Lunch box recipes

Smoked Salmon

TEA SANDWICH

I’VE NEVER BEEN ONE to cut the crusts from my kids’ bread. “It’s a waste,” I hear myself saying, just as my own mother did when I was little. Tea sandwiches, such as this delicate, flavorful, smoked salmon one, are the exception, since going crustless is part of the charm. You can always save the crusts for making bread crumbs or feeding birds.

MAKES 1 SANDWICH

• 2 slices black or pumpernickel bread
• 2 tablespoons whipped cream cheese
• 2 teaspoons capers, drained
• 2 thin slices smoked salmon
• 6 thin slices English cucumber
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh dill (optional)

 Cut the crusts off the bread. Spread both bread slices with cream cheese. Scatter the capers over the cream cheese on one bread slice. Lay the smoked salmon over the capers, followed by the cucumber. Sprinkle with the dill (if using) and top with the remaining bread slice.

Cut diagonally into quarters. Wrap well or store in a snug container.

MAKE-AHEAD NOTES: can be made a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator, but best made the morning before school.

Birbal Gave Birth to the Child

Once somebody had a wound in the palace of the Emperor. The royal Vaidya was called and he suggested that if the milk of a camel is applied on the wound, it will be cured soon. The Emperor announced it in his court that he needed camel's milk. Everybody was surprised to hear this but could not say anything.

A couple of days passed but nobody could find camel's milk. So Birbal was assigned this work. Birbal tried his best to explain to the Emperor that there is no such thing like camel's milk, but he said - "When Raaj Vaidya has asked for it, it must exist. Bring it from anywhere." Birbal got very upset. He went home and thought how to tell the Emperor that there is no such thing like camel's milk.

Thinking this a couple of days passed and Birbal did not go to the court also. Akbar got worried what has happened to Birbal? He sent somebody to his house to see why he did not come the court. When he went there, he met his daughter washing Birbal's clothes just outside the house. She greeted the servant. The servant asked her - "What happened Birbal has not come to the court?" The daughter replied - "Last night Birbal had a child." The servant could not digest this statement but he came back and told this to the Emperor. The Emperor also could not understand this, so he himself decided to to his house and find out the truth.

Seeing the Emperor coming Birbal greeted him. The Emperor asked him - "Birbal, What is this? Can a man give birth to child?"

Birbal politely replied - "Huzoor, When a camel can have milk, why can't a man give birth to a child?"

The Emperor understood that he was caught unaware. He returned to his palace and cancelled his orders.

Neither here nor there

The wisdom of Birbal was unparalleled during the reign of Emperor Akbar. But Akbar’s brother-in-law was extremely jealous of him. He asked the Emperor to dispense with Birbal’s services and appoint him in his place. He gave ample assurance that he would prove to be more efficient and capable than Birbal. Before Akbar could take a decision on this matter, this news reached Birbal.

Birbal himself resigned and left. Akbar’s brother-in-law was made the minister in place of Birbal. Akbar decided to test his new minister. He gave three hundred gold coins to him and said, “Spend these gold coins such that, I get a hundred gold coins here in this life; a hundred gold coins in the other world and another hundred gold coins neither here nor there.”

Now the minister found the entire situation to be a maze of confusion and hopelessness. He spent sleepless nights worrying over how he would get himself out of this mess. Thinking in circles was making him go crazy. Eventually, on the advice of his wife he sought Birbal’s help. Birbal said - "Just give me the gold cons. I shall handle the rest.”

Akbar's brother-in-law had no choice so he gave all the coins to Birbal. Birbal walked the streets of the city holding the bag of gold coins in his hand. He noticed a rich merchant celebrating his son’s wedding. Birbal gave a hundred gold coins to him and bowed courteously saying - “The Emperor Akbar sends you his good wishes and blessings for the wedding of your son. Please accept the gift he has sent.” The merchant felt honored that the king had sent a special messenger with such a precious gift. He honored Birbal and gave him a large number of expensive gifts and a bag of gold coins as a return gift for the king.

Next, Birbal went to the area of the city were the poor people lived. There he bought food and clothing in exchange for a hundred gold coins and distributed them in the name of the Emperor.

When he came back to town he organized a concert of music and dance. He spent a hundred gold coins on it.

The next day Birbal entered Akbar’s court and announced that he had done all that the king had asked his brother-in-law to do. The Emperor waited to know how he had done it. Birbal repeated the sequences of all the events and then said - “The money I gave to the merchant for the wedding of his son – you have got back while you are living on this earth. The money I spent on buying food and clothing for the poor – you will get it in the other world. The money I spent on the musical concert – you will get it neither here nor there.”