Vegetable Fritters With Cheese Dip

Devansh turned two this 30th April. I wasn’t sure if we could have the birthday party at home because of the repairing work going on in the house. It was supposed to get over in two weeks but it’s been going on for a month now. Even though I wasn’t sure about the plans, I still wanted to finalize the menu just in case we could have a kiddie party at home. As usual I turned to mighty Google for options. Some site suggested fritters, which looked really interesting. So I looked up as many veg fritters recipes as I could find.

I don’t know why but I was quite impressed with this pakoda-style fritters recipe I saw. So first I made fritters that way—dipping them in batter and shallow frying (the recipe said deep fry, but I couldn’t bring myself to use that much oil). The fritters tasted nice but I’m not sure feeding kids fried stuff is such a good idea. Next time I made them the authentic way, the only Indian touch I added was adding garam masala powder. Most recipes had used refined flour. I saw one which had used chickpea (chana) flour. I decided that chana flour was a better option than refined flour. No brainer right? I also used rice flour along with chana flour, as it is lighter than chana flour.

I preferred this batch of fritters because they were light, just perfect for kids. Problem was even the big kid in the house liked them and started to eat them before taking their picture. We’ll click snaps next time “we” make them, he said. RIGHT…. That meant I’d have to make them again soon. I made them again after 3-4 days and this time I served them with sweet mint sauce. Everyone liked this batch of fritters too. But after seeing the pics, I decided that I didn’t like the presentation much and so I made them again yesterday. I added more Indian touches this time by adding a little ginger and green chili because my husband prefers spicy food. I made cheese dip instead of mint sauce this time. Devansh liked the fritters better with cheese dip. I guess because it was milder in flavor than the mint sauce.

So I have provided the cheese dip recipe here as I think smaller kids will prefer the mild-flavored cheese dip. As usual, I avoided using refined flour in cheese dip as well. I am not a terribly disciplined person who avoids refined flour at all times. But I figure that there’s little scope escaping it when we eat out so why include it in our food while cooking at home. I won’t elaborate on the evils of refined flour as I have ranted enough about it in my previous posts.I did not end up making these fritters for Devansh’s birthday though. Due to the repairs going on at home, we decided to go to a restaurant to celebrate with family. That plan had to be cancelled last minute because my sister-in-law fractured her toe and we didn’t want to celebrate without her. So we had a small get-together with the rest of the family at home. Due to sudden change of plans I decided letting my cook take care of cooking was a better option. But coming back to fritters, I’d really recommend these fritters for a kiddie party. They are easy to eat for even smaller kids as they’re made of minced vegetables. You can make them more spicy if you are making them for adults.

Vegetable Fritters With Cheese Dip

Print Recipe

Recipe of a healthy snack ideal for kids’ parties or lunch box (tiffin). I haven’t used white/refined flour in fritters or dip.

Author Mukta Tikekar

Ingredients

Cheese Dip Ingredients

• 1 tbsp wheat flour
• 2 tbsp butter
• Approx. half cup milk
• 2 cheese cubes grated
• Half tsp dried mixed herbs like oregano basil, parsley, rosemary (Use whichever ones you like.)
• Pinch of black pepper powder optional

Vegetable Fritters Ingredients

• 1 cup sweet corn kernels
• 1 medium-sized capsicum chopped
• 1 medium-sized carrot chopped
• 1 small piece of green chili optional
• Half tsp grated ginger optional
• 3 tbsp rice flour
• 2 tbsp chana chickpea flour
• Half tsp garam masala powder
• 1/5 th tsp red chili powder optional
• 2 cubes of cheese grated
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• Approx. 4 tbsp oil
• Salt to taste

Instructions

Cheese Dip Steps

• Heat a non-stick pan and add butter.
• Add wheat flour, mix it properly with butter, and then stir it for about a minute. You can use refined flour if you think you may not like the taste of wheat flour. Since it’s only about a tbsp in quantity, not much harm done. :-)
• Add milk and mix it well with the wheat flour to prevent lumps forming in the mixture.
• When the milk starts to bubble, add grated cheese, pepper powder, and dried herbs, and keep stirring the mixture.
• Turn off heat when the mixture has the desired consistency. (If you make the dip before the fritters, it will thicken a bit at the time of serving. Simply heat it again. You may even add a little milk if needed.)

Vegetable Fritters Steps

• Cook chopped capsicum, carrot, and corn kernels in boiling water for about 5 minutes till they become tender, drain the water, and then wash them in cold water to stop the cooking process. (Color of the vegetables will not be visible in these fritters, so it’s quite OK to not put them in cold water to preserve their color. We just don’t want the vegetables to become mushy.)
• Drain the water properly from the vegetables, and put the vegetables, corn kernels, piece of green chili, and grated ginger in a mixer/blender.
• Blend the vegetables coarsely in a mixer/blender. (If you are making these fritters for toddlers who may not chew vegetable chunks properly, blend the vegetables into a fine paste.)
• Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, and then add salt, red chili powder, garam masala powder, and olive oil, and mix properly.
• Add grated cheese and mix well.
• Add chana flour and rice flour and mix well. (Add the flours in the end because you won’t be able to stir the mixture properly afterwards. The flours will bind the mixture.)
• Heat a large non-stick tava pan (flat skillet pan), add about 2 tbsp oil, and then spread it all over the pan.
• Take about 1 tbsp of mixture and place it on the pan and flatten it in the shape of a patty. (Edges of fritters are supposed to be rough unlike patties or cutlets. So don’t bother to shape them to make them look tidy.)
• Cook the fritters on medium heat for about 5 minutes and when they turn golden brown flip them to the other side. (Add a bit more oil if needed.)
• Cook the other side similarly, and when both sides are properly cooked, take them off the pan.
• Serve the fritters with cheese dip or mint sauce.

Notes

Note:
You can leave out the optional ingredients, if you are making the fritters for toddlers who are not used to eating spicy food.
If you want to give these fritters in your kid’s lunchbox/tiffin, you can prepare the firtters’ mixture and cheese dip on previous night and refrigerate it. You can then cook the fritters in the morning when you need to pack the lunchbox.