Everyday Snacks!

Like most Indian kids I grew up snacking a lot. My snacking habit was helped along by my maternal grandmother's cooking skills. She still makes those snacks though well into her 80s, active and cooking as she was 40 years ago. Those days she not only made them but packed them for her daughters which would be my mom and aunt and hence our constant supply of snacks. When we visited the village murukkus and gulab jamuns were always there in her snack cupboard.

Roasted Chickpeas

As if grandmother's snacks were not enough we had a Nilgiris(Cakes and pastries, puffs) where we satisfied our cake cravings. We were also regular customers at Agarwal Sweets and Snacks(Samosas, Pakodas, mixtures) which had the best samosas ever and crunchy onion pakodas.

It was a time when buying snacks was not a everyday affair and most pre-made snacks were considered to be made with bad oil and not healthy. Hence the snacking was on predominantly home made snacks.

Fast forward to here, as sweet, salt, spicy - snacks in any form were acceptable to me and I did not discriminate much I had a several different snacks to choose from. I was young, weight or health were not on my mind. And moreover I was naive about the stuff that went into making these snacks. No one need spend time making snacks when you had a gizzillion of them available to choose from all cheap and easy. Making Indian snacks were time consuming and not easy or fun and first I had to get familiar with cooking so buying junk just happened.

I have a sedentary job that makes matters worse. I snack when hunger hit mid morning and couple of hours after lunch. Rushing to the vending machine or carrying the same chips and cookies with me and snacked on them. I slowly (the dud that I am) realized this was becoming the Achilles heel aiding in my middle and butt expansion.

Roasted Asparagus

The kids were starting to snack on very same stuff. Not that they insisted on them it is just that they were readily available. I realized I had to do a few things that will fix this problem. Moreover the kids are very active and if they did not get proper nutrition they were going to end up with malnutrition is what goaded me into action.

Pinto beans Sundal

Taught DD how she can quickly grill vegetables like asparagus, Zucchini, broccoli or sweet potato and she realized that they tasted a lot better than simply par boiling them. Sundal which is sauteed beans in some mild spices is a very good snack which is quite filling.

I am very reluctant to use the word healthy because every single thing we eat doesn't have to be healthy but the least it has to be real food.

Here a few snack ideas.

Carry along snacks
1. Cut Carrots and cucumbers
2. Roasted chick peas
3. Roasted Green Peas
4. Sundal
5. Cut Fruit Slices

Quick Evening snacks
6. Grilled Vegetables (asparagus, Zucchini, broccoli, sweet potato)
7. Sliced bread sprinkled with cheese and toasted
8. Bread/chapathi/torilla - spread with sliced cheese and toasted till the cheese melts.
9. Boiled tapioca, sweet potato, potato - boil slice and sprinkle with some salt and pepper and toasted for a few minutes

Red Kidney Beans Sundal

Red Kidney/Pinto Beans Sundal
Ingredients
1. 1 cup of dry Red Kidney Beans/Pinto Beans (soaked overnight)
2. 1/4 cup of chopped onion (any kind) or shallots
3. 1 1/2 tbsp of grated coconut (fresh or frozen)
4. seasonings: 1/2 tbsp split urad dal (white dal), mustard seeds and curry leaves
5. 6-8 broken red chilies
5. Salt to taste
6. 1 tsp of oil

Method
1. Cook the beans on the stove top till soft. Take care to keep the beans whole. Drain and set aside.(see Note)
2. In a wide mouthed pan heat the oil, add the urad dal and when it starts to brown add the mustard seeds and when it starts to pop add the curry leaves and red chilies.
3. Add the cooked beans and salt and saute for a few minutes.
4. Add the grated coconut towards the end and turn off the heat.

Note:
1. The beans can be cooked in the pressure cooker but it is hard to turn off at the right time. Soaked beans cook pretty fast on the stove top (about 20-25 minutes).

Ready to Roast

Roasted Asparagus
Ingredients
1. 15 stalks of asparagus
2. salt and red chili powder/ black pepper
3. oil spray or 1 tsp of olive oil

Method
1. Mix the salt and red chili powder and sprinkle them on the asparagus. Add a few drops of the oil and mix it into the asparagus.
2. Spread them on a tray and roast them in the toaster oven for 10-15 minutes.

Roasted Eggplant Curry (Sutta kathrikai kuzhambu)

I have always wondered and watched with fascination the ability of women who are able to walk in high heel shoes elegantly without any effort. I might end with broken bones or ankles but won't be able to pull off that feat. The truth is I have never tried and probably never will. You need a certain amount of guts for that don't you?

It has escaped me why anybody would put themselves through such obvious discomfort. A tiny doubting voice in my brain however said that those high heels shoes could be comfortable for certain folks.

Those doubts about the discomfort were put to rest when I caught the tail end of an interview with Chritian Louboutin on NPR. Apparently he is a French footwear designer whose shoes on a simple google search revealed themselves to be close to $1000! That is a lot of money for a shoe whose main objective is not comfort.
Anyway he said he is not designing heels to be comfortable and that a 5 inch heels is not meant to be comfortable. When the interviewer questioned him about the discomfort factor he said that men too wear certain clothing that are uncomfortable like ties for instance. So if comfort and not looks were the most important thing men should be wearing pajamas and women should wear flip-flops or sneakers and not heels.

As for me I am happy the issue of comfort has been put to rest. I'll stick to my comfortable flats and sneakers for now.

Alright let me put aside the shoe talk and move on to the recipe. In my grandparents house the roasting of the eggplants was done over hot coals back in the day when firewood was used for cooking. These days the roasting is done straight on the stove top. Perhaps another reason why this recipe is not done often.

I found some good looking eggplants and this recipe was what came to my mind. A tiny bit of patience is required because it is best when the eggplant is completely cooked while roasting

Roasted Eggplants Curry (Sutta kathrikai kuzhambu)
Ingredients
1. 3 Medium sized eggplants
2. 1/2 cup chopped red onions
3. 7-8 slit green chilies
4. 1/4 cup of tamarind juice from a small grape sized piece of tamarind (optional)
5. seasonings: mustard seeds and cumin
6. salt to taste
7. 1/2 tsp oil

Method
1. Wash and dry the eggplant and thread them through a skewer. Place the skewered eggplant on the burner in medium flame and roast. The skin will start to turn black and charred. Cook on all sides. Repeat for each eggplant.
2. Place the roasted eggplants wrapped in a kitchen towel for 10-15 minutes. Once cool the skin should peel off pretty easily.
3. Once peeled chop the eggplant into dices and set aside.
4. In a pan heat oil and add seasonings and when the mustard starts to pop add the green chilies and chopped onion. Saute the onions till they are translucent.
5. Add the chopped eggplants and salt and mix it into the onions.
6. Add the tamarind if using and let it cook for 5-6 minutes. Mix and mash the eggplants with the back of the laddle.

Turn off the heat. Serve with rice.