Lunchbox Menu : Cottage Cheese cutlets
Monsoon is the season for fresh, hot, home-prepared snacks! Whether it is smoking hot pakoras with a steaming cup of chai, or a bowl of pipin’ hot soup, kids and adults alike crave something tasty while the sky outside is cloudy and overcast.
But while our taste buds go into overdrive, it is important to make sure that we prepare healthy snacks for our kids and ourselves since the rainy season is notorious for the spread of stomach bugs that can keep you stuck at home for days. Avoid eating at roadside stalls and restaurants that use water that can be easily contaminated. A great way to stay healthy is to stick to simple homemade meals with ingredients that are properly washed and cooked.
Hence it is important to think up of healthy lunch box ideas when kids lose their appetite for regular home-cooked meals.
So what do you do when you’re unable to buy veggies while the rain thunders around you or when you have limited time to pack lunch while searching for healthy tiffin recipes for kids? Gather all your kitchen basics and put on your chef’s hat.
Paneer or cottage cheese is a favorite among kids and can often be used in a lunchbox recipe for kids. Cottage cheese is used for making great vegetarian appetizer dishes which are often healthy recipes for kids. Besides being a great source of protein, it also has essential vitamins that makes it a regular for athletes and weight loss planners alike. Made by pasteurizing milk, cottage
cheese is soft, white and creamy to taste. Make sure that when you’re cooking cottage cheese, it is boiled or fried properly as we’ll demonstrate in our cutlet recipe. So keep a chunk of cottage cheese handy so you never go hungry!
We all love eating hot, fried snacks while watching the rain pour outside our windows, enjoying some family banter or sharing a romantic moment. In the spirit of celebrating family time, let us look at a delicious yet easy recipe for kids and adults alike that’ll make your mouth water!
Ingredients:
To make patties:
- 2 cups paneer/cottage cheese, grated
- 1 cup potato, boiled and mashed
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- ½ carrot, grated
- 1 green chilli, finely chopped
- ½ tsp ginger paste
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped
- ½ tsp dry mango powder
- ½ tsp garam masala
- 2 tbsp cornflour
- ½ tsp salt, or as required
To make the batter:
- ¼ cup corn flour
- ¼ tsp pepper, crushed
- 2 tbsp plain flour / plain flour / all-purpose flour / refined flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup of water
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- oil for frying
- absorbent napkins
Instructions:
- Boil 2 potatoes and peel them when cooled. Mash them into a semi-solid paste.
- Take some fresh cottage cheese and grate it until it fills 2 cups.
- Chop 1 onion, 1 green chilli and some coriander into fine pieces.
- Mix the mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, finely chopped onions, coriander and green chillies, grated carrots, ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, garam masala, dry mango powder, cornflour and salt in a bowl.
- Grease your hands with oil to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands. Make small patties and set them aside.
- To make plain flour paste, mix the ¼ cup cornflour, 2 tbsp plain flour, ¼ tsp crushed pepper, water and salt.
- Mix to ensure that there are no lumps and the batter has a good consistency.
- Now dip the patties in the batter and make sure they are completely submerged.
- Coat the patties with bread crumbs to add a crispy flavour.
- Heat some oil in a pan and deep/shallow fry the patties. In case of deep fry, use absorbent paper to remove excess oil.
- Turn over the patties to the other side to make them golden-brown in colour.
- Alternatively, you can also bake the patties in the oven at 180 degrees celsius for 15 minutes.
- Serve the cottage cheese cutlets hot with a side of Temptin Tomato Ketchup or Temptin Schezwan Chutney and garnish them with some coriander.
