The holiday season is fast approaching and we love going away on picnics or hosting playdates in our household. It’s a lot of fun watching children communicate with each other and it gives us parents an opportunity to hangout, share our feelings, experiences, vents and also lend support to one another when required.
In my experience, picnics/playdates have been a great way to meet people, and also to get the children to try new kinds of food that they would tend to not show interest otherwise.
When I host the picnic/playdate, I make sure there is something for all children of all age-groups, accommodating food allergies as well. I don’t serve too many choices of food either, because it tends to overwhelm them. Some planning and advance preparations are required when it comes to serving homemade snacks, but that is the catch if you don’t prefer processed or packaged food to be served to children. To me, the satisfaction of having been a host is a wonderful feeling!
Here are six unconventional snacks for serving at playdates or picnics. None of these are too complex to make nor do they require a certain level of expertise; they are not too strongly flavoured either and are easily adaptable to your family’s needs.
Ammini Kozhukattai- Serves 4-5 children
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Rice Flour
- Salt – to taste
- 1 – ½ Cups Water
- ½ Cup Coconut grated
For the tempering
- 2 Tsp Coconut Oil
- 1 Tsp Black Mustard Seeds
- A handful of Curry Leaves
- Pinch of Asafoetida (hing)
- 2 -3 Red chilli -depending on spice tolerance (optional)
- 1 Tsp Urad Dal / Uluttam Paruppu
Method
- Mix the rice flour with equal parts water or a little more, along with a suitable amount of salt, till you get a smooth homogeneous mixture which is slightly thicker than Idli batter.
- Keep some hot water available.
- In a heated wok, add a splash of water and then the rice flour mixture and stir well till the flour is well cooked, about 7-8 minutes.
- The consistency should be like chapati dough – soft and pliable. If it is too hard, sprinkle some hot water and mix again.
- Take the wok off the stove, keep the dough covered with a moist tea towel so that it doesn’t dry out. Roll out little balls. Steam these Ammini Kozhakattais for about 20 minutes in an Idli cooker placing them on oiled plates.
- For the tempering use a tadka vessel with a handle. Heat the coconut oil and once it is near smoking point, add the mustard seeds. When they start to splutter, add the rest of the ingredients for tempering.
- Mix the tempering with the steamed Kozhakattais. Check the seasoning.
- Cool the Kozhukattais before packing.
Parul Gupta
KSP Team
Rati Ramadas Girish
