Vegetable Tikkis or Croquettes -- Kids Summer Snacks

One month of summer holidays is already over, and though I wonder how time flew so quickly, in reality quite a few things were done.

The most important was Big Sis getting her Black Belt in Taekwondo. They had tested just before the vacation and the rank ceremony was around end of June. While Big Sis is now a certified Black belt, Little Sis who was very reluctant in the beginning classes is now a proud Brown Belt. Big Sis is not and never was an aggressive child and I feel this taekwondo class has improved her strength and confidence a lot. She had started out at the age of about five and the five plus years of training has made her a stronger girl.

Then for the Fourth of July we went away to a dear friends' place for a lazy relaxed few days which involved lots of ice cream eating and lolling around under the tress in their backyard.

In between, the girls and their neighborhood friends did a lemonade stand. They also started on their swimming and Little Sis enrolled for a Bharatnatyam workshop where her friend goes too. She likes gymnastics better she says and the "mudras" are confusing her, so we will have to see how it goes in the future.

We also made regular trips to the library and Little Sis graduated to chapter books. She took a fancy for Nancy Clancy and read the two books that she got in the library.

Though a much awaited trip to the Water Park had to be canceled due to family reasons, we managed a short trip to a quaint shore town with lighthouse, beach and a lovely town square.

And then of course there was the World Cup taking over regular life.

There is almost one and half month of vacation still to go and I hope it only gets better.

While summer means whole two months of lazy, no-school, minimal routine days for the kids, it also means a time when every 30 minutes a question pops up --"I am hungry. What can I have?" This is a hard question to battle and a lot of the times I get by suggesting fruits, yogurt, cookies. If things get really bad, I keep a box of snacks, otherwise labeled as junk in the garage, which is then offered to quell hungry minds.




To break the monotony every couple of days, I ask the kids to make something simple for themselves and this gets them very excited. I have also asked BigSis to share some of them as well as her book suggestions with me on the kids's blog. And btw, I have moved that blog to Wordpress platform so here is the new URL --Bong Mom's Cookbook For Kids

So, Big Sis made yogurt parfait for a few breakfasts which both she and her sister enjoyed and ate without a single complaint.

Then they made popsicles at home and the most loved ones were the ones with lemonade and gatorade.

BigSis also learned to make Maggi with little supervision. Both the kids love Maggi and she was very eager to make it herself after I told her that if she knows how to make Maggi, she can survive without cooking anything else.

For days when all else fails I have to gather my rear end and make something interesting for snack. These Tikkis have been a big hit that way and I thought to share with you all.

I use all kind of vegetables for them. There is the Beet, carrots and potato combination. Then there is a Carrot,Broccoli, Potato combination. There was also one where I added some cooked minced meat with the potato and broccoli.

This recipe is kind of go as you like but to get an idea here is roughly what I do

Chop the following vegetables in chunks
1 medium beet ,
2 carrot,
1 large potato

Other options: Use broccoli instead of beet. Use sweet potato instead of regular potato.

Cook the above vegetables till they are mash-able. I usually cook them in the pressure cooker.

Once cooked, drain water and mash the vegetables. It is okay if the texture is little grainy and not totally smooth. But remember to drain the water well else it is difficult to form the tikkis

Now heat a little oil in a Kadhai/Frying Pan

Add
1 tsp of ginger paste
1/2 tsp of garlic paste

Next add
the mashed vegetables,
1.5 tsp of Bhaja masla OR cumin powder Or Garam masala,
1/4tsp of red Chili Powder,
salt to taste

Saute the mashed veggies, mixing with the masala till the excess water dries up and the veggies come together, leaving the sides. Add 1 tbsp of finely chopped coriander leaves/dhone pata if you wish.Check to see the spices are right.
Other options: I sometimes add fried onions and parmesan cheese and skip the Bhaja Masla or Cumin powder

Let the mashed and cooked veggies cool. Check to see if you can shape them like a patty. If you see they are little on the softer side add 2 tbsp of Corn flour to bind.

Now take small balls of the mix and path them down to form round patty shaped tikkis. Refrigerate for an hour. This makes them firm.

To fry them we can use different methods

Method 1: Roasting tikkis on a greased frying pan

Now in a frying pan with flat surface, spray some cooking oil. We will be shallow frying or rather just roasting the tikkis on a greased surface so use very little oil, enough for greasing the surface.

Place the tikkis on the frying pan and cook until each side is browned

Method 2: Shallow frying tikkis. This method is better when you feel the patties are on the softer side

Dip the vegetable patties in egg wash(beat an egg with 2tbsp of water to make egg wash) and then roll in breadcrumbs

Shallow fry them.

You can freeze or refrigerate the patties for a couple of days and then fry them as needed.




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