Aloo Tikki Recipe | Easy and Quick Snack for Kids

Nothing can beat an Aloo Tikki is what I always feel. As for every Indian recipes, there are countless recipes for Aloo Tikki, yet each one will delight you as never. One can't simply stop with one, and it's not really required when you make this healthy swallow fried tikkis, rather than the deep fried ones.

And you can make this very quick as it hardly requires anything else than what you already have in your pantry. I am sure there are not many who might say no for a aloo snack and this one is a party party pleasers as well. When you have a party, this will surely be the easiest and the best snack that you can make to please the little ones who come for the party.

Konda and Peddu love to dip these in tomato ketchup and enjoy. Amma makes this when she either has excess bread on hand or Potatoes. But I am sure you need not wait for that occasion to make these easy Aloo tikkis.

 Aloo Tikki

Ingredients Needed:

Potato - 3
Brown Bread - 5
Cumin powder
Green chili. chopped
Coriander leaves
Chat Masala - 1 -2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - as required for swallow frying.

How to make Aloo Tikki

Wash and make marks on the potatoes, microwave for 7 - 8 mins. Soak in water and peel the skin. Mash well using a fork.

Then trim the sides of the bread, soak in water and squeeze away immediately.

In a bowl, take the mashed potatoes, bread, finely chopped chilies, cumin powder, coriander leaves, salt and mix well. Pinch into small balls, flatten them into small discs.

Heat a swallow pan with 1 tsp oil. When you are done making all the tikkis, transfer to a plate, spread little chat masala on both sides and swallow fry these on hot pan.

Serve hot with Tomato Ketchup.

I want to send this for the Kid's Delight Party  as part of the Chats

Moong Dal Sambar | Pasi Paruppu Sambar | Side dish for Idly, Dosa | Step by Step Recipe

Moong Dal Sambar or Pasi Paruppu Sambar is something that I remember Amma always making during our childhood. Somehow this mild concoction of sambar used to feature a lot on our table some years back. Maybe after my marriage or few years later, I see that we have almost stopped making this variety for Idly or any of the breakfast dishes, as it's mostly less spicy. But the goodness of Moong dal and the fact that it's not so spicy makes it a great dish for kids.

I must confess I have not made this combination in years. So when I finally remembered to make this, it was mostly to avoid the confusion I have on what to make for the afternoon tiffin that hubby dear now takes instead of meals. So I was glad that this sambar ended up being a great dish for kids also.

Plus the fact that making this sambar is like 10 - 15 minutes makes it a super duper dish for those rush hours. Split Yellow Moong dals cooks in 1 whistle in pressure cooker, takes about 10 minutes in microwave. However as I said pressure cooker is the best bet when it comes to cooking our dried lentils. 

I never soak any of my lentils, be it Toor dal or Moong dal. So this went directly into the cooker. 

Step By Step Pictures Recipe

Moong Dal Sambar |Payatham Paruppu Sambar | Pesara pappu Sambar

Ingredients Needed:

For pressure cooking

Split Yellow Moong Dal - 1 cup
Tomatoes - 2 big
Turmeric powder a pinch
Oil few drops
Sambar powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Water - 2 cups

For Seasoning / Talimpu

Onions - 1 small
Mustard Seeds, Urad dal - 1/4 tsp
Dry Red Chilis - 2 medium
Curry leaves few
Oil - 1 tsp

How to make Moong dal Sambar:

Wash and pressure cook the moong dal with chopped tomatoes and sambar powder for 1 whitle. Keep aside for the pressure to fall down.

For seasoning:

Heat a pan with oil, add mustard seeds, urad dal. When mustard pops, add onions and saute onions, curry leaves, dried red chilies till done,

Then pour the cooked dal to the pan, take care to ensure it doesn't spill over as you pour the hot dal into the pan, add salt and required water, if you want a think sambar. Bring it to boil, add coriander leaves.

This goes best with Idlis and makes a great dish for toddlers

I want to send this for the Kid's Delight Party  as part of the Easy Tiffin Dishes

Beetroot Pulao Recipe | Beetroo Pulav - Step by Step Recipe

One more day of school for the boys before their pooja holidays begin. Konda will be feeling sad that she is not going to have her share of holidays as her exams will begin this week. While the boys have been looking forward for this period, I am sure I can't say the same for others at home. Just yesterday they got their birthday dresses and have been asking me when it's going to be. It's another 15 days to go but I am sure they will be asking me everyday.

It's interesting to see how they design their games, they have company for each other and can play the whole day long. Konda joins them when she can, else she keeps herself busy with something. But when they get into that mood together, it's tough task to get them settle down. It was the same story this morning too, when I tried to wake them up for school. Bribing with chocolates or the fact that their holiday starts very soon. Chinnu got up saying he wants noodles for breakfast at school. I never send it for them but they get that idea from other kids who bring it along. I wonder how kids can carry Maggi for school. It gets so dry and not that tasty, yet kids love it so much.

After much persuasion he agreed to postpone the request to another day. I had to think about our lunch preparation only after the kids left and I was really in a fix not knowing what to make. I decided yesterday that it was going to be a pulao today but what it was, was the problem. I saw that I had beets on hand and realised that I had always wanted to make Beets pulao but never attempted. Hubby dear came on to look couple of times and even wondered at the way the beets looked if the rice was going to end up being sweet. He was pleasantly surprised that the Beets Pulao was perfect and very nice too.

