Totorus

Photo credit by LearningLark

How do you keep kids interested in the snacks you cook up? Never tell them they're good for them. Kids equate "healthy" with "boring". Here are some wholesome snacks your kids are bound to find interesting. These are easy to prepare and require very little time.

Banana Pancakes

Children adore pancakes and preparing them takes just 15 minutes. These pancakes are healthy because of the bananas and the wheat flour in the ingredients. The bananas also serve as binding for the batter instead of eggs.

Ingredients

• 1 cup refined flour
• 1 cup wheat flour
• 2 and a half cups milk
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 very ripe bananas
• Butter
• Honey
• Lemon
• Salt
• Oil for frying

Method

1. Combine the refined and wheat flour
2. Add a pinch of salt and the baking soda
3. Slowly add the milk, blending constantly as you pour
4. Slice the bananas thin and mash into the batter
5. Drop a dollop of batter on the frying pan and fry both sides
6. Remove from heat. Put a bit of butter on the pancake, some honey, a little lemon juice and serve hot

Soya Burjee Rolls This healthy protein rich snack with the goodness of soya takes just 10 minutes to prepare. Roll the burjee into chappatis and serve. Ingredients

• 3 gms. mustard seeds
• 1 green chilli
• 1 tomato
• 1 onion
• ½ tsp. turmeric powder
• ½ tsp. garam masala
• ½ tsp. red chilli powder
• ½ tsp. crushed pepper corns
• 1 tsp. ginger-garlic paste
• Few curry leaves
• 200 gms. soya nuggets or granules
• Salt

Method

1. Heat the oil. Add mustard seeds and let them crackle. Add green chilli, curry leaves, ginger-garlic paste and sauté.
2. Add chopped onion and sauté till the onions begin to get brown
3. Add chopped tomato, turmeric, garam masala, red chilli powder and crushed pepper
4. Add the soya and blend all ingredients thoroughly. Add salt.
5. Wrap the burjee in chappati and serve hot.

Potato Cheese Roll This snack takes about 20 minutes to prepare and is a tasty surprise for kids. Ingredients

• 6 large potatoes
• 2 cups boiled peas
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 4 tbsp. corn flour
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 2 small cinnamon sticks
• 2 cloves
• 1 tsp. Green chilli paste
• 2 tbs. grated cheese
• Broken vermicelli or bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp. ghee
• Oil for deep frying
• Salt

For the Dipping Batter

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup refined flour (maida)

Method Boil the potatoes and mash well. Blend in the salt, cornflour and lemon juice. For the Stuffing

1. Heat the ghee in a frying pan and fry the cumin seeds for a minute
2. Add the cloves and cinnamon
3. Throw in the peas, green chilli paste, grated cheese and salt (black salt instead of white gives the dish a nice flavour)
4. Allow the mixture to cool
5. Take a dollop of the potato dough, pat it flat
6. Add the stuffing in the middle and seal the sides
7. Once you've finished making all the rolls, mix the flour in the water and put the rolls into this mixture
8. Remove the rolls from the mixture and roll them in the vermicelli
9. Deep fry until golden and serve hot.

These vegetarian snacks for kids are sure to be a hit. They can also convince kids that vegetarian food is fun and tasty.