Humor was my forte. My son was my muse.

Words were my strength. This space was my slate.

And now the words just don’t come. The right ones are elusive when you need them the most.

That’s when pictures help! So browse through these set of lunch ideas. There are five sets and all of them are mess-free.

My son’s lunch has to be mess free everyday. Else it comes right back untouched. So what I have clicked here is more or less what I send him on a regular basis. 

Snacks is almost always a fruit. And the main lunch is idli, dosa, bread, chapati, poori or in these lines.   

Dosa is a favorite for lunch. I sometimes make dosa sandwich with peanut butter or Nutella.

Life’s problems melt away when you open a bottle of nutella. I wish I could make some people dissolve away too ;-).

Just wishing!

Fruits is my choice for his snacks. The varieties usually range from apple  to pomegranate to oranges to bananas. Dry fruits and nuts are also a good choice. 

Poori is a favorite, but since I am still learning the art of deep-frying, this is not a regular one. I guess I am doing OK at the moment.

Ingredients:

Makes 6-8 pooris

• Whole wheat flour, atta     :        1 cup
• Salt                                              :       1/4 cup (optional)
• Water for kneading into a dough
• Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. In a big bowl, mix the atta and the salt.
2. Add water slowly and knead till you get a smooth, but stiff dough. For poori, you shouldn’t have a very soft dough – It should be a not to dry, not too wet kind of dough. If you want you can add 1 tbsp of hot oil (from the oil for deep frying) while kneading the dough.
3. The dough shouldn’t be allowed to rest as it soaks up oil (that’s what everyone says). Pinch 6-8 small balls to make the pooris.
4. Heat oil for deep frying. Roll out the balls of dough into a circle of 5-6″ diameter. I prefer oil to help with rolling than using wheat flour. The poori should not be too thin, it will be crisp if that’s the case. It should be thin tp medium and of even thickness, else it will not puff up.
5. When the oil is hot, gently slide the poori into it. It will go down and then surface up again. If the thickness of the poori is right (even through out), then it will puff up nicely. Flip over and fry the top as well. Take off the oil, let it sit in a kitchen napkin and then serve hot with potato masala.
6. Here I have just packed it as lunch for my son. He prefers to eat it just like that or pair it with jam now and then.

 

Jam/Nutella/Peanut butter and  sugar are mostly the side dishes for the main dish (idli/dosa etc). Rice is reserved for evening when he comes back from school and is too hungry to argue. 

Yet he argues everyday!

Bread is a savior. It’s easy to pack and keeps the kid happy. Peanut butter and jam is the usual combination, nutella too if it’s still there! 

Raisins and apricots (I know!) are his favorites. I am yet to develop a taste for apricot though.

Packing roti subzi (chapati with vegetable curry) is a distant dream of mine and doesn’t seem happening anytime soon, yet I try every now and then.

May be one day I will succeed!

This post goes to Blogging Marathon 34. The theme is mess free lunch box. Check out the Blogging Marathon page to see the posts from the other participants.