Banana Sweet Pidi Kozhukattai

Kozhukkatai is a traditional south Indian delicacy prepared in both sweet and savory versions. There was a stage when my son started preferring foods which he can hold and eat. Paniyaram was my instant saver on many days. One day I prepared Savory pidi Kozhukattai for us and he liked.

Knowing the fact he loves sweets and  to include banana into his diet, generally I prepare sweet pidi Kozhukattai with jaggery and banana.

Check out my other Kozhukattai recipes,

Cracked Wheat Kozhukattai

Sweet Kozhukattai

Aval Kozhukattai

Ammini Kozhukattai

Ingredients:

Rice Flour – 1 cup

Banana – 1 cup puree from two  banana

Jaggery – 1/4 cup

Water –   1 cup 

Cardamom powder – 1/8 tsp

Salt – pinch

Oil/ Ghee – to grease

Method:

• Soak jaggery in  luke warm water for 20 minutes (Time depends on the size of the cut jaggery). Strain to remove impurities
• In  heavy bottomed pan add the jaggery syrup and cardamom powder and bring it boil. Add the banana puree and cook for 2 minutes

• Add rice flour and salt to the jaggery syrup – banana puree and mix well to avoid lumps. Cook til the dough separates from the pan and forms a mass

•  Keep it aside till you can handle the dough. Cover it with a damp cloth

• Grease the hand with little water, take a small portion of Kozhukattai and make it into cylindrical shape
• Grease the idli mould with little oil. Steam kozhukattai in idli stand or pressure cooker for 8 to 10 minutes. 

My Notes:

• I used store brought rice flour, instead homemade rice flour can also be used
• The water quantity depends on the rice flour so adjust accordingly

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Perugu Pachadi (Tomato Pachadi)

I first heard about perugu pachadi from my friend, during our phone conversation. I asked what she cooked for lunch, and she said perugu pachadi, and as I was not familiar with that term I asked her what it is. She explained the preparation, and I told her its tomato raita and I know it. My friend told its different from raita, as sauted tomato gives different taste to it. When we met she cooked this pachadi, eggplant curry and pappu. Ever since that day I started cooking it regularly in home. My hubby calls it “Easy Moar Kuzhambu”.

Recently my blog friend Aruna –  Aaharam suggested me some other variations with eggplant, coconut, ladies finger. I should try it soon

Ingredients:

Tomatoes – 2, chopped

Curd – 1 cup + 1/3 cup, beaten well

Turmeric Powder – a pinch

salt – as needed

To Temper:

Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp

Cumin seeds – 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves – few

Green chilli – 1/2, slit and de-seeded

Dry  Red chilli – 1 , de-seeded and teared (optional)

Asofetida – pinch

Oil – 1 tsp

Method:

•  Add oil to the pan, when the oil becomes hot add the items under to temper and let mustard seeds splutter
• Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for 6 – 8 minutes till the tomatoes become slightly mushy and fully cooked.  Switch off
• Add the cooked tomato mixture to  the beaten curd. Add salt; mix well and  Serve with rice/rotis

My Notes:

• I prefer my food to be less spicy so I reduced the chilli my friend old also desseded

Microwave Ladies Finger Fry

My hubby loves ladies finger, even If I cook It daily he will be happy. For me more than cooking ladies finger pre work is the one which demands a lot of time – Washing and patting well with a dry cloth or dry in a paper towel for a longtime. These days with my little one running around my legs I find it difficult to do the steps my mother usually does to avoid mushy ladies finger. As I mentioned in my Bhindi Masala, microwave helps me to skip those steps. One  day when I had microwaved ladies finger, I thought of giving a try with cooking the entire curry in microwave and it worked.

Ingredients:

Chopped Ladies Finger – 2 cups

Sambar powder/ chilli powder – 1 tsp  ( I used Sambar powder)

Coriander Powder – 1/4 tsp

Cumin powder – 1/8 tsp

Rice flour – 1/8 tsp

Asofetida – generous pinch

Curd – 1/2 tsp

Salt – to taste

Oil – 1/2 tbsp

Method:

• In a small bowl combine sambar powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, rice flour, asofetida and salt
• Cut the washed ladies finger into small pieces and place them in a paper towel. In a bowl add oil and ladies finger; mix well

• Microwave them for 3 minutes, take out and add curd. mix well. Microwave for another 3 – 4 minutes till the mushy texture changes
• Add the spice powder mix and combine well

• Microwave for 6 – 8 minutes or till the bhindi cooks well with spice powders flavors well incorporated. Serve it with rice/roti

My Notes:

