A lunchbox has one job: to be eaten. The trick is pairing one familiar anchor — a paratha, idli, or poha — with one small new thing, so novelty never outnumbers comfort.

Vegetables travel better inside food than beside it: grated carrot in the paratha dough, peas in the poha, beetroot in the cutlet.

Keep a two-week rotation and let your child pick from it. Choice within structure beats surprise every school morning.