Mother's Day cooking specials

Tanaaz irani, actor
I have two children, a daughter Ziah (17) and a son Zeus (2). The chicken soup that they love gets done in a jiffy and is satisfying at the same time. It is also most healthy and versatile. And then again on Mother’s Day or any other day, a little chicken soup for the kids from their mom is all they need to get them through a tough day.

Chicken Soup
Olive oil — 1 tbsp
Black pepper — for garnish
Cloves — 2-3
Bay leaf — 1
Red chilli  (ooptional) — 1 big
Peppercorns — 5-6
Onions — 2, large
Ginger-garlic paste — 3 tsp
Salt — to taste
Potato — 1
Carrot — 1
Chicken - 4-5 pieces

Take the olive oil, put in black pepper, cloves, bay leaf and a big red chilli (unbroken, for flavour) and saute.

Put in the onions cut lengthwise into strips.

Add salt, potato cut into four pieces, carrot diced into three chunky pieces and  saute well.

Put water to cover and cook for 20 minutes until onions are chocolatey brown. The burnt onions

impart the flavour to the soup. Add in boiled chicken pieces. Garnish with pepper and serve.

I sometimes add a tsp of turmeric or jeera powder for taste. When I want t make it spicy, I break the red chilli and saute.
 
Arshiya Fakih: Fashion designer
Having my daughter Noa is absolutely the best feeling in the world. It has taught me to be more compassionate, patient and calm, amongst many more wonderful things. I hope every woman is fortunate enough to become a mother and celebrate Mother’s Day.

Noa is just a few months old and she likes the carrots-pasta-milk taste already. Plus the creamy pasta with spring vegetables that I cook is healthy for her — it has veggies as well as carbohydrates which are in the pasta.

Creamy pasta with spring vegetables
Ingredients
Carrots—150 g, peeled & diced
Broccoli — 150 g
Green beans — 75 g
Cheddar cheese — 75 g
Full fat milk — 150 mls

Cut the carrots and steam for five minutes. Add in broccoli and green beans and steam for another five minutes. Cook the pasta separately in water for five minutes.

Since this is for a baby add no oil, sugar or salt. You may use a dash of butter. Puree the vegetables in a blender. Add cheese. Add milk into the vegetable puree and cheese mix in blender and process to the required consistency using milk. I sometimes put in sweet potatoes to give the dish a sweet taste and shore her up on the carbs.

Sharmilla Khanna: Choreographer
On Mother’s Day my teenage daughter Shaan sends us flowers, a specially written card and a gift that she has chosen for us. 

I rarely cook but if I was cooking for Mother’s Day, this would be one of the dishes I’d make  — the other being a spicy prawn pasta recipe. My husband and Shaan really adore them.

Pork Chops
Pork — 1 kg
Carrots — 3
Whole, small onions — 6 to 7
Carrots cut in length — 4 to 5
French beans, as per requirement

Vinegar — 2 spoons
Light soya sauce — 4 tbsp
Worcestershire sauce — 4 tbsp
Coconut milk — 4 tbsp
Garlic pods — 6 to 7
Whole peppers — 10
Salt — a pinch
Small potatoes — 4 to 5
Onion and garlic — for garnishing

Clean and take out the fat from the pork and cut into cubes of one inch by one inch.

Pressure cook and boil the pork with black pepper and salt till well cooked.

On a non-stick frying pan put two tbsp spoon of olive oil and put in garlic, spring onions, whole pepper and saute. Put in the carrots, small whole onions and beans and stir fry.

Put this into the pork with its soup which it’s  boiled in and pressure cook till potatoes are cooked.

Lastly, add some soya sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar and some coconut milk and salt to taste.

Garnish with burnt garlic and burnt onions cut in length.