• Can do tempering separately and add it to the curry but I skipped it
• Curd is optional. Add it of you thinks Okra is very sticky than usual
• Can bake ladies finger instead of using microwave method. Bake it for 375 degree Fahrenheit 20 to 25 minutes if its cut like this. If  cut pieces are lengthy baking time changes
• Can add coconut for extra taste during the last minute
• Can cut ladies finger into big pieces, slit and stuff the spice powder
• Can add garam masala, chat masala or any other spice powder of choice

Apple Pancakes – Guest Post from Chitra

Its time for a breakfast recipe, today we have Chitra from Chitra Healthy Kitchen.  Since we both started blogging in almost the same time, Chitra and her space is very familiar to me ever since the beginning. Chitra is a good friend of mine, she always stops by and leave her encouraging words. Chitra’s recipes perfectly fits her blog title. I admire the way she tells the healthy aspects of ingredients in her intro for each post.  Knowing Chitra is a mom I appoached her for toddler friendly recipe and she instantly agreed to give me one. I was happy when I saw pancake recipe from C,  my son loves pancake and I have a new way to give him apple.

Over to Chitra,

When V (Vidya) approached me for ‘toddler recipe’ was over whelmed. I tried to give my best as per possible for guest post. I delayed to share my recipe however V waited patiently and allowed me to take my own time.

V is my blogger friend and been interacting with her since I started my blogging journey. She encouraged me with her feedback for each of my recipe and can’t thank enough for that. Look forward to her support in future too.

Traditionally modern food, name of the blog itself is so attractive. So one can expect all such traditional recipes with all possible twists. I got to know lot many traditional recipes from her home town.

I wish Vidya a great success in every step of her journey personally and professionally.

Thanks V for the oppourtunity. Since kids love apple and chocolate thought of combining them to make this recipe.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrChDietFood

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ChitraJagadish/

Apple ring pancakes drizzled with chocolate

About:

For an adorable twist on the usual pancake recipe, whip up these delicious apple ring pancakes. Slice fresh apples — any variety will work.  The taste? Well it’s a bit donut-ty (yes really, try it!), it’s soft and pillowy. They cook just like regular pancakes, and the apples soften slightly, so when you take your first bite, the apple is slightly crisp but oh so warm and juicy. There’s the perfect amount of sweetness.

These were drizzled with chocolate syrup as kids love chocolates and sliced almonds, pistachio. These are also great for a dessert if you wanted to serve them with ice cream.

Preparation time-10 minutes

Cooking time- 5 minutes per batch

Ingredients:

• Apples-4
• Oil- for toasting

For the batter:

• Gram flour/besan-3/4cup
• Corn starch-3-4tbsp
• Any milk of choice-1/2 to 3/4cup (or more as required for the batter)
• yogurt-1/2cup
• Salt-a pinch
• Baking powder-1/4tsp
• Vanilla essence-2tsp
• Honey/maple syrup-2-3tbsp

Topping:

• Cooking chocolate-100gms
• Chopped nuts/sprinkler

Procedure:

For the batter:

• In a large bowl combine besan flour, corn starch, salt, baking powder and set aside.
• In other bowl whisk yogurt, milk, vanilla essence until frothy.
• Now stir in yogurt mixture to the flour mixture until a smooth batter obtained(add extra milk/yogurt if required)

Preparing apples:

• Wash the apples thoroughly- pat dry and Slice the into slices which are 1/2 inch thick.
• Using a circle cookie cutters remove centre of the apple –the core and seeds.
• Brush some lemon juice and set aside on a paper towels to dry.

For cooking apple rings:

• Heat a non-stick pan/skillet on a medium heat, spray the griddle and then Dip each apple rings in the batter and rub to fully cover it.
• 
• Transfer to the pre-heated griddle and cook as you would do a regular pancakes.
• Flip and cook on the other side and continue to cook for 1-2minutes.

• Repeat with all the apple slices and serve with some honey/nuts

OR

For topping:

• Melt chocolate in a double boiler/microwave and drizzle over panckes.
• Top with some chopped nuts/sprinkler and serve.

Note:

• Batter has to be thick enough to coat the apples.

