Onion Bhajis for Toddlers and Grown ups

Onion bhajis or pakoras; is there a more convenient finger food?  They are so ridiculously easy and cheap to make yourself too and you can mix up the type of vegetables in them.  Here I've included a bit of carrot.

My son liked them but only the bits with smaller onion pieces, he found the long bits a bit stringy.  Next time I might make them with more finely chopped or grated vegetables.  He was a big fan of the spicy yoghurt dip though which surprised me.

Onion Bhajis - makes plenty for one adult and one child

Ingredients

100g, 3.5oz Gram (chickpea) flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 tsp Garam masala
1-2 tsp Medium or mild curry paste
110g, 4oz Onions, sliced
Half a carrot, finely grated
Juice of half a lemon

Oil to cook

Spicy yoghurt dip (optional)
1 tbsp yoghurt
2 tsp medium curry paste
1 tbsp mango chutney

Method

Mix the garlic, spices and lemon juice together.  Add the gram flour and mix to a thick paste with approx 10 tbsp water, add it slowly until it's a thick batter only just thinner than a paste.  Add in the onions and carrot mixing to coat.  Make it thicker rather than thinner.

Heat a couple of cm / an inch or so of oil in a deep frying pan until a small amount browns in 2 minutes.  You don't want it too hot.

Drop dessert spoons of the mix into the oil and fry on both sides until browned.  Drain on kitchen paper while you cook the rest.

Serve as a starter or a side dish with dhal or as I have here as a simple lunch with a spicy yoghurt dip and some rice cooked with peas.  For younger kids or ones less keen on spice they might just prefer to dunk into mango chutney.

If just making for grown ups or for kids who are more keen on spicy foods, add some chilli or use a hotter curry paste.  If your child is less keen on spicy foods, you could miss out the curry paste completely so they are flavoursome without being at all hot.

Make it Thrifty:

This is a pretty cheap recipe as it is but I believe you could make them with plain flour rather than buying chickpea flour but I've never tried it.  Another way to keep costs down is to use a wok to fry them as they often have a narrower tapered base so you use less oil.  Also keep an eye out for large packs of Indian spices in supermarkets.  They're often cheaper than the small branded supermarket ones.  If you share a big bag of garam masala with a friend it will cost you far less.

I've linked this up to the wellness weekend.

Spinach and Potato Bites, great for babies and toddlers

I was out running this morning, as you do, and thought about something my Mum used to cook for us sometimes.  In retrospect I suspect it was a way to use up excess mashed potato but it was something I loved.  If I'm honest I was never a big fan of mashed potato on it's own and this mixed it up a bit.

So I made them smaller, added spinach and made these.  They were a big hit with my son.  I gave him 6 and he ate them all first off his plate, even before the fish fingers I served them with and he does love fish fingers (well we all need some time off).

This would be great as a first finger food.  They're still soft when baked.

Spinach and Potato Bites - Makes about 8 small swirly bites

Ingredients

40g Spinach, chopped finely
Spray oil
1 clove of garlic
100g Mashed potato
10g Extra mature (extra sharp) cheddar
1 tsp Milk
A few gratings of nutmeg

Method

Preheat the oven to 220oC, 420F, gas mark 7.

Fry the spinach with the whole clove of garlic in the spray oil until it's wilted, it only takes a couple of minutes.  Put in a bowl taking out the garlic and mix in the mash, cheddar, milk and nutmeg.

Line a baking tray or swiss roll tin with non stick baking paper.  Spray the paper with spray oil or brush with oil if you prefer.  Use a piping bag or piping syringe to pipe swirls onto the paper.  Spray or brush with oil and bake for 12-15 minutes or until hot through and brown.

It just so happens that January's Family Foodies challenge is all about 'hidden goodies'.  Is there a more appropriate challenge for Mamacook?  I think not!  So I've submitted this along with a few other recipes to Bangers and Mash and Eat your veg's challenge:

Low Sugar Mini Cherry Tarts - Great for kids or grown ups

I'm showing my age now, the urge to type "damn fine cherry pies" was very strong.

As I said in my last post, I promised to write up a recipe for the pastry leftovers.  Because I don't know how much pastry you might have, the quantities are per tart.  Please adjust for the number you have!

