Baked Quinoa Croquettes – Guest Post from Anupama

Its guest post day, and today we have Anupama from Easy bites Online. Social media is playing a great role in finding new people, I happened to see Anupama’s post in a FB group and started visiting her space. I am a big fan of her healthy recipes. I  apporached her to do a guest post for Toddler friendly recipes, she instantly agreed and here is her healthy snacks.

Anupama says,

Quinoa, although less known, this super grain is making a definite way into our lives, rightly so if you ask me. Packed with all the eight essential amino acids (and thereby a complete protein), fiber, magnesium, phosphorous and iron, quinoa has made its way for sure into my kitchen.

Nearly every meal of ours entails either rice or wheat, our habitual grains. I am aware that to bring in quinoa can be tricky especially with picky toddlers!

When Vidya Srinivasan, from Traditionally Modern Food, asked me for a toddler-friendly guest post on her blog, I could not refuse; not because I find it hard to say ‘No’ to anyone, but because being such a professional, enthusiastic blogger, lovely and a thoughtful person that she is, I simply could not bring myself to say no. I feel this has opened up another channel to know Vidya and her wonderful blog better. Do visit her blog for numerous delicious, healthy recipes.

I decided this would be another opportunity to bring in quinoa and make it toddler-friendly!

An eye-catching finger food presented to hungry kids after school is sure to entice them to dig in. As anticipated, the array of Baked Quinoa Croquettes sitting at the table with some ketchup, drew my kids to it. They simply grabbed one each, dug into the dip and ‘puff’ it was gone.

These are baked, however, can be deep-fried too.

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Ingredients:

cooked quinoa – 1/2 cup

cooked mashed or cooked grated potato – 3/4 cup

paneer – 1/4 cup (Indian cottage cheese)

finely chopped onion – 1/2 cup

finely chopped green bell pepper – 1/4 cup

garlic – 1 clove chopped fine

ginger – 1 tsp grated fine

fresh mint leaves – 6-8 roughly chopped

fresh coriander chopped fine – 2 tbsp

raisins, roughly chopped cashews – couple of tbsp as stuffing (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

lemon juice – 2 tsp (or to taste)

corn slurry prepared using a tbsp of corn flour mixed in 1 tbsp of water

bread crumbs prepared using brown bread powdered in a blender

olive oil – few tsp to drizzle over and to grease the tray

Method:

– First cook quinoa as per the instructions on the pack.

– Add this 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa to a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients.

– Mix everything well. it should come together nicely like a dough.

– Now take small portions of the mixture of the size of a golf ball.

– Flatten it over your palm using your fingers.

– Place a couple of raisins and cashew pieces (if preferred). cover this up by bringing together the mixture all around and over the stuffing. make a ball shaped croquette.

– Now, dip this in cornflour slurry, then roll over bread crumbs to cover all over. Pat gently all over to allow bread crumbs to stick well.

– Place this on a plate or tray. Repeat the same with the rest of the mixture.

– Pre-heat the oven to 190 deg C.

– Allow these balls to sit for 10-15 min. this will allow the corn flour to harden a bit. This will ensure that the balls do not open up when deep-fried. It retains its shape well too when baked.

-Now drizzle over or brush gently some olive oil over each of the balls.

-Place them on a lined, greased baking tray.

-Bake them for 22-25 min or until nicely browned up.

-Serve with ketchup.

Notes:

Since this is meant for kids, green chili has not been used. but if tolerated, can be used.

If preferred, the cornflour slurry can also be seasoned with salt and pepper powder.

The finer you chop the vegetables, the easier it will be to prepare balls.

Stuffing with raisins, nuts is optional. if stuffing is not preferred, make smaller balls.

Keep an eye on the bake.

Allow it to cool slightly before you attempt to remove from the tray. Use a flat plastic ladle to gently dislodge it from the tray.

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Spinach Roti – Guest post from Sandhya

