Vegetable snack

Yesterday while driving around I came across a little handmade board perched on top of a gate saying in Dutch that ‘Pure Honey available here’.  So I stopped the car and went to see what this was all about.  After ringing the bell, I was invited inside by this elderly couple.  They were having their breakfast which consisted of some toast and honey (what else?).  As a hobby, they did some bee-keeping and sold the honey they got from this hobby of theirs.  I got myself two pots of honey from them.  A kilo of honey was €9 and you got back 0.50 cent for every bottle you returned.  Not a bad price for real honey.  I got a “spring honey” bottle and a “summer honey” bottle which I was told taste different because of the types of flowers available in these seasons.  I tried them both and could not make out too much of a difference, but nonetheless, the honey is delicious.  I am also now keeping my eyes open for more produce I can get that is grown or produced at home – supporting the locals and at the same time reducing my carbon footprint.  I have seen signs for eggs, home grown potatoes, pumpkins, apples and other things.  All I have to do is brush up some of my Dutch skills to be able to go and buy these from the locals rather than just picking them up from the super markets.

The snack below is completely vegetarian and you can also substitute some of the vegetables according to your taste.  I have substituted green peas for the carrots and they work just as well.  Based on the season and what is locally available, the veggies could be mix and matched.  Here I have used carrots as they specially contrast against the coriander and the potatoes.  Also this was a good way for me to get my children to eat the spinach as it was hardly noticeable in the dish. 

 

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 cup spinach

½ cup potatoes, chopped into cubes

½ cup carrots, chopped into cubes

2 tablespoon coriander leaves, chopped

2 medium sized red onions, minced and fried

1 tablespoon ginger juice

Salt and pepper to taste

4 tablespoons sunflower Oil

For coating:

4 tablespoons gram flour

Pinch of soda bicarbonate

Method:

 

1. Prepare a thick batter of the gram flour and soda with water.    
2. Boil and mash the potatoes and carrots.  
3. Steam the spinach and drain the water.
4. Mix the potatoes, carrots and spinach with the other ingredients except the oil.
5. Shape into lemon sized balls and flatten a bit.
6. Heat oil in a girdle and when hot, coat the vegetable patties with gram flour batter and fry lightly on both sides.
7. Serve hot with tomato sauce or chutney.