Halloween may not have been one of India’s traditional festivals, but it has gained popularity over the last few years as the younger generations become more familiar with American pop culture. The fancy costumes, Halloween parties, gatherings with friends, and the sweet treats and candies make this festival a truly attractive one for children. However, since children generally tend to gorge on sweet treats in copious amounts, and parents find it challenging to explain why they shouldn’t, a better idea would be to prepare healthy Halloween snacks that are tasty and nutritious. This way, you can prevent your child from getting overexcited from sugar and also keep obesity at bay. Take a look at the recipes to get started:
- Blood-stained falafels
Scary looking, blood-stained falafels are a perfect treat for kids on Halloween. Smeared with ketchup, these look bloodthirsty and horrifying and can be served instead of any healthy pre-packaged Halloween snack.
Ingredients:
Dry chickpeas: 1/2 CUP
Dry yellow split peas: 1/2 cup
Chopped onions: 1/3rd cup
Garlic: 3-4 cloves
Fresh parsley: 1/4th cup
Cilantro, packed: 1/4th cup
Cumin/Jeera powder: 1/2 tsp.
Coriander/ Dhania powder: 1/2 tsp.
Chili Pepper powder: 1/2 tsp.
Salt: to taste
Chickpea flour/Besan: 1-2 tbsp.
Oil: 2 tsp.
Preparation:
- Soak the washed chickpeas and split peas overnight so that they become tender. If they are still a bit hard, boil them to make them soft enough to mash them with your fingers.
- Drain and coarse grind both the peas and the rest of the ingredients except thebesan. Put the mixture in a bowl and add all thebesanto it and mix it well with your hands.
- Form fingers out of the batter and set aside.
- You can either choose to bake the fingers in an oven or deep fry them in oil till golden brown.
- Serve the fingers hot with a side of ketchup.
- Pumpkin gujjiyas
Halloween is synonymous with pumpkins and these Indian style pumpkin gujjiyas are the perfect healthy Halloween candy any child will enjoy.
Ingredients:
Lemon juice: 1 tsp
Milk: ½ cup
Melted butter: 1 cup
Whole wheat flour: 2 1/4th cup
Eggs: 1
Sugar: 3 tsp
Salt: A pinch
The filling:
Pumpkin: 1 1/4th cup
Banana: 1
Brown sugar: 1 tbsp.
Pumpkin pie mix spice: 1 tsp.
Preparation:
- Make buttermilk by adding lemon juice to the milk and set aside.
- Refrigerate the butter and cut it into small cubes.
- In a medium-size bowl, mix the flour and salt and add the cold butter to prepare a coarse dough. Combine the buttermilk mixture with the dough mix. Make small balls of the dough, cover carefully with cling film and set in the refrigerator for around 30 minutes.
- In a bowl, combine the pumpkin, mashed banana, brown sugar, and the pie spice.
- Roll the refrigerated dough ball to about 1/4th inch thickness. Cut the dough into 4 to 5-inch circles using a plastic cap or a pastry cutter.
- Put the pumpkin mixture on the rounded dough. Seal the edges and crimp them as you would for traditionalgujjiyas.
- Brush thegujjiyas with egg wash and sprinkle a little sugar on them.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for about 20 minutes.
- Let them cool and serve.
Halloween Fries
Wondering what you can serve kids who prefer savoury snacks? What’s better than everybody’s all-time favourite fries? These baked sweet potato and egg white fries are the perfect healthy treat for kids during Halloween.
Ingredients:
Sweet potato: 1
White of egg: 2
Bread crumbs: 2 tbsp.
Grounded pepper: 1/2 tbsp
Parmesan cheese, grated: 10 gm
Preparation:
- Cut the sweet potato into medium-sized wedges sizes.
- Whisk the egg and set aside.
- Take the crumbs, pepper, and cheese in a bowl and mix.
- On the baking tray, place each finger after dipping each in egg white and then rolling it in the crumb mixture.
- Bake the potatoes in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 18 to 20 minutes, turning the fingers halfway through the baking.
- Serve the baked fries with some homemade dip or ketchup
With a little creativity, you can whip up exciting and yet healthy treats for your children on Halloween. The above recipes can be enjoyed by the entire family too.
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