Crunchy Snack balls – Guest Post from Sridevi

Its day 5 and there is one more energy balls recipe, this time it is from Sridevi – Coconut Craze. During my Initial days of blogging I was checking my wordpress reader and saw Sridevi’s post notification, the word coconut intrigued me to visit her space, and from that day onwards her blog has become one of my regular blogs to visit. Her food pics speaks a lot, I adore her recipe collections some of her baked recipes are in my to do list. She is very friendly and gave me great support ever since my initials days and till date. Though she was busy when I asked for Guest post Sridevi allocated sometime and sent me this post. Crunchy snacks balls are waiting, over to Sridevi,

I have a sweet little treat as a guest post for Vidya Srinivasan of Traditionally Modern Food. Vidya, is a very enthusiastic blogger and has presented us with many wonderful recipes. I appreciate her friendliness and hard work. She has been encouraging me with suggestions and comments which helped me improve my posts considerably. I like her baked recipes that have a traditional element in it. She gives them a modern twist making them less oily and yummy. When she asked me to do a guest post for her, I was in the middle of some activities. I managed to squeeze in some time and came up with this easy recipe.

She suggested a kid friendly recipe and I thought of all things kids can hold in their hands, carry around and eat. My foremost concern was to make it nutritional. I wanted to try something without any artificial additives. It should be attractive to children, easy to make and delicious. I had a lot of things to consider. Honestly, it made me scratch my head and think a bit. Finally, I came up with this ladoo. Hope you like it!

facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Coconut-craze/281334571966246

Energizer ladoos

Imagine a guilt free snack! A snack that is handy and provide energy to play for a long time!

These crunchy snack balls will provide you all of the above. They are gluten free and refined sugar free if you do not use powdered sugar to decorate. This is a convenient snack to can grab and go!

I developed this recipe inspired by a snack ball we make at home. It is from a mix called avalouse podi made using rice flour, coconut and cumin seeds, fried to a grainy texture.  Back home, it is our homemade breakfast cereal that is eaten with sugar and slices of banana. They also make it into snack balls adding melted brown sugar or honey.

I thought it was an appropriate snack and tried to add a few more ingredients to enhance it. When I took a bite, I was reminded of my aunt who makes them when we go on vacation to our grandmother’s house.

For simplicity, I took equal quantities of most ingredients. You may increase or decrease it as desired.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup rice
• 1/4 cup oats rolled or steel cut oats
• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 1/4 cup dry coconut
• 1/4 cup almonds
• 12-15 pitted dates
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• honey to bind

Method:

1. Soak pitted dates in water for 20 minutes.
2. Chop soaked dates into small bits.
3. Take a heavy bottom pan and roast oats, rice and quinoa each separately until golden brown.
4. Toast grated dry coconut. (If it is fresh coconut, grate it finely and toast with rice until it becomes dry.)
5. Add raw almonds and chopped dates to the roasted ingredients and pulse it in a blender in small batches.
6. Powder it to get a coarse texture.
7. Mix the powder with coconut oil.
8. Add enough honey to the mixture to make it moist enough to hold.
9. Roll them in your hand into small balls.

I made 16 balls with this mixture. They harden after they rest a while. Store them in air tight containers or in a refrigerator for weeks. You feel a satisfactory crunch when you chew it.

Sprinkle powdered sugar for an attractive coating or dust with chocolate powder if your kids like it.

This is exclusively a kid friendly snack but if you have a kid in you, go ahead and enjoy it! When I made this at home, surprisingly, it was the oldest member in the house who loved it the most. So there is no age limit to taste one and run back for more!

Thanks you for inviting me and having me post in your space, Vidya!

Potato Smiley – Guest post from Mullai

Snack mania continues and today we have Mullai from SpiceIndiaOnline. Mullai and I become friends recently but in a short span of time, we have become close to each other. Though I am a Amateur blogger when compared with her blogging experience, she never treats me so. She is friendly and kind, shares her blogging techniques and things which worked for her.  My India trip is fast approaching and time to prepare something for my hubby and freeze it when was thinking what to do, Mullai gave me a lot of interesting ideas. I have to check her blog for more recipes. During our calls one day I told about Guest post and she squeezed sometime between her busy schedule and gave this yummy snacks. Can someone say no to this beautiful crispy snacks??

Over to Mullai,

Writing a guest post is all new to me… one fine morning Vidya casually pinged to chat and from then on we became good friends. That  fun chat still continues with never ending conversations until duty calls. Vidya Srinivasan,  who i’ve  known for a few months now is a very dedicated food blogger..runs this beautiful, very impressive  blog called “traditionallymodernfood” with wonderful collection of both traditional & modern recipes.  She mostly shares  simple recipes with easy instructions and keeps it interesting & neat. She is one sweet person with humble attitude and when she asked me to write a guest post on toddler friendly food I couldn’t say no.

https://www.facebook.com/spiceindiaonline

https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/104988302656588183755/+SpiceindiaonlineRecipes/posts

While googling  for a good one, I ran into YummytummyArthi’s space which had this fun recipe called Potato smiley faces which caught my eyes, which made me feel like a kid in the candy store! Well this recipe is inspired from that with few alterations to suit my taste. Though not that healthy, it will for sure impress your kids and I can assure that it will definitely bring a smile on their face. Try it out!

