Dethmond hadh a ballow in the mathethplathe
Molly ith a thindher in a band
Dethmond thayth to Molly waiting at the dool…
aaanh, aaanh,aaanh aannnnh aaanh…
…sings my one and a half year old daughter, lisping her way through the lyrics to the Beatles “O bloody, oh blada” – these are the lullabies that her dad sings to her from the time she is born!
I’ve been chasing her the whole morning with a cassette player set on ‘record’ trying to get her to perform – she obliges for a few seconds at a time – reluctantly – till she decides she’s had enough of this new avatar of her mother trying to get her to do things – what has gotten into my amma??!!! – and goes aaanh, aaanh aaanh – thus making recording history!
A serious lisper, Arch could lisp her way through the three languages she spoke by the age of one – perfectly, without mixing up any words – the lisp however meant i was the only only who could understand everything she said!
And so, occasionally, I’d get a call at the office when I was in the thick of a sales negotiation, “The baby wants something and I don’t know what she’s saying!! Could you talk to her please?!!” Stifling a grin, I’d manage to excuse myself occasionally but not all the time and confusion would have reached a crescendo by the time I called back!
Terrified of loud noises as a child, Arch used to try to project her fear of thunder and lightning on to other people “Thatha (her grandad) ith thaled (scared) of thundel and lighthning, Appa ith thaled, Amma ith thaled, Aani (her nanny) ith thaled but… paapa (herself!) ith NOT thaled!!” as she went off into peals of merriment! As good a way of dealing with fear as any other – at the age of one, i guess!
Over the next few days, I recorded tales of the “thidel” (tiger) who came to eat up evelybody but listened to Paapa’s entreaties to pleeez not eat up evelybody, the story of the ‘thothaloath’ (cockroach) found under ‘one man’s house’ mixed up stories of Vinayaka and his elephant head, of the plane which lands do-you-know-how – like this “Pichik, pichik, pichik… pichik” as her voice reaches an impossibly squeaky register and many others!
And so to celebrate my daughter, I am letting out the secret of of one of her favourite foods – anything involving fruit, of course! And here’s a very Indian fruit in a very Western dessert…
NO BAKE SAPOTA/CHIKOO CHEESECAKE
Time to make – 15 minutes
Time to set – 1.5 hours
Time to eat – none at all!
BASE
- Biscuits – 8-10 – doesn’t matter what variety as long they’re not salty!
- Butter – 3 tbsp
Whizz together in the mixer till you get a fine crumb. Press into the base of a springiform mold.
FILLING
- Peeled, chopped chikoos/sapotas– 1 cup
- Condensed milk – 1/2 tin – 3/4 cup
- Whipping cream – 1 packet – 200 ml
- Gelatine or agar agar – 1 1/2 packets – melted with 2 tbsp of hot water – set aside after whipping really well.
- Juice of 1 lemon
Whip everything together with a handheld blender till seriously well mixed and pour into the biscuit base.
Set for an hour and a half or less till firm.
You than have youl theeth-thathe and eat it too!