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?

poor dd, mercy.

jollof rice sounds good. I've had it cooked by friends but never cooked it myself. Is it hard to make?

Just coming back to this, thanks all.

Well, I've never heard of jollof rice before. Just googled it and I definitely want to try that - for me and DH as much as for DS.

Some other nice ideas here as well - thanks. Just desperate for different things to eat, get so bored with the usual and there's a huge range of flavours I think we're missing out on as a family.

I do sympathise, I really do - I get fed up with eating child friendly food (and dh friendly food come to that )

But there are other spices which are milder and less irritant for young children (turmeric, coriander for eg)

I think jollof rice is a great idea. What about kedgeree, just using turmeric and a really tiny pinch of cumin?

Really naff recipe but i like it as does DD. And its called "chicken and broccoli" so no allusion to spice - diced chicken and broccoli florets in a single layer, mix a can of condensed chicken soup with about half a small tub of single cream, a tablespoon of mayo, and season with curry powder. Spoon the gloop over the chicken and broccoli, top with grated cheese, cook at 160 for about 30 -40 mins serve with rice.

my 6 year old doent like curry either

so i made him the AK mild kormer and made it extra milk wih the teeniest bit of korma paste

told him it was chicken in creamy sauce and he loved it (That was just last week)
next time i will call it creamy korma sauce and a few times later i will addd a bit more korma and tell him its curry!

Everyone's talking about curry, but what about other spicy food like Thai or Chinese? Start with simple stuff like prawn crackers with sweet chilli dip, stir fries with ginger/lemon grass etc and work your way up.

The buffet thing is a great idea - went with the DCs and their cousins and they loved it. They tried a tiny bit of lots of dishes and filled up on naan, chapatis, rice and fruit!

My dds are also far less keen on spicy food than I'd like. Personally I'd live on Indian food, given the choice.

Some of the more successful recipes, with 8yo and 4yo, include spicy chickpeas, with cummin, coriander, ginger, paprika, onion and garlic (but not chilli). Or a bland lentil dahl with those spices, plus yoghurt and passata or tinned tomatoes.

They do like those supermarket samosas/pakoras and bhajis, from mainstream supermarkets, very mild by my standards. I am hoping that this will give them a taste for curry, eventually.

Even the fussy 7yo will eat Vegetarian chilli but with very little chilli in.

I'm just leaving it, mostly, given that two of my children will eat a lot of things, but still aren't keen on spicy food, I'm assuming they'll grow into it at some point.

morrocan food.

MIne absolutely love that and it doesn't have to be hot spicy at all, jsut aromatic and full of flavour.
I have a recipe for whole spiced chicken and spiced rice, then spiced yoghrt to go with it if you'd like them?

Oh dear, I just been feeding my 9 month old daughter chicken korma! Not a whole plateful mind, just a bit. She loves spicy foods. It started that she just tried some of what I am having, a little bite. She either spat it out or ate it. Left it to her tastes though.

My two were very faddy when small in spite of my best efforts. They were converted to curry by school dinners believe it or not!

Actually I think chilli heat is easier to introduce than curry flavours. Try a dash of chilli in ragu for spag bol , you can increase the heat if it goes undetected.

Please don't force your child to eat spicy foods if he doesn't want to. Some people just can't manage spicy foods in their digestive system and, if they can't, they really ought to avoid them as the spices can irritate their stomach lining and gut and weaken them, leading to problems in later life (including cancer).

I don't think that children should be forced to eat spicy food either -but I'd like to see the evidence that proves eating mildly spicy food can give you cancer!

seeker - my DP has gut issues in his family (he has them, his father and father's twin, his grandfather etc) and they are strongly advised to avoid irritating their gut because of the risk of colon cancer.

DS wouldn't eat my home made purees when I was weaning him. He wolfed down jars and packets of baby food. My Health Visitor advised trying herbs and garlic. Delia's 'garlicky Fish Soup' (minus salt) went down a treat and we've never looked back!

