I NEED to get DS on to spicy food. Please help!

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

I'm looking for inspiration.

DS is 7 and seems to have a fear of curry.

Ok he's small yet, but as part of my trying to wean him onto it, I tried him on an Annabel Karmel chuckintheoven curry, thinking "start mild". He threw up later that evening and has now decided he's allergic to curry. Grrrr....

I need to get him used to spicier foods.

Any successful recipes in your household? Nothing with chilli in yet, but just nice spicy flavours.

Any ideas?

[MaureenMLove]

Why do you need to get him onto spicey food?

I wouldn't push it just yet tbh, especially if he's been sick on it. I know if I'm sick on something, I am turned off by it for a while.

Why not just spice up food he usually eats, like spag bol or something, then he's getting the flavour, without him realising and being freaked out by the fact you've put curry in front of him.

[eandh]

Why the need to get him onto spicy food - I do not like spicy food and hate people that tell me to try it, its mild etc etc I dont like the taste therefore will not eat it

[bigTillyMint]

Do you have all day Sunday buffets in th curry houses where you live?

We go with our DC. When they were small, DS wasn't very keen on the curry, so he ate loads of rice, popadum and naan bread. We encouraged him to try korma, which he gradually got used to , plus kebabs, pakora, etc. He now loves going and will give things a try. If he doesn't like it, it doesn't matter as there's plenty else. And it's cheap

Failing that, what about making korma with hardly any spice in at first, and loads of yogurt?

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

That's it you see, I'm trying to avoid curry (which he won't eat now) and introduce "spiciness" in other ways. He used to like falafal but he says he's gone off that.

I need to get him to like it cos food is boring without a bit of variety.

Just looking for ideas really. As I say, no chilli though.

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

Eandh, I'm not all evil, he doesn't like mushrooms, or custard either so I don't bother giving him those.

But the spice thing seems more of a mental block.

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

thanks Maureen, what would you put in spag bol? I guess with a bit of chilli, that's chilli con carne, but deffo no chilli at this stage... A bit of garam masala with rice?

[janeite]

The buffet is a good idea - naan bread, poppadom with dips, maybe a bit of bhaji or samosa.

If he likes root vegetables you could make a lovely genttly spiced Morroccan tagine type thing, perhaps with chick peas - bit of paprika, cinammon, black pepper etc.

Gently spiced lentil soup - or carrot and coriander?

[janeite]

Rice with turmeric, a bit of cumin and some frozen peas, on the side of something that you know he likes?

[stuffitllama]

Can you start off with a bit of ginger in stir fry chicken..for the tanginess without the burning.. and move on from there? Prawns also good for this. A sploosh of sweet chilli sauce in with some prawns or chicken legs can be quite innocuous.

Also with your basic bolognaise/chilli sauce.. make it without chilli then add a tiny bit more every time. If he can enjoy the kidney beans without the chilli then they help with the "chilliness" as soon as you start to add it.

And yes to Tilly's word about the yog .. you can just make your own "hot" stuff and add masses of yog to his at first.

[stuffitllama]

I x posted with all your "no chilli" admonishments..

[eandh]

I didnt say you were evil but it could just be that he doesnt like spicy things - I eat a huge variety of food with different flavours but will not eat curry/spicy just doesnt taste enjoyable to me

Hopefully you'll manage to get some ideas on here (whilst I'm off to cook garlic prawns mmmm I'm hungry)

[janeite]

Garlic bread - not spicy but a step forward

Chapati or paratha with mango chutney

Goulash with lots of paprika

Rice or noodles with soy sauce and baby corn or sugar snaps

[MaureenMLove]

Er, I have no idea! It was just an idea. DH does all the cooking here! I'm sure DD was the same at that age, but she's 13 now and eats the most wonderful variety of foods. Stir fries are probably going to be easier to adjust that spag bol actually. Start by giving it to him without anything added, so that he's used to the look of his dinner, then slowly, over the course of the weeks add a bit of ginger or chilli or chinese spice.

[Mercy]

Don't try to make him eat something he doesn't want to eat or like, it's not a necessary part of his diet.

[Mercy]

Fwiw the mildest spice to start on would be turmeric, ground pepper or paprika (use the turmeric in rice to start with)

Avoid chilli altogether.

[verylapsedrunner]

Why?

[silverfrog]

how about a moroccan dish?

I do one using lamb mince, onions, courgette, sweet potato, tinned tomatoes/passata, chick peas and cinnamon & all spice.

You can add as much spice as you like, so start from little bits and work up? You could leave the chick peas out, and it's almost spag bol with a bit of something added...

my dds eat it, but they are quite happy with spice (sometimes)

[ScummyMummy]

Why no chilli? You could pierce a large mild red chilli and put it in any tomatoey stew/sauce type dishes.Will give him flavour without heat.

[Mercy]

My dd is nearly 8 and will eat a very mild chicken Korma. If it has any chilli added she suffers the next day (I won't go into details )

There is also an assumption that spicy equals chilli, it doesn't have to be that way, there are plenty of other spices around (not all curries or other Asian food are made with chilli)

[claireybrations]

My two love jollof rice. Lots of different recipes but the basics are rice, tomatoes, onion, stock, peppers, herbs and spices plus whatever meat and veg you want to chuck in.

You can make it as spicy as you want and a big bonus is that is it a one pot meal so less to wash up

[Mercy]

oooh dh and I love jollof rice

[Horton]

I practically weaned my daughter on dal made with spices but no chilli and lots of garlic. Could you try making a curryish recipe without the heat? Try Madhur Jaffrey for ideas, esp her lemon and coriander chicken which doesn't look too much like curry so might be better received (tell him it's stew).

Also, how about poppadums with homemade raita (yog, spices, cucumber)? Poppadums are basically enormous crisps, what's not to like?

[Horton]

I think I mean the lemon and coriander chicken. Am not sure now I've posted. If you make a dryish recipe with the spices, anyway, that might not seem so much like curry.