Have you ever seen a mother bird tirelessly gather food for her new born babies.The most ethereal sight is when she kisses the food into their beaks and ensures she cares for their every need.In short this is the gist of parenthood.
Coming back to my anecdote when i used to live in an old ‘colonial’ type house built as a result of large-scale sub-urbanisation. It had an oblong plan and a “verandah” with brick walls raising few feet above the ground and a very distinctive feature was the skylight or the more legal term would be the “ventilator”.My parents were not the only couples living in that house we had a cute pair of sparrows as occupants.The sparrows after a lot of search on Gumtree & Magicbricks had finalized our house.Their choice was our partly opened skylight of our large bedroom.Then started the tireless process of fetching feathers,twigs,wires and grass to build their first official home for breeding.We were the only guests to their house warming party.Soon they were ready for their family planning as their nest was ready for more.Out came three chirpy little chicks who kept peeping out and pushing each other.Gosh they were some hungry chicks!!
One day there was a lot of flashing and lightening in the sky the forecast indicated a massive thunderstorm.The mummy bird and daddy bird didn’t turn up at day’s end.The little ones were chirping away tirelessly for food.My dad is a complete animal lover and he just couldn’t have his meal that’s when he climbed up the table and fed the freshly kneaded dough to the little ones.That sight is imprinted in my memory.All through my life my dad has been the centre of my universe.I wouldn’t like to write much about it but just quote these lines from a poem called as “Mother Bird” by NT March.
The love she gave her young ones
Gave them the strength to fly
The strength to build their own nests
High up in the sky.
Today’s dish is dedicated to every mother or father who raise their fledglings with love and affection.And i hear a “Mummy Hungry” in the background..that is my daughter and this happens to be my daughter’s favorite snack.Hope you enjoy it too.I chose mozzarella as it gives a melt in mouth texture to food and a very pizza-ish feeling…you know what i mean.The kids wouldn’t even guess its zucchini 🙂
- 3 medium eggs
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium zucchini grated
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic crushed
- 1/2 cup grated Mozzarella
- Few sprigs of cilantro
- Cherry tomatoes thinly sliced
- Freshly ground pepper
- Salt to taste
- Equipment
- Lightly greased cake tin
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
- In a shallow pan add olive oil and saute the finely crushed garlic and chopped onion.
- Once the onion is translucent then add the grated zucchini and fry it for 4-5 minutes.Let the zucchini mixture cool for a few minutes.
- In a bowl mix lightly beat the eggs then gradually fold in the grated mozzarella and chopped cilantro.
- In the above mixture add the cooled zucchini and finally add your seasoning.
- Pour the mixture into the greased tin and arrange the sliced cherry tomatoes over the mixture.
- Cook for 20-25 minutes or until set golden on top.