I even called up home earlier to get the kids' reaction and Athamma said Peddu liked it and ate. It works like this, even if one likes it, I believe we can persuade the other kids to eat it..:)

Step by Step Picture Recipe

 

Beetroot Pulao

Ingredients Needed:

Rice, - 2 cups
Beetroot - 1 big
Onion - 1 medium
Tomato - 2 small (1/2 cup or little more)
Green Chilies - 2 medium
Mint Leaves - handful
Red Chili powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Butter - 2 tsp
Garam Masala - 2 pinches
Cashew nuts - few

Whole Spices

Bay Leaf - 2 small
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon - 2"
Cardamon - 2

How to make Beetroot rice

Wash and soak rice for 15  - 20 mins. Pressure cook with 4 cups or less water (Water depends on your rice ). Once the pressure falls, remove and add 1 tsp of butter and cover it again and keep aside.

To make the Beetroot Masala.

Wash and peel the beetroot outer skin. Chop into small slices, microwave for 10 mins or till done. Grate or pulse it couple of times. Keep it aside.

Heat a non stick pan with butter, add all the wholes spices, saute, then add onion juliennes, chopped green chilies, simmer or cook on high for couple mins, till the onions starts turning colour. Add the cashew nuts.

Then add chopped tomatoes, mint leaves, add salt, red chili powder and simmer till tomatoes turn soft. Once the tomatoes turn to paste, add the grated beetroot. Mix well.

Cover with lid and simmer for 2 mins.

Now add the cooked rice and mix everything well. Simmer for couple minutes and serve with Onion Raitha.

These make a colourful dish on a party table - Kid's Delight Party

Dry Yellow Peas Masala Vadai | Pattani Paruppu Vadai | Peas Fritters

There is no denying my love for deep fried snacks. If they come in round circles, with dal and crunchy bites in between, I am sold! Imagine such a delicious treat taking shape from the thought of doing away with excess stuff on hand. This recipe originally came into being because Amma had lots of Whole White Peas / Yellow peas with her. Not knowing how to use it up, she thought she might make Vadas with them. I know I love the idea.

These delicious vatana vadas make a great appetisers for the Kid's party. Of course you got to tweak the recipe a bit if you are serving it for below 5 yr olds. But otherwise the recipe is prefect and tastes simply too good. You can imagine how good if I am planning to have excess of white peas on hand..:)

The first time I actually got these peas and read about them or rather realized that there is a different type of peas all together, was when I made the Ragda Patties. The night I was to make it, I realized I didn't' have it and bought it the next day. I am still not sure if these are called white peas or yellow peas. It's called the Yellow peas in English, while called White Vatana in hindi. Now don't ask me what it's called in Tamil, I tried hooking a conversation with the salesperson and asked the name, she simply replied it's "yellow patani", can't beat the simplicity of that statement right!

Patani Vada

Yellow dried Peas / White Peas - 1 cup
Mint leaves - handful
Coriander leaves handful
Curry leaves - handful
Salt to taste
Gram flour / Besan - 1 tbsp
Red Chili powder - 1 tsp
Onion - 1 medium.

Grind to paste:

Garlic, 2- 3 cloves
Green chilli - 2 medium
Ginger  1"

Oil for Deep frying
Water just enough to make the batter

How to make the Patani Vada / Vatana Vada:

Wash and soak the peas in water overnight. Then drain water and grind the peas coarsely.

Take in a bowl, add the ginger garlic chili paste, finely chopped mint, coriander and curry leaves, besan, salt, red chili powder, onions, and mix well. The batter will have some water by now, if required sprinkle little water.

Heat oil for deep frying, take out small balls and flatten them as vadas and gently drop into hot oil.

Cook on both sides and drain on kitchen towel.

These make a lovely add on for a party table - Kid's Delight Party

Nutella and Dark Chocolate Cookies | Dark Chocolate Cookies with Nutella| Eggless Chocolate Cookies

On a Sunday it's not uncommon to see the kids playing through the day. The long hours of endless playing leaves them tired towards the late evening and before you can realise they are off for a nap, which extends almost towards their bed time. Imagine waking them up for their dinner and then expecting them to sleep right away!

I had been planning on this Nutella Cookies with Dark Chocolates for a long time and decided I am not going to procrastinate any more. Seeing me get busy with the butter box that comes packed with muffins on their cover, alerts my boys that something chocolate in underway. That's sure enough not to get them sleepy. When asked when they are going to hit the bed, they promptly told me, once I give them the chocolates that I was making. They patiently waited for it to get done, I mean how much patience can you expect from boys, soon to be 5 yr old.

These hot cookies sold literally like hot cakes! I mean the adage fitted so well. They were content only after being satisfied with their share of these sinful chocolate cookies.

Nutella and Dark Chocolate Cookies:

Ingredients Needed:

Nutella and Dark Chocolate - 1 cup
All purpose flour / Maida - 2 tbsp
Icing Sugar - 2 tbsp
Butter - 1 tbsp
Milk - 1 tbsp (as per requirement)

How to make Nutella and Dark Chocolate Cookies

Pre heat oven at 170 Deg C.

Melt Nutella and Dark Chocolate in microwave. In a bowl, take the melted chocolate, add flour and icing sugar. Mix well. 

To get the dropping consistency add milk and mix till you get a smooth thick dropping consistency.

Grease a baking tray and place drops of the batter.

Bake at 170 Degree C for 15 - 20 mins, till your cookies are done. It took me about 18 mins to get the right texture.

The cookies get harden when you allow them to cool. Will be very gooey and chewy but for chocolate lovers like my kids, it's a heavenly treat!

These make a lovely add on for a party table - Kid's Delight Party