This isn't sugar free.  Jam is laden with sugar but there is around 1-1.5 tsp jam per tart and only half of that is sugar, not massive amounts of sugar at all, much less than a commercial tart.

Mini Cherry Pies

Ingredients

Leftover pastry (see the chicken and mushroom pie recipe if you would like the pastry recipe from scratch)
1/2 tsp jam per case (see instructions for more info)
5-6 Frozen, defrosted pitted cherries per tart
1 tbsp jam additional or more if you have several tarts

Method

Preheat the oven to 200oC / 400F / Gas Mark 6.

For this, I would use a 'red' jam, ideally cherry but strawberry or raspberry is fine as long as it's not too seedy.

Roll out the pastry and cut circles big enough for a fairy cake tin, gently push them in.

Put approx half a teaspoon of jam in each pastry hollow.  Bake for approx 10 minutes or until the pastry is crisp.  Allow to cool for a couple of minutes.

Heat the additional jam in a microwave with a tsp boiling water until boiling (for approx 1 minute).  In the meantime, top the tarts with the defrosted cherries.  Once the jam is molten, pour over an additional half tsp over the top to glaze.

Allow to cool for a couple of minutes then serve slightly warm with a sprinkle of icing (confectioners) sugar if liked or cream.

Ok, not the healthiest recipe in the world but not awful either.  A dainty little fruity treat.  I'd rather give one of these to my son any day than a chocolate biscuit!  This is my ethos on life; I am happy giving my son treat foods but I try and put fruit and vegetables into every bit of food I can and I always try and use natural 'real' foods.  The fights I've had with our nursery who think sugar free instant whip is a great pudding for toddlers...

Make it Thrifty:

Oven cooking uses a lot of energy so ideally cook these when something else is already in the oven.  Why not make the chicken and mushroom pie at the same time as making these for pudding?

Chicken and Mushroom Pies

There is something great about chicken leftovers.  Something which is almost better than the original chicken (almost, I'm a sucker for crispy skin).  The other great thing about making your own pies is you can just stick with pastry on the top which cuts down on the refined carbs and fat and you can include some vegetables (or fungi) in the sauce.

You can make this into one large pie or several smaller ones.  There's certainly enough here for two adults and a child.  If you have any pastry left over, there is another recipe to follow, so stick it in a bag in the fridge...

Chicken and Mushroom pies - Serves 2 adults and 1 child

Ingredients

Pastry
100g, 3.5oz Plain Flour
10g, 0.5oz Cornflour / cornstarch (or use more plain flour)
70g, 2.5oz Butter
Cold water to mix
Milk

Pie filling
150g, 5oz Mushrooms, sliced
Spray oil or vegetable oil
300g, 10oz Cooked chicken
300-350ml, 10-12fl oz Gravy or thickened stock (you can use the chicken bones to make the stock, thicken it before allowing to cool.)
Fresh thyme

Method

Fry the mushrooms in the oil until brown and pretty much cooked.  Allow to fully cool.  When cool mix all of the cold filling ingredients together.

Preheat the oven to 180oC (fan oven), 200oC (conventional), 400F, Gas Mark 6.

Make the pastry, ideally in a food processor (because it's way easier but can be done by hand).  Rub the butter into the flours and then add enough cold water to come together.  Don't add too much, just keep adding the cold water until it just starts to come together.

Put the pie filling into your dish or dishes.  Roll out the pastry to the right size and approx 1-2mm thickness.  Cut to the size of your dish and put on top, pressing the edges of the pastry to the dish edge. Cut a vent hole in the top then brush with milk, adding some pastry decoration if liked.

Does my son care I put ivy leaves on his pie?  Probably not but I think it's nice to take time and effort over his food.  This was a mini pie, just for him and I refuse to do too much making food look like a face stuff!

Bake for 35-45 minutes or until browned and the filling is completely hot and bubbling.

Allow to cool a bit before serving as it will stay hot for a while.  Serve with vegetables.

My son loved it.  Initially saying "I don't like pastry" then trying it and realising that in fact he very much did!

Make it Thrifty:

Oven cooking isn't the thriftiest way to make a meal but if you have the oven on, you might as well make use of it.  Why not cook some jacket potatoes, either to make into mash or to scoop out and stuff later?  Also save any pastry offcuts or excess pastry in a plastic bag in the fridge to make my next recipe.