Monster munch

...........runs away from thread!

If I cook something that I think is a little too spicey for DD, I often mix some creme fraiche into it to take the edge off the spice for her. You could have a spicier version and calm it down for your DS.
However, you say you 'need' to make him eat because you're bored of the 'usual'.
Is it really necessary to make him eat something he really doesn't want to? It might have the opposite effect and put him off for life. Have you really exhausted all other culinary options?

Sorry, but sighing a bit here at all the people who suggest I would make my child eat something he doesn't like.

Where exactly did I say I'm going to stand over him with a jar of tabasco until he finishes his vindaloo????

No, the whole point of this was to look for inspiration on spicier flavours so that I ease him into new things. ie, things that we will all eat and he can try.

Am still liking many of the suggestions on here. thanks.

What about chorizo - yum! I love either spanish tortilla with chorizo or jambalaya, which in our house is chicken onion and peppers in a spicy tomato sauce with rice added. We serve it with tortilla (the flatbrad kind) and natural yoghurt.

dd doesn't like strong spicy flavours either (unlike ds who is only 2 and could happily mainline curry ) and i simply make sure there's something in the meal she will eat and cook food the rest of us enjoy.

dp and i love our spicy foods and would go mad without them occasionally so i do know why you'd like him to eat them but honestly, if he doesn't like the taste then there's nothing you can do about it... he simply doesn't like it.

ask him to try things but don't pressure him and i'm sure you'll find he gets better as he gets older.

I have 4 DC aged 8, 6, 4 and nearly 2. The oldest in particular is pretty fussy. I love spicy food, and this recipe is my saving grace. It's mild and sweet, absolutely delicious and very easy to make. For adults only I would up the chilli / cayenne (and it still tastes nice even if you leave these out altogether). Serves 4.

12oz chicken (skinless and boned, whatever type you prefer)
2oz butter
1 onion, chopped
1 piece root ginger, chopped (if I don't have this, I add ground ginger to the spice mix below)
2 tbsp mango chutney
Half pint chicken stock
1 tsp brown sugar
1/4 pt cream

For the spice mix:
2oz plain flour
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
Salt

1. Mix the flour and spices together on a plate. Add chicken and roll around until covered.

1. Brown chicken in butter.

1. Add onion and ginger, cook for another minute.

1. Add chutney, stock and sugar and bring to boil.

1. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

1. Stir in cream and serve with rice.

I sometimes add mushrooms or other veg. Give it a try. DD1 even hates sauces (e.g. spag bol, tomato sauces) but loves this. The ingredients list looks long, but most are store cupboard type spices. Sorry about imperial measurements - it's a recipe that's been passed around our family and never been updated!

My 2 yo has liked spicy food since she was very small. I think it must be to do with me eating copious amounts of curry whilst pregnant.

Her favourites are chicken with a slightly spicy cous cous, chorizo (ponce-tastic 2 yo shouting "Mummy, buy me some chorizo!" at the deli counter of a particularly rough ASDA always raises a few eyebrows) and chilli con carne (me and DH add extra chili flakes to ours). She's not particularly keen on curry and generally has a bit of chicken tikka cut into small bits and mixed with rice.

Just add a wee bit of chilli to whatever you normally cook. Increase the amounts gradually.

Simple.

Not everyone actually likes spicy foods, and not everyone finds that food is boring without spice. People have different tastes, that's all, and if he was bored, you'd soon know.

You don't "need" for him to like it, you just want him to.

Have not read all post, but has anyone suggested Japanese curry? You can get mild roux cubes from some supermarkets (I got some from Tesco's once). Cook it with chicken/pork/beef and carrots and potatoes. They went down a treat with the children last time.

Most recipes from Madhur Jaffrey's "An invitation to Indian cooking" also works without the chilli. Cardoman, bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon bark etc. Really fantastic flavours. I let them scoff the whole thing and then tell them it's curry!