Doggy delights
Zephyr has been enjoying these recipes for over a year, her coat is lovely, her weight ideal and her energy levels are perpetually high. Hope you can delight your doggy too with these recipes.
Hi, I’m Parul or as our vet puts it–“Zephyr’s mum”. Zephyr is our 17-month-old German Shepherd (when I put her age in months she sounds more like a baby, even at 33 kilos!). I always loved cooking for my family and with Zephyr being a new entrant I was all the more excited to try recipes with her, after all cooking for her was a bigger challenge because there were a thousand things she couldn’t eat. Firstly, we stuck by the ‘no people food’ rule, she had her treats slotted in categories of ‘safe’ and ‘once a month’, but by and large it meant no salt and no sugar. Secondly, we wanted her mealtimes to be fun. I decided to put together some recipes just for Zephyr. They had to have enough supplements, extra calcium, low fat and variety, quite a tall order. Despite graduating in Hotel Administration, with valid training in the kitchen, this was nothing I had faced before, but I had to do it.
I have 3 veggie recipes, these I keep for very hot months or the days she is generally feeling low and then of course there are meat ones which she prefers any day.
Love can be expressed in many ways, and who better than dog owners would know that…the high jump at your neck, the squealing in delight, the joyous licks…and so much more!!! Now you too can do something to let them know just how much you love them…Try out these recipes by Parul and treat the taste buds of the four-legged ‘love of your lives’…These have been tried and tested (or tasted) by none other than Zephyr, her German Shepherd girl. In this article, she tells you exactly how to go about the canine culinary path…
Safe: (Please talk to your vet before going by this list, this has worked fine for Zephyr but dogs have allergies too)
- Marie biscuits
- Brown bread
- Soup sticks
- Whole fruits – apples and pears (apple seeds are bad, so you can halve them and clean the seeds out)
- Paneer chunks
- Chicken sausage (micro waved not fried)
- Rusk
- Plain cornflakes
- Boiled egg
Once a month: (Same advice as above)
- Cheese slice
- Frozen cubes of milk – for fun
- Vanilla ice cream (mainly to hide the de-worming tablet in)
- Slice of mango (during season it has gone up to twice, but it’s such a heaty fruit)
- Ice cream cone (plain)
- Lassi – no salt no sugar
- Grilled tikka/kebab – with masala washed off
Absolutely no-no
- Chocolate
- Onions
- Nuts
- Coffee
- Raw eggs
- Tomatoes
VEGETARIAN Zephyr’s Cheese Treat
1/2 kg ghia/lauki (Gourd) – cubed, 1/2 kg green pumpkin – cubed, 100 gms green peas, 200 gms paneer – cubed, 1/2 cup of soya chunks (like Nutrela), 1 tbsp corn oil.
Pressure cook all this together for just 8 minutes, so that we don’t kill all the nutrients. Cool and serve with rice/roti. The good part about this recipe is that it has the sweetness they don’t always get to taste, which comes from the pumpkin and peas, it has the fibre of soya and the calcium of paneer.
Zephyr’s Golden Delight
1 can creamed corn, 1 potato– small cubes, 250 gms yellow pumpkin small cubes, 50 gms grated cheese (once in a while its fine), 1/2 cup washed rice, 1 cup of milk.
Cook all this together (except for the cheese) on a slow flame for 15-20 minutes, in a covered pan. You can even pressure cook it for 6-8 minutes. Then put the cheese on top while it is hot, so that it gets soft. As soon as it cools, it is ready to be served. This recipe has no oil; the fat medium comes from the milk and cheese.
Zephyr’s Spinach Spin
4-5 tori’s (gourd) – thick slices, 1/2 kg fresh spinach, 1/2 cup moong dal, 2 pods of garlic– crushed, 1 tbsp. corn oil, 2 boiled eggs.
Pressure cook all ingredients together. Serve this with small pieces of roti as there is dal in the meal. Boiled eggs can be peeled and mashed and put as toppings!
NON-VEGETARIAN Zephyr’s Nippy Day Stew
1 kg chicken, 4-5 carrots – cubed, 100 gms paneer – cubed, 200 gms beans (please string them for the doggie too), 1/2 cup daliya (porridge) Pressure-cook all ingredients together for about 8 minutes; care should be taken to remove the chicken bones.
Zephyr’s Shahi Korma
1 kg beef chunks, 250 gms green pumpkin, 250 gms cauliflower, 1/2 cup soya crumbs (Nutrela has both the chunks and the granules), 2-3 tbsp fresh cream (malai) All this (again, except the cream/malai) needs good 10-12 minutes in the pressure cooker because of the cauliflower and the beef; here too some papaya can be slipped in if the meat tends to cook tough. Add the cream last when the food is a bit cooler, or it may split. This is ideal roti food and it can get pretty heavy with rice. If your pet has had a sleepless night or two, this meal is a sure shot way to some good sleep.
Zephyr’s Hearty Meal
750 gms mince meat (can use mutton pieces too), 250 gms mutton liver, 250 gms cabblonger. This is ideal rice food. The mince and rice go well together.