoes were great but difficult to master consistency with, and Dum Aloo lacked dum.

Then one day, a bag of Baby Potatoes arrived and he looked at them suspiciously, wondering perhaps, "Who shrank the potatoes?" It took him a while to get friendly with those babies thoughu00a0-- he still preferred their more robust, adult versions. The trick was to find a stand-alone Baby Potato dish that could win him over, qualify as finger food, be appealing to the eye, and that I would enjoy as much.

My Baby Potatoes in Thyme won on all counts. Simple, non-fussy and elegant with no extra work (it helps to choose evenly-sized potatoes but that's not an imperative). It's the one thing I always make when we have friends over. It looks good, and makes me look good, too.

Here's how it's made:

Ingredients:
One packet baby potatoes (or 250 g)
One tablespoon butter
Dried thyme, pepper
Salt to taste

Method:
Boil the baby potatoes enough to be able to peel them, and set aside. In a shallow pan, throw in the butter. Heat enough to melt the butter, then throw the thyme and pepper powder and then the potatoes. Add salt to taste, but remember that the butter is already salted. Toss it all around to mix thoroughly and roast on a slow flame till the potatoes are evenly brown.

Tabouleh salad

I often give Re real vegetables to play with, like onions, potatoes, beans, peas or lady fingers. It makes him feel like a real chef, making an important contribution to the daily spread. One afternoon, he set his hands on a box of cherry tomatoes in the fridge and set about using them to create something. He first bit into every cherry tomato and then threw the rest into a pan. Some, he just ate. It actually reminded me of the iconic "thoda khao thoda phekho" scene from Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron.



Very soon, there was a small heap of half-bitten tomatoes and the thrifty me couldn't let it go to waste. So, I decided to teach him the art of creating something out of waste. Soon, the heap found its way into a Tabouleh salad, made with couscous.

Here's how it's made:
Ingredients:
One cup couscous (or burghul wheat, or lapsi)
One packet of cherry tomatoes
Small bunch (3-4 stalks) parsley
Two spring onions (with leaves)
One tablespoon olive oil
Salt, pepper/paprika to taste
Juice of one lemon
5-6 black olives, sliced