If you think the only off-screen activities to keep kids busy during this lockdown are sit-and-draw and building blocks, you should let them cook.

If you are still unconvinced, you should have visited AJ Block days before the lockdown. A food festival by juniors had an eight-year-old making Fish Tikia and a six-year-old cooking Chicken Biriyani!

“I love eating biryani and wanted to make it for everyone today,” smiled Bhramoree Kar, rattling off the proportion of ghee, salt and food colouring that she added to the dish. “It’s only the layering of rice and chicken that my mother did as it was too heavy for me,” said the student of Class I who wants to become a chef when she grows up.

A young chef serves a customer Basudeb Behera

Aranya Majumdar doesn’t understand why he has to learn math when he too wants to become a chef later in life. “A chef of Japanese food,” he adds. “Cooking is an art and this is what should be taught in school.” The Class II student had made Fish Tikia with a twist of mayonnaise and kasundi and all 22 plates sold out.

The crowds thronged. Papiya Chakraborty, the lady whose brainchild the fest was, had got a Class XII student Esha Barman to make the announcements and a Class XI student Debargha Choudhury to man the cash counter but the queue became so long that adults had to step in and bail him out.

Sampreet Saha’s Dahi Puris were such a hit that he could only scrape up three leftover pieces to serve his last customer instead of four that the others were getting.

Mehul Chakraborti had begun his mocktail counter with nine bottles of cola but had to send his aunt rushing to the market for four more when he realised demand would fast exceed supply.
If the kids thought they would get a bite of what they had rustled up, they were so wrong. “Let alone the ghoogni I had made to sell, customers even took away the platter I had kept for display,” said Ambali Kar of Class VII.

Nine-year-old Judhajit (Jude) Chakraborty did get a lick of his pani puri-flavoured ice cream but not how you’d imagine it. “I love this ice cream made of tamarind water and pani puri masala but the customers left nothing for me! I only got one lick and that too from a drop that had fallen on the table,” he grumbled. “I understand now how difficult it must be for waiters to control themselves from eating what they serve others at restaurants.”

After facing the mad rush of customers, Ambali said she realised how parents must feel at being ordered by children to get tasty food every day.

Aditya Sarangi too had new-found respect and empathy for waiters. “It was crazy making sandwiches and answering customers’ queries all at once. From now on, I’ll be patient with waiters when we go out to eat.”

While some kids took part in the show for the love of cooking, those like Ronit Das, eight, did so for fun. “I’m not into cooking; I like football. But cooking is a skill we should all pick up, even if only the basics,” said the boy who sold Chicken Roll.

Mimi Saha, mother of little Supriyo, was very happy with the Jhal Muri he had rustled up. “For once, we moms are carefree and the kids are tied up,” she laughed.

With the money earned from the fest, Ujjesa Barman wanted to buy Barbie dolls. “My father runs the restaurant and catering company Scone at AJ and BJ blocks and he makes delicious snacks for us at home. I like learning cooking from him,” said the Class V student.

The kids reportedly helped out in the kitchen when no cooks were allowed to come in the early days of the lockdown.
Chakraborty, who organised the event, was proud of the kids. “None of them could imagine a food fest for children before this but they sat attentively at meetings and listened to rules and guidelines. Kids are capable of a lot but adults usually show no faith in them due to their age. Well, this show proved them wrong!”

Peanut Chaat

Ingredients

• Roasted peanuts 200g
• 1 onion, 1 tomato, 1 green chilli, coriander chopped
• Salt, black salt, lemon juice- to taste
• Chaat masala
• Tamarind chutney

Tamarind chutney

Soak 50g tamarind in hot water for 10 minutes. The puree will come out. Add some jaggery or sugar to this, along with some water, to reduce thickness. Your tamarind chutney is ready.

Method

Mix all the ingredients and garnish with coriander and bhujia.