Ingredients:

Medium size Potatoes    3

Corn flour    5- 6 tablespoons

Salt  3/4 teaspoon

Black pepper  1/2 teaspoon

Oil    2 cups (for deep frying)

Method:

• Boil potatoes and keep aside. Let them cool completely. Finely grate them or mash like how you would do for mashed potatoes
• This mixture will be very sticky, add salt, black pepper powder and just half of the corn flour and make a stiff dough. Add more corn flour until the dough looks firm.

• Cover and refrigerate for atleast an hour.  By now the potato dough would have turn stiff.Dust corn flour on a board and roll out the dough flat for about 1/4 inch thickness.

• Using a cookie cutter cut them out into small circular discs. Using big hole straw punch the discs as shown for the eyes. Then using a spoon press to shape the mouth.

• Heat oil and deep fry the smileys… they just dance around in the hot oil, bubbles of oil oozing out from their eyes and mouth will look as if they are talking to you. Once they turn golden brown on both sides, remove and drain excess oil by placing them on a paper towel. Serve hot with ketchup!

• This recipe will yield about 15 smileys, make them ahead of time, dust with corn flour and refrigerate. Make it in the morning and refrigerate and fry when the kids long for an evening snack. Oh…there’s already a naughty one licking up the ketchup!

Oats Quinoa Balls – Guest post from Malar

Day 2 of my guest post series and today its from Malar, neither my blog nor my immediate family needs intro for her. WordPress gave us intro and initially we started talking through comments, but within no time it has changed to a stage where almost every week we started talking over the phone and most of the days during our one hour talk (may be more if my son didn’t wake up during his nap) we seldom talks about blog. As Malar mentioned below during our initial days we both decided to do guest post in each other’s space, but taking advantage of our friendship kept postponing, finally “March” has become a auspicious month for both of us to write a post for each other (oh yes, can see my post in Malar’s page in sometime). I can continue writing about Malar and her space but its time to handover to Malar:-)

Over to Malar,

Hi I am Malar , so excited to do a guest post for Vidya’s Traditionally Modern Food, a fabulous blog. My blog is Malar’s Kitchen. You can find various Indian recipes along with few other cuisine recipes. I have a lot of chettinad recipes too, if it might excite you.

Vidya and myself, we started following each other during our initials days of blogging, eventually we got along so well. From blogging she turned out to be a very good friend of mine. We chit chat a lot, just not blogging many personal stuffs too  It was long time back we decided that we should do guest post for each other and being friends, we took enough advantage of postponing 😉 Finally I am here with a guest post for her with Oats Quinoa Balls. Few details on my blog.

Blog link: https://malarmuthu.wordpress.com/

FB link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Malars-Kitchen/1516965231871483

Pinterest link: https://www.pinterest.com/vijimalar/recipe/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/malarskitchen

Hopping on to the recipe…..

Ingredients:

Oats – 1 cup

Quinoa – ¼ cup

Water – ¾ cup

Flax seeds – ¼ cup

Vanilla Extract – 1 teaspoon

Dry Fruits – 1/3 cup (I have used cranberries)

Jaggery – ½ cup (Can be replaced by sugar)

Method:

• Dry roast Oats for 3 to 4 mins, until nice aroma rises.
• Dry roast flax seeds for 2 mins.
• Now powder oats and flax seeds either together or separately.
• Clean quinoa and cook with water in high for 6 mins, simmer for 12 mins.
• Switch off when quinoa turns fluffy and soft.
• Heat jaggery with just enough water to bring it to boiling state.
• Now mix all of the together along with dry fruits and vanilla extract.
• Form a nice dough. Make small balls out of it.
• Healthy oats quinoa balls are ready. Place in an airtight container in fridge stay well up to 20 days.
• You can add any sort of dry fruits, cashews, almonds, walnuts. I wanted to use up my cranberries , so I have used only this 

Pumpkin Buns – Guest post from Swapna’s Kitchen

Its guest post day :-)Today we have Swapna from Swapna’s Kitchen. It makes me feel good when people write a post for me, happy to have such sweet friends around 🙂

Couple of months ago I happen to come across Swapna’s page. I am a big fan of her homestyle recipes, and having a sweet tooth, lot of her sweet recipes are in my to-do list.  I know she is a mom so I approached her for toddler friendly Recipes. She immediately told yes and asked if I am looking for anything specific, and I was happy to let her choose one for me. Swapna gave a list of recipes and I choose Pumpkin buns, as my Son is having sweet tooth like Mother and likes Pumpkin puree:-) She has a lot of sweet words about me:-)

Over to Swapna

When Vidya mailed me for a guest post I was really shocked for I could not believe how a person who has achieved so much in blogging could trust a new blogger like me.This is my first guest post here.I really wanted to give my best for the trust she had on me.I am so glad to have her as my friend here.I love all her traditional recipes especially the Poondu Kulambu and Karadaiyan Adai.