Today we have a toddler friendly recipe from Sandhya – Sandhya’s kitchen. I got connected with Sandhya through Social media.  Sandhya is sweet person, and being a mom she shares lots of tips. After starting toddler friendly recipes, I thought of asking few moms I met in this blogging world and Sandhya was one among them.  I am a big fan of her food photography and her yummy dishes. Sandhya gave me few options, and Spinach roti was my favorite! Over to sandhya. A fortnight ago, like every morning, after sending my elder one to school, I was sipping my morning tea. I was having some time for myself checking my emails, facebook , news and so forth. I read a message from Vidya about doing a guest post in her space , specially for toddlers. She such a lovely and warm person , I have known e-socially over the last couple of months .How can I refuse ? I had no second thought as I knew I was going to do that. Thank you for giving me all the time in the world and let do this interesting delight at my pace. We are a family who love to have a mixed variety in a meal all through the week. I am sure, in this modern world most people would. Our diet varies from Palakad South Indian cooking to a North Indian Paratha, Curry  to  a Pasta Bake and what not? Guess this post will have a never ending page, if I have to list the elaborate choices we have. I have grown up eating my mum’s super soft flame baked phulka’s literally every day, either for my school lunch or a meal at home. This has been one of my comfort meal any day. Undoubtedly we love our regular flame baked phulka’s with any dry vegetable curry or may b dal or paneer delicacies or if pulse arenas. We love spinach and its richess in iron is definitely something that makes us include in our diet ritually. When it comes to kids, getting my son V eat his spinach in gravy or a molagutal ( southindian lentil coconut curry) is slightly tricky. Knowing his love for Parathas , I decided to use them in the dough. It was a complete win win situation, as all the required spinach is being consumed and yet there no complain from the boy of 7 years. All that he tells me is that the Green Chapathi is Yumm. This is an easy way of sneaking the greens into our diet using the whole wheat spinach phulka’s.

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Palak Phulka Makes 20-22 Nos INGREDIENTS

Whole Wheat Flour	2 Cups
Spinach ( Palak )	130g
Water	¼ Cup + a few tablespoons
Ginger	½ Inch
Cumin Powder	1 Tsp
Salt	¾ -1 Tsp
Mango ( Amchur ) Powder  ( Optional)	½ Tsp
Green Chillies ( Optional)	1 -2 No’s
Sunflower Oil  or Oil of your choice	1 Tbsp.
Ghee	As desired.

* Cup size us IKEA plastic cup

DIRECTIONS

• In a large pot, heat some water and add the spinach leaves along with some salt. Allow them to blanch for 5-6 minutes. Drain the hot water from the spinach leaves and run them under cold tap water.

• Grind the spinach leaves along with ginger and make a fine puree. This puree approximately came up to ¾ Cup. Add very little water if required. **In case you are not making it for kids, you can include green chillies to grind along with the spinach leaves.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the spinach puree, wheat flour, salt, cumin powder and mango powder and start kneading. Add a little more water as you knead until you achieve soft pliable dough. Splash the oil onto your hands and the remaining on the dough and knead until we have a clean bowl. Set the dough aside for 20 Minutes or so.

• Divide the dough into 20 equal portions. Pick one portion of dough at a time, dust some flour and spread them with the roller into thin phulkas. Heat a non-stick pan / tava and cook each phulka on the pan slightly for a few minutes until you start to see some bubbles. Flip the phulka and cook for another a minute or so . Now put the phulka on the flame carefully , watch them begin to puff up slowly. Flip it and allow it puff up on the other side as well.  Remove from the flame and apply some ghee, if you like. Pile them into a casserole and serve them along with a paneer curry or just some yogurt and pickle.

• ** Incase you do not want to flame bake it, you may cook for a few more minutes on the pan. Put a gentle pressure using a flat spatula on each side and then set them aside in a casserole to keep it warm.
• When you are serving the kids, you may let them roll and enjoy it as it is or dunk it in some yogurt.

 VARIATIONS: I tried filling some mashed potatoes inside the spinach phulka dough and served it like a paratha to my son. It came out really well and flavours were very mild and lovable. NOTES:

• If you like your phulkas with a ting of heat, include the green chillies while grinding the spinach leaves.  Do avoid if you are cooking for little ones.
• Mango powder is optional. I love the slight hint of tanginess.
• In case you do not want to flame bake it, you may cook for a few more minutes on the pan. Put a gentle pressure using a flat spatula on each side and then set them aside in a casserole to keep it warm.

Patishapta from Aruna Panangipally – Aharam

Today we have a guest in Traditionally Modern Food, Aruna  Panangipally from Aharam. Aruna is not new to TMF, remember  Custard Powder Halwa that’s for her lovely blog. First time I am having a guest in my space and I am so happy its Aruna.

Aruna has a lot of knowledge about various Indian and international cusinines. The moment I knew Aruna is going to give a guest post, I knew  I would get a different dish for guest post but this Patishapta is a sweet surprise for me.

Aruna mailed me with a list of few recipes namely, two Maharstarian dishes, one Bengali dish, two Andhra dishes and one Sindhi dish and asked me to choose one. Out of 6 recipes she mentioned, I had tried and tasted only 2 recipes:-) Selfish me wanted all the recipes but I told Aruna I love sweet any recipes is ok for me.

