Cheesy potato pops

4 potatoes boiled, peeled and mashed
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 green chili finely chopped
1 tbsp corriander leaves finely chopped
1/2 tsp pepper powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder
salt to taste
for filling:
mozzarella cheese cut into small squares

bread crumbs for coating
oil for deep frying

Method:
1. Mix in potatoes, spices and garlic.

2. Flatten a small portion of  the potato mixture and stuff the cheese cube in it. Make oblong or round shaped croquettes and roll into bread crumbs.

3.Repeat for the remaining mixture and make some more croquettes.
Keep the croquettes in the freezer for 10 min or in the fridge for 1 hour. This will make them crunchier.

4.Fry them directly from the freezer in hot oil over a high flame.
Serve hot with ketchup or any dip of your choice.
   

Sending this recipe to Kid's delight hosted my My Cooking Journey.

and http://theveggieindian.com/2014/12/whats-with-my-cuppa-edition-4.html

Cheesy potato and corn boats

This has been one of my daughter's favourite dish since she was 2 year old. The name boat is also given by her. This healthy snack can be made very quickly and I am sure all kids will love this.


2 tbsp finely chopped capsicum
2 tbsp finely chopped tomato (without pulp)
2 tbsp boiled corn kernels or thawed frozen corn
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
2 potatoes
4 tbsp grated cheese
2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp pizza seasoning(optional)


Choose proper shaped new potatoes and wash the potatoes thoroughly so that no dirt remains.
Prick them with a knife here and there and microwave on high for 3 to 4 min. until cooked.
Cut each potato horizontally into two and scoop out the central part making a cavity.

For the filling:
Heat butter and add capsicum, garlic, tomatoes and corn. Add the seasoning and cook for a min.

Now fill each potato half with this filling and top with grated cheese. Microwave on high for 1 min or grill for 4 to 5 min until the cheese melts.
Serve hot.

Sending this recipe to Kid's delight hosted my My Cooking Journey.

Colourful Healthy Idlis

Its very difficult to make children eat vegetables especially when the vegetables are beetroot or spinach.
My daughter eats normal when at home & the food is freshly cooked & warm. But she usually brings back her lunch box without finishing her lunch.
She spends most of the time from morning 8 to 5 in the evening at school Because of this I am always worried about her nutrition. In an attempt to make sure that however little she eats & whatever she eats it should be full of nutritious elements I came up with this idea.
Idli being one of the healthiest food (I read somewhere that eating idli in the morning keeps one energized through out the day) & my daughter's favourite too I tried to make idli more attractive & nutritious at the same time. The results were very good. Now Its one of my favourite party appetizer too. It looks so attractive that I am sure it will disappear in no time.
I am sure almost all Indian ladies know how to make idlis especially my south Indian friends. So I will not go in the details of making the Idli. Use the normal idli batter, only make sure that you use little less water while grinding it.

For Idli batter:
2 cups rice
1 cup urad dal
handful poha, rice flakes
1 1/2 tsp salt

Soak Rice & dal separately for 3 hrs in warm water. Drain & grind separately. Make sure that the dal is ground to a smooth batter & rice should be a little grainy like semolina. Mix together both the batters. wash & grind poha & mix it to the batter. Leave the batter to ferment for 24 hrs in cold regions or for atleast 12 hrs in warm countries. Add salt & mix lightly.

How to proceed:
1 cup beetroot puree (from 1 beetroot)
1 cup spinach puree (1/2 bundle spinach)

for tempering:
2 onions finely chopped
few curry leaves
2 to 3 green chillies finely chopped
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp oil

Puree the spinach & beetroot separately using very little water.
Divide the idli batter into 3 portions. To one portion add beetroot puree, spinach to another & leave the other white.

Make a tempering :
Heat oil & add mustard seeds, allow to crackle. Add curry leaves, green chilli & onions. Saute until the onions are lightly browned.

Add this tempering to all the three portions , add a little extra to the beetroot portion to remove the bland taste of beetroot. Pour the batters into greased moulds of individual idli plates & steam in an Idli cooker for 8 min (for mini idlis) or 10 min for medium sized idlis. Serve hot with coconut chutney.

vegetable Rosti

This is another interesting & easy to make snack which I learnt from a Korean friend. I am not sure whether it could rightly be called as Rosti or pancakes. Correct me if I am wrong, but its easy & nutritious and my family especially my child loved it.
I was served the rostis with soya-vinegar sauce , I'll post you soon the recipe for it.
I modified the recipe slightly by adding green chillies to give it a spicy Indian taste.


In this recipe you can use any combination of vegetables like potatoes, carrots, cabbage, spring onion, spinach, etc. and cheese too. In short make them with whatever veggies you have in your refridgirator.



makes: 18

What I used:
2 cups grated mixed vegetables( I used 2 potato, 1 carrot, 1 radish & few spring onions)

2 green chillies finely chopped

1/2 cup plain flour
oil to shallow fry.
salt to taste




How I made:
Mix in all the ingredients. Heat a heavy bottomed non-stick pan & grease it . Put small ball sized portions of the mixture & flatten them with the back of a spoon .If you find it difficult to do it in the pan you can prepare flat disks in between your palms & then put it in the pan. Flip them to cook on both sides using very little oil.

Serve hot with soya-vinegar sauce.

My entry for
Sunday Snacks - Chaats/Indian Street Food hosted by Pallavi

Pop Corn

Ingredients:
1/4 cup corn kernels
1 inch cube salted butter
salt

Method:
1. Heat butter in a heavy bottomed sauce pan on High. Add corn kernels to it and saute for about a min.
2. Cover the pan and after about another minute you can hear the sound of corn popping up.

3. Reduce the flame when popping sound slows down & switch off after a minute.

4. Sprinkle salt & serve.

Variations:

1. Instead of salt you can add honey and make sweet Popcorn.

2. Can add toasted seasame seeds to make saesamy Popcorn.

Mini Pizzas

1 Pizza Base
1 cup grated cheese
Sauce:
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
2 cloves garlic chopped finely
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1/2 tsp ajwain (caraway seeds) or oregano

Toppings: ( you can choose any combination of vegetables, I have used sweet corn & capsicums in this recipe)
Sweet corn, Capsicum slices, tomato slices, olives, baby corn slices, etc.

Method:
1. Cut rounds out of a pizza base using a round pastry cutter. In one pizza base you can cut 7 to 8 rounds. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.


2. Mix in all the ingrdients of the sauce and spread evenly on all pizza rounds.(If you are using home-made fresh puree then cook it for a few min. until it thickens then add all other ingredients of the sauce.)

3. sprinkle grated cheese liberally on the pizza bases. Arrange toppings and bake in a preheated oven at 200 degree C (for 10-12 min) until the cheese has melted & the pizza is slightly crisp.