I am a big fan of her Microwave oven recipes . I guess its time for me to start making them at home for I have gained lot of weight after starting this food blog..I really want to thank Vidya for giving me this opportunity to let me write on her space.

After mailing her some few recipes she selected Pumpkin buns for her cute little son loves pumpkin puree .So this post is especially made for her little boy who loves Pumpkin and his mother who loves him….

Fb Link:https://www.facebook.com/swapnaskitchenofficialpage?ref=hl

 

PUMPKIN BUNS

INGREDIENTS

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp melted butter

1/2 cup warm milk

2 tbsp warm water

1/4 tsp salt

3-5 tbsp all purpose flour for kneading the dough

FOR PROOFING YEAST

2 tbsp warm milk

1/4 tsp sugar

2 & 1/4 tsp yeast

METHOD

Pressure cook the pumpkin for a whistle,grind them and keep it aside.Add  1/2 tsp of sugar to  warm milk and add the yeast to it.The yeast will rise in few mins.

In a large mixing glass bowl,add sugar,warm milk and 1/2 cup warm pumpkin puree.Then add melted butter ,yeast and mix them well.

Add the all purpose flour little by little (1/4 cup) and mix them well until a mild sticky dough is formed.Now transfer the dough to your work space ,sprinkle some flour and start kneading the dough for 15 mins.

Place the dough in a glass bowl and cover it with a plastic wrap.Leave it in a warm place for an hour until it doubles in volume.

Transfer the dough to your work space and knead it for  2 mins to remove the air bubbles.Divide the dough into 12 equal parts and roll each part into a ball.Place the balls in a baking dish and cover it with a plastic wrap.Leave it for 30 mins to rise again.

Bake at 350 degree F for 15-20 mins or until the tops are lightly brown.Brush the top of the buns with melted butter.

Banana Wheat Pancake ( Banana Gothumai Dosai)

As I have mentioned in my earlier post,  In recent times Pancakes has become one of the common breakfast. Though I generally prepare Whole Wheat Pancake for my son, in the mission of adding some fruits  into his diet tried Pancakes with banana Checkout my other pancakes Eggless Pancake Strawberry Whole Wheat Pancake Cornmeal Pancake

Banana Pancake:

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Resting Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 2

Recipe Category: Breakfast

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients

Wheat Flour – 1 cup

Cinnamon powder – 1/4 tsp

Baking powder – 2 tsp

Honey/White Sugar/Brown Sugar – 2 tbsp (Adjust according to your taste, I used brown sugar)

Salt – 1/4 tsp

Wet Ingredients:

Banana –  1 (1/2 cup mashed)

Egg – 1

Milk – 1 cup + 4 tbsp (I used 2% milk)

Vanilla extract – 1/4 tsp

Olive oil/butter – 1 tbsp + 1 tsp (for the batter)

Butter –  1 tbsp (Unsalted,  Melted at room temperature)

Method:

• In a bowl add all the dry Ingredients; mix well and Set aside
• In a separate bowl beat the eggs well; add milk banana puree, melted butter and vanilla extract; whisk well
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir gently.  Set batter aside for 10 minutes

• Heat an iron skillet or a non-stick pan on low to medium heat. Reduce heat to low and pour a ladle full of batter in the center of the pan. Do not spread the batter. Allow it to spread on its own. Add little butter around the edges. Cook the pancake on low medium heat for half a minute or until bubbles appear over the pancake

• When the pancake turns to a nice golden shade, flip it over and cook for half a minute and transfer to the serving plate
• Serve warm, topped with butter/honey/Maple Syrup/Powdered Sugar/Caramel syrup/butterscotch syrup/Fruit syrup

My Notes:

• For eggless version add 2 bananas instead of one
• If you are resting the batter for a long time drizzle some tbsp of milk to reach the desired consistency
• All purpose flour can be used instead of whole wheat
• Cardamom powder can be added for flavoring

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.

Website : http://easybitesonline.com

Google Plus : https://plus.google.com/+AnuNagarajaebo

Facebook : http://facebook.com/blogebo

Twitter : http://twitter.com/@easybitesonline/

Pinterest : http://pinterest.com/anagarajakumar

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.