My first experience with Indian food was about twenty years ago, at The Clay Pot in Dallas. A few years later, my husband and I moved to the UK where we found Indian restaurants on nearly every street corner. Thick curries with yogurt and cashews, zesty tikka masala, bright cucumber-mint raita, crispy poppadoms with mango pickles, and warm naan with coconut and sultanas…it was a culinary awakening for both of us.

My kids’ first time eating Indian food had mixed results. My son devoured everything on his plate. My daughter said to me, “Look, Mom! It’s a tiny green bean!” immediately before putting an entire chili pepper into her mouth. It was the fastest she’d ever gotten ice cream in her entire life.

(Pro tip: Milk dissolves capsaicin, the chemical in peppers that makes them burn. She felt better in no time!)

For this World Geography Wednesday in India, first we looked at our maps of Asia, India, and the capital city of New Delhi. We also found some interesting info about Skeleton Lake!

We read “Tigers at Twilight” by Mary Pope Osborne, and “A Journey to Paradise” by Anne Siberell. They both give a beautiful and entertaining account of life in India.

Then we watched “India: Safari – Travel Kids in Asia“. It was neat to watch them cross the river on elephants, then reward them with a sugarcane snack.

We also watched “The Story of the Taj Mahal for Kids”. Travelling to Agra to visit it in person isn’t in the budget, but luckily there’s a Hindu temple right here in Houston. Over the weekend, we toured the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir. It was incredible to see India’s architectural skill up close. Over 33,000 pieces of limestone and marble were hand-carved in India, shipped to Texas, then assembled like a giant Lego set. It was unbelievable!

Indian culture isn’t just about food, though. India is also well known for its film industry, called Bollywood. Bollywood films have elaborate singing and dancing, bright costumes, and sensational action sequences. Each one is basically a technicolor musical on steroids.

India also has 22 recognized languages, such as Santali, Kashmiri, Bengali, Tamil, and Urdu (though their official languages are English and Hindi).

And let’s not forget their contribution to math and science. The earliest recorded breakthroughs in arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry, and negative numbers were made by Indian scholars.

“The first view of the Earth is magical. It is a very overpowering realization that the Earth is so small. It affected me. I could not get over the notion that in such a small planet, with such a small ribbon of life, so much goes on. It is as if the whole place is sacred.”

Kalpana Chawla – the 1^st Indian woman to go to space

But enough research, it’s time to eat!

Drinks and Nibbles

To kick off the theme, I served masala chai. Masala is an Indian spice mix, and “chai” means tea. My whole family loves it! (In a pinch, you could add pumpkin spice creamer to hot black tea. Masala is basically cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and ginger, which is very similar to pumpkin spice.)

We started with chicken samosas from the frozen food section of my grocery store. No need to be a hero! It’s a school night and I’m cooking everything else from scratch.

I made a cucumber-mint raita dipping sauce to go with them. It was cool, refreshing, and delicious. I’ve included the recipe below in case you’re interested. It also tastes great on vegetable pakoras.

Main Course

The main attraction was butter chicken served over rice and topped with cilantro. Butter chicken was the most Googled recipe in years according to the New York Times. I followed their recipe (though I do have Madhur Jaffrey’s version). I left out the chili peppers for my kids, but it’s delicious either way.

In lieu of vegetable pakoras, I made roasted cauliflower and broccoli with chili oil and curry powder. It only takes about seven minutes to broil, and my whole house doesn’t smell like frying oil for days. Garlic-butter naan was the finishing touch.

Dessert

For dessert, I made mango lassi. Every time we go to an Indian restaurant, my kids order it first (or strawberry). You just mix mango pulp in a blender with Greek yogurt and sugar, then top it with whipped cream and fresh mint. It’s creamy, citrusy, and cools your mouth down after eating hot spices.

As promised, here’s the (very easy) recipe for fresh cucumber-mint raita. Enjoy!

Cucumber-Mint Raita

INGREDIENTS:

1 large cucumber

10 large mint leaves

2 cups Greek yogurt

1 TBSP lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

pinch of cayenne

pinch paprika

salt and pepper

TOOLS:

cheese grater

paper towels

knife and cutting board

medium bowl

measuring cup

measuring spoons

PROCESS: Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Grate the cucumber over a few paper towels and squeeze out the moisture. Place the shredded cucumber into a medium bowl. Thinly slice the mint leaves and add them to the bowl. Add all the other ingredients and stir it well. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I hope you enjoyed this article on teaching kids about India! Check back here – and Subscribe to my YouTube channel – for more kid-friendly geography ideas! Namaste.