KIDS AND SPICE
A little bit of (unrefined) sugar is the ideal way to help the spices go down! Big and little kids who are reluctant to play with more unusual or complex spice flavours can get a real nudge along just by adding a little jaggery to whatever you spice. When it came to training the palate’s of my own children, I used simple spicing with higher amounts of jaggery to begin with. As they became more and more comfortable with more complex flavour, I reduced the jaggery over time until they embraced flavour. If you are not a fan of sugars and don’t want to use too much, consider adding a little extra of a creamy fat (ghee, butter or even yoghurt) to help soften complex flavours for young palates.
KIDS AND SPICE TIPS:
Use familiar vegetables that your children already love when playing with new flavours.
Start small using softer spices that are less confronting - think a mild salt, a little ground turmeric, perhaps ginger and cumin seed. Jaggery will work well to soften this combination into a yummy and palatable flavour for kids.
Understand that a child’s palate experiences flavour in a much more intense way, so go easy with the ratios and quantities.
Frying makes everything more attractive: even if you’r not a lover of oil or are a little fearful of too much fat, a bit of fried and spiced potato can be a great introduction that will be welcomed by your little critics.
One of my secrets was to always use chapatti as accompaniment because the kids loved to eat them and it coaxed them into eating more of the spiced produce.
Alternatively, turn to stuffed chapatti to get your kids started. See my recipe for aloo parantha.