With the new academic year set to begin in June-July, we present four healthy and nutritious school lunch box meals you can rustle up quickly: writes Khushboo Nehaal Jashnani
PROTEIN RICH PANEER TIKKI
Ingredients
• 1 cup crumbled or grated paneer
• ½ cup grated carrot
• ½ capsicum
• ¼ cup onion
• ½ tsp ginger garlic paste
• Handful of chopped coriander leaves
• Breadcrumbs
• ¼ tsp red chilli powder
• Salt
• ¼ tsp pepper powder
Preparation guide
• Mix all ingredients in a bowl, except breadcrumbs.
• Make medium size balls and flatten them gently. Grease palms with oil and shape them into tikkis.
• Heat a non-stick saucepan with oil or ghee of your choice.
• Dip tikkis in breadcrumbs. Shallow fry until golden brown.
• Remove and place on tissue paper, to drain excess oil.
• Serve with chutney or sauce.
CARROT POORI
Ingredients
• 1 cup ground wheat flour
• 1 medium sized grated carrot
• Handful of coriander leaves
• Handful of chopped pudina leaves
• 2 tbsp oil (to knead dough)
• ½ tsp jeera
• 1 chopped green chilli (if required)
• 3 tbsp yogurt/dahi
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• ¼ tsp garam masala powder
• Salt
• Water to knead soft dough
Preparation guide
• Mix flour and yogurt. Add warm water and knead the dough. Set aside.
• Mix grated carrot, chopped coriander and pudina leaves, jeera, chopped green chillies and masala powder. Add salt and mix well. This is the filling for the poori.
• Roll the dough with a rolling pin, make a big circle-shaped roti. Place a small amount of filling. Fold in edges to cover the filling and roll again.
• Use a heart cutter or circle-shaped tiffin box lid and make cut-outs of the rolled roti.
• Heat oil in a kadai
• Fry the cut-out pooris one by one.
• Remove and place on tissue paper, to drain excess oil.
• Serve with sauce or jam.
NO OVEN BREAD PIZZA
Ingredients
• 2 bread slices
• ¼ cup chopped vegetables of your choice (onion, tomato, capsicum, black olives)
• 1 tsp pizza sauce
• Italian seasoning of your choice
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• Salt
• 2 tbsp mozzarella cheese
Preparation guide
• Take bread slices and spread pizza sauce over them.
• Sprinkle vegetables on top.
• Grate mozzarella cheese and sprinkle over the veggies.
• Heat a non-stick pan and add butter to grease well.
• Place bread slices on pan.
• Cover pan with a lid.
• After three minutes, check if cheese is melted. If done, remove and sprinkle oregano or Italian seasoning.
• Serve with ketchup.
COLOURFUL MINI VEGETABLE IDLIS
Ingredients
• 1 cup idli batter
• ¼ cup chopped veggies of your choice – grated carrot, boiled corn, beans, peas, coriander leaves
• ½ cashew for every idli
Preparation guide
• Pour batter into a mini idli tray.
• Scatter grated carrot, corn and chopped coriander on idlis. Also add the ½ cashew to decorate.
• Steam idlis in a pressure cooker for 10 minutes. Check if done by piercing with a fork. If the fork comes out clean, idlis are ready.
• Serve mini idlis with chutney and sambar.