After receiving the Patishapta recipe I was happy that she gave me a sweet I haven’t tasted before 🙂

Thanks Aruna for a lipsmacking sweet. I can continue writing about Aruna but Patishapta recipe is waiting:-)

Let’s here from Aruna:-)

There are some people with whom there is an instant connect. Vidya is one such person for me. I have come to love Vidya’s style of recipes; simple, healthy and traditional. Her no-fuss cooking style suits my working woman lifestyle while her focus on keeping food healthy helps with my constant battle with the bulge. J

I am truly honoured and excited to do this guest post for Vidya. She made this fabulous Custard Powder Halwa as a guest post for me and this is my chance to reciprocate her generosity.

When I was talking to Vidya about what she would like, she mentioned that she loves sweets and left the choice up to me. I needed a sweet that befitted the sweet person that Vidya is and so I thought of Patishapta.

Patishapta is a traditional Bengali sweet made during Sankranti or (Poush Parbon as it is called in Bengal). It is very easy make and super delicious. Patishapta is essentially a pancake stuffed with a date palm jaggery-coconut-khoya mix. I used coconut palm jaggery because I had it at home. You could also use regular jaggery or just Sugar. If you want to make it creamy, just use sweetened condensed milk. As you can see, you are spoilt for choice. J

I added a bit more sweet to it by using a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk at the end.

Here is hoping you like it!

Preparation Time: 15 Minutes

Cooking Time: 30 Minutes

Makes: 6 to 8

Ingredients for the Filling

1. Fresh Grated Coconut or Desiccated Coconut – 2 Cups
2. Grated Palm Jaggery or Sugar – 3/4 Cup
3. Crumbled Khoya or Mava – ½ Cup

Ingredients for Pancake Batter

1. Maida or All Purpose Flour – 2 Cups
2. Rice Flour – 2 tbsp
3. Rava or Semolina – ¼ cup
4. Sugar – 3 tbsp
5. Milk – 3 to 3.5 Cups
6. Oil – 2 to 3 tbsp

Other Ingredients

1. Sweetened Condensed Milk – 4 tbsp
2. Milk – 2 tbsp

Method to Make the Filling

• Mix the grated coconut, jaggery, and mava together.

• Place them in a heavy-bottomed pan or Kadhai.

• On low to medium heat, cook the ingredients till the jaggery melts and the mix becomes sticky.

• Turn off the heat.
• Set aside.

Method to Make the Pancake Batter

• Dissolve the sugar in 2 cups of milk.
• Mix together the maida, rava, and rice flour.
• Add the sweetened milk and mix well to form a smooth, lump-free batter.
• Now add the rest of the milk slowly to create a batter of pourable consistency.

Method to Make Patishapta

• Over medium flame, heat a tava or a pan.
• Spread a few drops of oil.

• Pour about ½ cup of batter and let it spread by itself into a circle.
• When the edges start to brown, turn the heat to low.

• Place about 1.5 tbsps of the filling in the centre of the pancake in the shape of a thin long tube.

• Fold over the edges.
• Let it Patishapta cook for a minute or so.

• Repeat steps 2 to 7 to make other Patishaptas.

Serving the Patishapta

1. Just before serving the Patishapta, mix the sweetened condensed milk and regular milk together.
2. Over low flame, heat the mix till warm.
3. In a plate, place one Patishapta.
4. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of warmed condensed milk over the Patishapta.
5. Take a bite, close your eyes and savour the taste!

You can see more of my work at:

• WordPress – http://aahaaram.wordpress.com
• Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/Aahaaram
• Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Aahaaram
• Twitter – @Ahaaram

Custard Powder Halwa – Guest post for Aruna Panangipally’s blog Aharam

Ever since I started blogging I adore Aruna’s work. I was delighted when I got an offer from her for a guest post.

First thing I liked about her blog is her blog name “Aharam” – what a perfect name for a food blog and the way she tells the interesting fact about the food in the Intro for each post

Aharam has a wide spread of Indian and International recipes.

If I say Indian does it justify her work?

No!!

South Indian and North Indian?

Nooo!!

State wise?

