Fish N Chips- Toddler Meal Day 78

Sarah will turn 2 in 13 days and I can’t help feeling nostalgic about my pregnancy days. I felt so lonely, I wanted the baby out and fast forward 2 years down, I cannot keep up with her :) Never did I think feeding her would become an interesting project but I must admit it has enhanced my knowledge on food and children quite a bit. Today I decided to entice Sarah to have fish by asking her to help me shoot this fish n chips. She was happy to assist and I am surprised she understands the photo shoots happening around her. She held the lens cap and tripod while I set up the food for the shoot. I guess she is settling down and that’s great news to me.

This fish n chips recipe is not the beer batter ones famous in London but it is a version that has a wonderful story to tell. When I was a kid, my sister often got admitted in my mom’s ward (my mother was a pediatric nurse) for her wheezing episodes and if you have had one of those episodes you know this better than me, that food is the least of your preferences, when you are down with wheezing. But this hospital was like an airline or cruise- you had customised menus daily and people opted for stuff that they threw out often because they were too sick to eat their meals. So back then, one of my hobbies was to call up my sis and ask her to order stuff that I could eat from the menu and I would dutifully, shamelessly drop in to polish off her lunch and dinner with the help of my brother. I guess they both got admitted together once and I had a gala time (I know that’s cruel). I always loved the fish n chips served in the wards with tartar sauce. I would often pray to get sick to have these fish n chips and mom would scold me saying gluttony is sin :) It is so weird that the memory of this small incident prompted me to do fish n chips for Sarah today – these memories do crazy things to one don’t they? The one time I got admitted was to deliver Sarah and it was so uncool to eat rasam rice and sambar rice those 3 days. I so wish they gave me fish n chips.

Sarah loved the presentation I believe because she did not let go off the brown paper, and I guess she has some traits of mine in her as well. The trick now is to feed her in different plates and to present her food differently. Can’t believe she is all grown up and I still can’t believe I have donned the momma coat. So here’s our recipe for day 78 toddler meal series. We are actually on day 120 but we have a lot of recipes to post :)

Ingredients for Fish N Chips

Fillet of snapper (any white fish)- 100 g

All purpose flour- 4 tbsp

Corn flour- 1 tbsp

Bread crumbs- 1/4 cup

Egg- 1

Salt- a pinch

Pepper powder- a pinch

Potato- 1

Oil – for frying

Directions

Set the ingredients for crumb coating ready like an assembly line. Mix the flour and corn flour in a plate followed by whisked egg in a bowl and bread crumbs in another plate. Wash and make thin strips of the fish fillet. Pat the strips dry with a napkin. Heat oil in a pan and start working on the fish strips. Coat the fish first in the flour and then dip them in the egg wash. Go back and coat them again with some flour and finally coat them with some crumbs. Drop the fish strip now in the oil and fry till both sides are brown. Drain the fish strips using a slotted spoon onto a plate lined with napkins. In the same oil fry the peeled and sliced potatoes. You can coat them with some flour too if you wish to. I did not because my daughter likes them non-coated. Serve the chips and fish with some ketchup.

I must admit they tasted so good, I shared some of Sarah’s meal but she loved it equally. So I think I should try all my childhood favourites for Sarah. Stay tuned for more action and more such recipes on the toddler series, and till then stay blessed, eat healthy.