Corn is not new to India. We know all about the Makke Ki Roti in Punjab, fajitas (with a hard J) of Madhya Pradesh and the makya cha chivda of Maharashtra.

Corn flakes are an entirely different thing though. I remember when my mom first brought home a bag of cornflakes. I don’t think it was the branded kind, but as a busy family, we all loved it! Mom left for work at 7 AM and so did I, for school. So cornflakes dunked in a cup of hot, milky coffee was my breakfast on weekdays.

I somehow lost track of the whole ‘cereal for breakfast’ concept in my college days. I don’t think our hostel mess had ever heard of them! I of course embraced the concept again while living in the US. With a whole supermarket aisle of cereal at my disposal, I was in heaven. And like Jerry Seinfeld, I actually enjoyed eating Kellogg’s cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was just a quick ticket to a balanced, nutritious meal.

When Kellogg’s first came to India, they faced a problem. People insisted on adding corn flakes to hot milk, causing it to dissolve or turn mushy almost instantly. After some big market research, they started making a ‘stronger’ flake, one that would withstand warm or hot milk. At least that is the story I remember reading somewhere.

I think people are coming around to the concept of eating cold cereal. It actually makes sense to me because India is such a hot country. People should prefer eating something cold. But the temperature of milk is probably just one aspect. Another is taste buds!

We Indians love our spice. I think the whole world will agree to that. So we want to try and make everything savory. After being back home, I have finally had to bow down to the family demand and eat Masala Oats!

But I am always looking for new ways to enjoy my cornflakes.

I heard about Guptaji’s family and how they are churning out innovative recipes with Kellogg’s cornflakes and I somehow managed to get myself invited to their house. They asked me what I wanted for ‘Nashta’ and I have chosen some dishes they are famous for.

Well, since this is a food blog, and I have been known to create a recipe or two, I am very interested in the different ways of using cornflakes Guptaji’s family has come up with.

My favorite is the Best Family Wala Nashta – it is simple and ready in a jiffy. And it has my favorite elements – cold milk, apples and cinnamon. And it has corn flakes for crunch, of course. Talk about apple pie in a bowl! This is also realistic since apples are available easily almost year round in India.

Another item I love is the Best Tiffin Wala Nashta. This one is great for anyone with a sweet tooth, but beware, it is loaded with calories. Condensed milk, ghee and coconut are the heavy duty ingredients here. Cornflakes and nuts add high nutrition. This is one Laddu I want to sink my teeth into. I am going to ask Mrs. Gupta to pack a few of these for me. One for the road, you know. Or two!

Another cornflakes recipe I love and which I will blog about some day is roasted chivda. I ate it at a friend’s house a few years ago and it is the perfect afternoon snack.

So what have you learned from Guptaji’s family? There is more than one way to eat a bowl of cornflakes, ya’ll!

This post has been written for Kellogg’s India.