Republic Day special patriotic food art from abroad

"India is our country. We should be proud of it as it is the only nation that blends many cultures, languages, castes and creed,” Sindhu Rajan tells little Samirah while serving breakfast. The plate has chapati, rice, carrot and palak creatively transformed into a tricolour flag and people. Sindhu goes on about the freedom struggle while Samirah interrupts, “Mamma, you should get a bigger plate for me. I wanted India Gate too.”
A mom who is well aware that the surefire way to instil patriotism in children is through the stomach, she cooks up a patriotic storm every Indian Independence Day and Republic Day. “As we live in Seattle, Washington, and as she misses the festivities of our country, wherever there is any festival of India, we have food art at home. I narrate her stories related to our country while feeding her. And it never felt like a herculean task,” says Sindhu.

In Abudhabi, medical professional Sandya Menon too had a similar worry about her children Adithya Anoop and Advaith Anoop missing out on Indian culture. She too decided to go creative on the dining table by way of a solution. Come Republic Day and Independence Day, it is tricolour that is ‘dished’ out. “I keep on experimenting with different cuisines. I believe it is the best way to teach them about their nation and the spirit of Republic Day. And my narration of stories via food begin a week before. As they love sweets, I made tricolour vanilla sponge cake and cupcakes and will follow them up with puddings and pedas,” she says.

It seems to be a trend for NRIs to celebrate Republic Day with flavoured ideas. Rajeev Maravayal and Sangeetha Rajeev live in Canada and Sangeetha likes to surprise her hubby with a sweet dish on special occasions. “On days related to India, I make sure to celebrate it with a special sweet,” Sangeetha says. Madagascan vanilla bean cupcake is what she made for Rajeev on Independence Day and today, she is planning to serve a tricolour kesari for breakfast.

Parvathy Menon, based in the US, packs such surprises in her better half Kiran’s lunch box. “This time, I am making tiranga pulav using green chilies, tomato puree and rice. I will be serving salads and pickle along with it. I am inspired from my mom Prasanna Menon,” she says. Prasanna’s masterpiece is yard long beans plus Carrot Sabji with Rice, an India special that is a hit with Parvathy’s friends. “It is very simple and healthy as well,” she adds.

Marketing professional Jyothika Roy, who works in Dubai, rustles up trilicious pasta on such occasions. “The word 'tricolour' or 'Tiranga' itself brings a sense of patriotism in all Indians. Indian festivals are always brighter and mightier for us who live outside India. Food plays an important role in such get-togethers. People often enjoy preparing food with the theme of tricolour,” she says. For green sauce she has used spinach and the ingredients of white sauce is refined flour, milk and butter and the red Sauce base is of tomato.

Tarun Alex from Ranni who is passionate about cooking is on a vacation at Dubai and is planning a South Indian breakfast for his friends, the speciality being tricolour idlis. “People living outside their native place are always full of nostalgic feelings. So I thought of nourishing their taste buds with Indian spices and flavours,” he says.