Yummy Kiddie menus 38

School is back and the kids are happy to see their friend again after the holidays. Guess what else has happened? They have moved one class up; not only do they feel grown but they are in fact growing.

This issue’s recipes are supposed to boost the kid’s energy for more work in school and some yummy snacks to make break and lunch time memorable using vegetables and other foods that are not processed.

Veggie Samosa
Ingredients

• 125 gm whole meat flour
• 250 gm home baking flour
• 125 gm peas
• 125 gm carrots
• 125 gm potatoes
• 1 onion
• 2 green chilies (optional
• 2 cloves of garlic
• I ginger root
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 lime
• Deep frying oil
• Salt to taste.

Preparation

• Chop the carrots and potatoes.  Chop and brown the onions in little oil. Mix the spices into a paste then lightly fry the peas and potatoes with the carrots.
• Add the spices, salt and a little water. Cover and leave to simmer at low heat until the vegetables are cooked and the liquid has reduced.
• Sprinkle with lime juice and add a few coriander(dhania)  leaves. For the pastry covers, mix the two types of flour in a bowl with little salt, oil and water.
• Roll into a ball then divide into smaller balls. Roll each ball until roughly 10 cm across and cut in half to make two semi-circles.
• Close back together and fill then seal by dampening the edges.
• Fry at low heat in the pan.

Pack in a container after the samosas have cooled.

Matoke (Mashed Plantains)
(2-10 years)
Ingredients

• 8 plantains (raw bananas)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 teaspoons coriander (dhania)
• 2 cups beef stock
• Red pepper flakes to taste (optional)

Preparation

• Peel the plantains.
• Soak them in lukewarm water with lemon juice for two minutes.
• Melt the butter in a large saucepan.
• Fry the onions and coriander for about three minutes.
• Add pepper flakes to taste (if not for baby).
• Add the bananas and cover with the beef stock.
• Simmer on low heat for about 30 to 35 minutes.

Wimbi (Millet) Porridge
(6 months – 10 years
Good breakfast will help you get through the morning graciously. One of the dishes appropriate as a morning meal, especially for babies, is well cooked porridge.

Porridge is a meal made by boiling grains or legumes flour in water, milk, or both. It is usually served hot in a bowl or dish.

It’s mostly taken for breakfast, often with a pinch of salt, sugar to taste, milk or cream. It is one of the easiest ways to digest grains or legumes, no wonder many cultures have used it as food to nurse the sick back to health. It is also used to wean babies because it is digestible and easy on the baby’s palette.

Recipe
Here is a nutritious bowl of uji made locally using wimbi flour. Most mothers prefer wimbi because it is a whole meal on itself and most babies also get used to it easily.

Ingredients

• 4 spoonfuls of wimbi (millet) flour
• 1 litre of water
• 35ml boiled milk
• Sugar to taste

Preparation

• Boil the water in a small pot.
• Mix the flour and cold water in a different cup.
• Slowly pour in the mixture into the boiling water stirring with a wooden stick to avoid forming lumps.
• Let it cook for five minutes then, add milk gradually until well mixed.
• Add sugar and stir slowly then leave it to cook for an extra five minutes.

Serve it warm for baby.

The writer is a chef in a Nairobi five-star hotel.

END: BL 38/14-15