Aloo Tikki and a story

I have neglected this blog for the longest time. The house and school move has taken its toll on us. Also BS being in fourth grade now, there is lot of school work to be done which takes up considerable time during the week.

Of the books that have been read in the recent past we have very much enjoyed Laura Numeroff's, If you give a Dog a Donut and If you give a Moose a Muffin and now we are waiting to finish the rest. These books are for smaller children in the 3-5 years age range with superb illustration and whacky imagination.

BS has been reading a book for her school called "Letters From Rifka". She sees it from a school work point of view but I read it in snatches and it is a beautiful book. Yo can read the review here on Amazon.











BS recently also wrote a story which she then wanted me to post on this blog. So here I am with her story. The colors and font are all hers and I am in no way responsible for the neon glow

There once was a land named Sugarland. There was something very special about Sugarland. Everything was made of candy! The houses were made of gingerbread, the grass was made of licorice, and the flowers were lollipops! In that land of Sugarland there lived a group of friends who started a club. They named their club the Sugar Buddies. The Sugar Buddies had lots of fun in their club .They would do arts and crafts, sing songs, and help those who needed help. One day a little boy moved to Sugarland with his family. The little boy became good friends with the Sugar Buddies, so they let him join the club. As they got to be closer friends the Sugar Buddies realized that the little boy was very greedy. The Sugar Buddies told him “Everything here is made of candy.” The little boy said “I don’t believe you.” The day after there was a big storm. The next day when the little boy was going to a club meeting he saw that a piece of some ones roof had fallen off. He thought about what the Sugar Buddies had said and tried it. He exclaimed “They were right! This is the best thing I ever ate!”When he got to the clubhouse he said “You guys were right! That was the best thing I ever ate!”From then on the little boy would eat the grass when no one was looking. Then came a day when he got caught. Some older kids saw him and made fun of him. “Hey look, why is he eating the grass? Does he think he’s a cow? If he is, why isn’t he saying moo?  HA!” The Sugar Buddies saw the older kids and asked them to go away, so they left. Then the Sugar Buddies asked their friend nicely why he was eating the grass. The boy said he was eating it because it tasted good. He had eaten almost all the grass. A few days later everyone in Sugarland was alarmed. The little boy was greedier than ever! When someone asked him to stop, he would say “NO.”. The Sugar Buddies had to save Sugarland! The Sugar Buddies had an idea. They let him keep on eating and pretty soon he had a stomach ache. The boy said “My stomach hurts. I never want to eat any candy again.” Everyone cheered loudly! Then they said “Sugar Buddies, you’re our hero!”

                                        THE END

 
THE FOOD
Now to the simple Aloo Tikki which both the girls love. Well BS definitely does and LS says she does but does not eat hers

Boil 3 large-ish potatoes.

Cool the potatoes and then peel.Now mash the potatoes very smooth.

Next take 3 slices  of bread, remove the sides, dampen by sprinkling water and add to potatoes.

To the above mashed potatoes and bread add
1 tsp Amchoor
1/4 tsp Cumin powder
1 tsp Red Chili Powder (go easy for kids)
2 clove of garlic minced
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
salt to taste
some Beet noon or black salt

Mix all of the above with the potatoes and make a smooth dough

Heat a non-stick pan lightly greased. Very, very little oil is needed and spraying a non-stick pan with oil or greasing with your fingers works best

Now take a scoop of the mashed aloo, flatten on the palm of your hand and put on the pan. If you are using a large pan you can do about 7-8 patties/tikkis at the same time. At medium heat cook for 5 minutes and flip. You will see that the side has deep brown spots. Next cook other side for 4-5 minutes.

Remove and arrange on a serving plate. You can later make a chaat out of it or serve it to kids just like that with some ketchup.

These patties also make great fillers for lunch sandwiches.