Yessss, if I start  specifying all the categories that she has covered, I am sure this post will go Endless

Looking for a festive recipe, low calorie recipe, no oil recipe etc. every search  has a result in her space

I can continue writing about her, but guess its time to hear from Aruna and visit her blog

Few words from Aruna about her space

I have been interested in cooking and collecting recipes for as long as I can remember.  In fact, it is something I imbibed from my grandmother, mother and aunts, all of whom were very interested in trying out new dishes. 🙂

ãhãram, my blog, is my attempt to catalog the recipes I love, be they recipes that are inherited or then those that I have learnt. My blog features pre-dominantly vegetarian recipes (with some egg-based recipes thrown in) from across India. You will find that I have loads of recipes from South India reflecting my ancestry (particularly, Andhra Pradesh, my native state) and those from Maharashtra, the state I grew up in. In addition, I have recipes from across other states of India and the world, reflecting my love for travel and new cultures. 🙂

You can follow Aruna on:

• WordPress: https://aahaaram.wordpress.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Aahaaram
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ahaaram
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/Aahaaram/

I was so pleased when Vidya agreed to do a guest post for me because I knew I would get “something different”, a term I hear often in my home. 🙂

Visit Aruna’s space for Custard Powder Halwa recipe

https://aahaaram.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/custard-powder-halwa-by-vidya-srinivasan-of-traditionally-modern-food/

Custard Powder Halwa 

Preparation time: 3 mins | Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Custard powder – 1 cup (I used Vanilla Flavor)

Sugar – 2 cups + ½ cup (I used light brown sugar, white sugar can also be used. Adjust sugar according to your sweetness)

Water – 4 cups

Butter/Ghee – 3 tbsp (I used butter)

Cashew nuts and Raisin – for taste

Saffron – 1/8 tsp

Salt – a pinch

Cardamom powder – 1/8 tsp

Method:

• Add a tbsp of butter to pan and when it melts and becomes hot, add cashew nut and sauté till they are golden brown. Switch off and add raisin; keep aside
• Grease a pan with melted butter/ghee and keep aside
• In a mixing bowl add custard powder, water, saffron,sugar, salt and cardamom powder; mix well without any lumps

• Take a heavy bottomed pan (I used non-stick) and transfer the mixture to the pan. Keep the pan on the stove and start cooking in high flame
• The mixture will come to boil and start to thicken, Keep stirring till it became glossy and jelly like texture

• Add remaining butter, cashew nuts and raisin; mix well and reduce the flame. Keep stirring continuously till the mixture  begins pulling away from the sides

• Transfer the halwa to the greased pan and level the top. Chill it for an hour and cut them
• Check out my other custard powder reccpe,Custard Powder Cookies

Notes:

• Food color can be added
• Halwa stays good for a week in fridge
• Any nuts of choice can be added

Kasi Halwa (Poosanikai Halwa) – Guest Post for Sujitha Ruban

Couple of days ago Sujitha asked me to guest post for her blog. I am excited to do a guest post in Sujitha Easy Cooking blog. Like her blog name suggests, her recipes are easy for beginners. I found a wide variety of healthy recipes, yummy snacks, mouthwatering sweets, interesting cakes/ cookies and many more in Sujitha’s page. With her simple steps and step by step pictures, she makes it easy to follow her recipes.

Sujitha’s view on Traditionally Modern Food

Vidya Srinivasan is dedicated food blogger, When i request the guest post, happily she agreed and sent a sweet traditional recipe she is the Writer and Editor of Traditionallymordenfood, at first i have no clues from the blog tittle, when i have a look at her page, found some traditional Recipes with Modern touch.. great inspiring name i felt from her page.. She had a good collection of baking recipes, very interesting to read her simple step by step  instruction, as like the sweet post, vidya is such a sweet person

Thanks a lot for the opportunity Sujitha:-)

Kasi Halwa:

Ingredients:

White pumpkin – 2 Cups

Brown Sugar – 1 cup (Adjust according to your sweetness)

Ghee – 1/4 cup

Cashew and raisin – to garnish

Cardamom powder – pinch

Orange food color – pinch

Saffron – 1/8 tsp

Salt – pinch

Method:

• Grate the pumpkin and squeeze the water from the pumpkin. Keep the water for cooking pumpkin

• Add ghee to the pan and sauté the cashew nuts and raisin till cashew nuts are golden brown. Keep them aside
• In the same pan add the pumpkin water and bring to boil. When you see bubbles, add the grated pumpkin and cook in a low flame. Cook the pumpkin in a low flame till it becomes soft
  Add sugar and saffron strands. Continue cooking in medium flame

• Add food color, salt and remaining ghee and continue cooking till you see glossy texture and halwa leave the sides. Add cashew nuts, raisins and cardamom powder and mix well. Halwa is ready to serve

