Chicken Fingers

Chicken strips coated with herbed, cheesy & crispy mix. It goes perfect with tomato sauce, mayo,honey mustard dip etc. This is definitely a crunchy & tasty appetizer!!

Total Time....30 min (Prep - 10 min, Cook- 20 min)

Yield...............3 servings

Level..............Easy

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup Chicken strips
• 2 cups Crushed Corn flakes cereal
• 1/2 cup all-purpose Flour (Maida)
• 4 tbsp Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp dried Thyme
• 1/2 tsp Basil leaves
• 1 tsp black Pepper powder
• 1/4 cup Milk
• 1 Egg white 
• 3 tbsp Butter
• Salt as required 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 375 degrees F. (about 190.56 degrees C)
2. Beat egg white with little water thoroughly and keep aside.
3. Make a mixture of crushed cornflakes, cheese & garlic powder. Keep aside.
4. Take a separate  bowl and mix flour, milk, herbs, pepper and salt.
5. Dip the chicken strips first into the flour mixture, then into the egg mixture & then again into the flour mixture.
6. Finally coat evenly with corn flakes mix. Arrange on a baking pan and drizzle little butter.
7. Bake for 10 min. Turn the strips & bake for another 10 min.

Note: Same method can be used for preparing big chicken pieces. Increase the baking time to 50 to 55 min and serve hot with mashed potatoes :)

Vegetable Pakoras (Fritters)

Vegetables coated in a spicy batter and deep fried in vegetable oil.

Total Time......30 min (Prep -10 min, Cook-20 min)      
Yield...............15 to 20 pakoras
Level..............Easy

Ingredients

• 1 cup Gram flour(chick pea flour)
• 3 cups sliced vegetables (Carrot, Cabbage, Onion etc)
• 1 tsp Chilly powder
• 1/2 tsp Garam masala
• 1/2 tsp Corriander powder 
• 1/4 tsp cumin powder
• Salt as required
• Oil for frying

Directions:

1. Take sliced vegetables in a big bowl. Mix in gram flour, spices, ginger-garlic paste and salt. 
2. Add water and mix well so that the vegetables are well coated with the batter.
3. Heat oil in a shallow pan. When oil is really hot, drop the veggie batter.
4. Fry until golden brown and have a tasty tea time snack with some ketchup :)

Spring Rolls

Spring rolls are a common type of appetizer/snack filled with meat, veggies etc. Of all the different names, the one which is more familiar to me is Lumpia. It is the name for spring rolls in the Philippines and Indonesia. Today I've prepared a veggie roll with a homemade wrap & a hot sauce dip. This sauce is not a traditional recipe but a normal tomato sauce with some extra spice in it.  Do try this as an appetizer or as a tea time snack.  Hope you all are enjoying the spring time & eagerly waiting to welcome the most awaited Summer time!....Have Fun!!!

Ingredients for the filling

• 1 cup thinly sliced vegetables (Carrot, Cabbage, Celery) 
• 1/4 cup Onion
• 2 tbsp Soya sauce 
• 1 tsp Ginger Garlic paste
• 3 tablespoons olive oil 
• 1 tbsp black pepper 
• Salt to taste

Directions 

1. In a frying pan, pour oil and saute onion and garlic. 
2. Add vegetables, salt, pepper & saute for few minutes.
3. Set aside and now prepare the wrapper.
   

Ingredients for the wrapper

• 1 cup All-purpose flour(Maida)
• 1 Egg
• 3/4 cup or more Water
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• Oil  

Directions

1. In a bowl beat egg well & add flour, water & salt. Mix thoroughly.
2. Heat a pan, spread little oil & pour the batter to make a thin wrapper.
3. Cook till the crepe pulls away from the pan. 
4. Fill it with the prepared veg filling, roll carefully and then deep fry in oil till golden brown.
5. Prepare the sauce as mentioned below.

Ingredients for the Hot sauce

• 1/2 cup Tomato sauce
• 4 to 5 Red chillies
• 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
• Salt

Directions 

Blend everything together with little water and dip the rolls to enjoy the hot taste!

Dates Fritters

This is one among the popular snacks in Kerala. I never knew about this recipe until i heard from Chaithanya,  my close friend & a wonderful cook! This recipe is her method of preparation and I just fell in love with this appetizer in my first trial itself. The best part of this snack is the stuffing inside the dates. The seed is carefully taken out & stuffed with cashew nut pieces which gives it quite a different & yummy taste!!!! Hope you guys will also enjoy this tea time snack. Do try it out & let me know how much you enjoyed :) :)

Ingredients

• 1 cup Dates
• 1 cup All-purpose flour (Maida)
• 4 tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Cardamom powder 
• 1/4 cup Cashew nuts
• 1 cup sweetened Coconut Flakes 
• 1/4 cup or more Water
• Vegetable oil for frying
• A pinch of salt

Method

1. Make a thick batter with flour, coconut flakes, sugar, salt & water.
2. Chop the cashew nuts & mix with cardamom powder.
3. Take out the seeds from all the dates carefully through one end & stuff with the cardamom coated cashew nuts.
4. Heat oil and coat the stuffed dates in the prepared batter.
5. Fry till golden brown and place in a paper towel so that excess oil will be absorbed. Eat hot & crispy!!!!!!

***Sharing this recipe with:

• 'Only'-South Indian event hosted by Pari @ Foodelicious.
•  Colour N Sweet-HOLI FEST event hosted by Preeti @ Preeti's Kitchen. 
•  Fruit Fiesta event hosted by Ramya @ Ramya's Recipes.
• Snack Recipes hosted by My Culinary Creations.

Onion Rings

Ingredients

• 2 large Onions 
• 1/2 cup All purpose flour(Maida) 
• 1 cup Bread crumbs 
• 1 tsp Black pepper 
• 1 Egg 
• 1/2 tsp Salt 
• Vegetable oil for frying

Directions

1. Make a batter with flour, pepper, egg & salt. If the batter is too thick you can add little milk.
2. Cut onion in round shapes and dip the onion rings in the batter.
3. Coat with bread crumbs and keep it ready for frying.
4. Heat vegetable oil & fry both sides till golden brown.
5. Enjoy the crispy appetizer. 
6. Onion rings are also yummy if used in a burger with bacon, beef patties & tomato.

Tips

• Lettuce & cheese can be used for a more tastier burger.
• Bread crumbs can either be shop bought or grind normal bread in food processor or mixi into fine powder and then use. Enjoy !!

Sharing this recipe with: 

• Snacks Mela hosted by Srivalli.
• Winter Carnival hosted by Radhika.

Hot & Sweet Vegetable Strips

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp All purpose flour(Maida) 
• 1/4 Green bell pepper(Capsicum) 
• 1/4 Red bell pepper(Capsicum) 
• 1 Potato 
• 1 Carrot 
• 3/4 tsp Chilly powder 
• 1 tbsp Soya sauce 
• 1 tbsp Green chilly sauce 
• 1 tbsp Red chilly sauce 
• 1/2 tsp Ginger Garlic paste 
• 1 tbsp Honey 
• 2 tbsp Water 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• Vegetable oil for frying

Directions

1. Cut the vegetables in strips. Wash and dry with paper towel.
2. Make a batter with flour, 3 sauces, ginger garlic paste, chilly powder, honey, salt & water. If the batter is too thick, add little more water
3. Marinate the vegetable strips in the batter.
4. Heat oil & fry the vegetables.
5. Drain the excess oil & cut one end of the vegetable strips so that the colour of veggies can be seen. It is useful when decorating the plate.
6. It is a tasty appetizer with tomato sauce.