My Notes:

• White sugar can be used instead of brown sugar
• If the pumpkin is so watery add 1 cup of pumpkin water to cook pumpkin and add remaining water if required
• Halwa can be stored in fridge for 3-4 days and in room temperature for a day

Do checkout Kasi Halwa recipe in http://www.sujithaeasycooking.com/2015/01/guest-post-by-vidya-srinivasan.html

Stay in touch with Sujitha

Blog link: http://www.sujithaeasycooking.com/

FB link: https://www.facebook.com/sujithaeasycooking

Twitter link: https://twitter.com/Easycookingsuji

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/sujitharuban/easy-cooking/

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Indus Ladies Kids Lunch Box Ideas E book

Thinking what to cook for lunch box and Preparing lunch for kids is a challenging task. As a kid i was in  demanding side 🙂 now in few years i will be on other side.

IndusLadies has organised 100 yummy recipes which will make a smile in both kids and Moms face 🙂

I am extremely glad to be the part of it and Thank you IndusLadies for adding my “Kashmiri Pulao” recipe.

 https://traditionallymodernfood.wordpress.com/2014/07/31/kashmiri-pulao/

To see variety of delicious recipes all we have to do is to join the Indus Ladies community by creating  a account and download Ebook for future use. Download   here

Mushroom Peas Masala

Writing a Guest post is always exciting. When Beula from EaterSpot asked me to do a Guest post, I accepted happily. The joy was doubled when she told me it was for celebrating the Indian Independence day!

Few words about EaterSpot, in Beula’s own words:

“I began blogging in March 2010 purely because of boredom. I moved from the US to New Zealand, had a full time job, was newly married but wanted to do more stuff … thus my food blogging journey began. Over on my blog EATERSPOT, I share about recipes that have been part of my family and new recipes as well based on my current cravings or menu planning.

I’ve got non-vegetarian, vegetarian, Indian recipes and recipes from different cuisines, vegan, Gluten Free, Paleo and some kids recipes too :)”

Pls checkout Beula’s blog for my Mushroom Peas Masala

Mushroom Peas Masala

Beula’s Facebook page

Thanks Beula, for hosting me, and joining us in celebrating the Indian Independence Day. JAI HIND.

Mushroom Peas Masala:

Preparation Time : 10 min | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Serves : 3
Recipe Category: Side dish

Ingredients:

Button Mushroom – 200 grams

Frozen Peas – 1/2 cup

Onion – 1 big, finely chopped

Tomato – 2

Ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp

Garam Masala powder- 1 tsp

Chilli powder – 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder – 1/2 tsp

Cumin powder – 1/4 tsp

Milk – 1/4 cup

Turmeric powder – 1/8 tsp

Cinnamon Powder – 1/4 tsp

Salt – as needed

To temper:

Oil – 1 tsp

Cardamom – 2 pods

Bay leaf -1

Method:

• Wash the Mushroom well with hot water and keep it soaked in water (As mushroom turns to oxidise, I added a pinch of turmeric powder in water to prevent them changing color)
• Boil onion and tomato in hot water and strain the water. When it comes to room temperature, blend them into fine paste

• Add oil to the pan. Add bay leaf and cardamom after the oil becomes little hot. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the blended tomato and onion puree and cook for 2 -3 minutes. Add garam masala, coriander powder, cumin powder, chilli powder, turmeric powder and allow it to cook for 2-3mins

• Add the mushroom, peas and salt. Saute well for 2-3 minutes

• Add cinnamon powder and milk and let it cook for 3-5 minutes

My Notes:
• I didn’t add water while cooking mushroom, as there was enough moisture, but you can sprinkle little water if required
• Instead of milk, you can add 1/4 cup of curd or 2 tbsp of fresh cream
• If you are using a cinnamon stick, add it while tempering
• This gravy goes well with any variety rice like fried rice/ pulao as well as with naan/rotis
• I boiled the onions and blended them, as it will save time while cooking. Instead, you can also sauté the onions

Happy to be Hosted by Micaela!

I was happy and thrilled when Michaela from Easy Italian Cuisine sent me a note to host me on her blog, and post my Bruschetta recipe.

If you are fond of Italian recipes like me, then Easy Italian Cuisine is definitely a blog for you. Wide range of Bread, Pizza, Dessert, First course, Main Course, Salad….. the list goes on! Being a dessert lover, her Tiramisu is my favorite:) Click on the below thumbnail and her FB page for awesome recipes.

Check my Bruschetta recipe in her blog,