Healthy snacking recipes for this Durga Puja

NEW DELHI: For thousands of years, almonds have been a part of Indian traditions and food habits, and their health benefits have been widely quoted in several Ayurvedic, Unani, and Siddha texts.

A handful of almonds, on the other hand, may have satiating properties that promote feelings of fullness, which may keep hunger at bay between meals. Snacking on healthy foods like almonds not only keeps us from snacking on junk but also ensures that our bodies receive nutrition, as almonds contain 15 nutrients such as vitamin E, magnesium, protein, riboflavin, zinc, and others.

Try these recipes from the Almond Board of California's in-house chefs.

Almond & Chicken Momos (without shell)

Ingredients:

Chicken mince - 250 gms

Garlic, chopped - 1 tbsp

Carrots, finely chopped - 3 tbsp

Spring onions, finely chopped - 3 tbsp

Ginger, finely chopped - 1 tbsp

Soya sauce - 1 tbsp

Oyster sauce - 1 tbsp

Sesame oil - 1 tsp

Pepper powder - 1 tsp

Egg - 1 no

Blanched & chopped almonds - 1/2 cup

Oil - for greasing

Method:

Place the chicken mince in a bowl.

Add all the ingredients except almonds and divide it into equal-sized balls.

Roll these balls in the blanched and chopped almonds and carefully place these small balls on a greased plate.

Get the steamer ready and steam these on high heat for 15 minutes.

Remove and serve the momos hot.

Almond & Chicken Momos

Ingredients:

Almond slivers (unpeeled) - 50 g

John dory or any white flesh fish - 100 g

Panko bread crumbs - 15 g

For Butter:

Butter - 50 g

Ginger and garlic paste - 2 g

Vinegar - 5 ml

Kashmiri red chili powder - 2 g

Ajwain - 1 g

Chaat masala - 2 g

Salt - to taste

Method:

Wash and cut fish fillet into 4" x 1.5" pieces.

Pat dry using a clean kitchen cloth.

For masala butter, take soft butter in a grinding jar with all the ingredients.

Blitz till all ingredients are mixed nicely without melting the butter.

Mix panko bread crumbs in masala butter.

Place fish pieces on a greased baking tray and spread about 10 gms of masala butter on each piece evenly.

Then, crust the fish with almond slivers. Bake the buttered fish in a pre heated oven at 200 c for 6-8 minutes. Serve hot.

Baked Almond Kofta

Ingredients for Kofta:

Potato, boiled and mashed - 2 cups

Nutmeg - A pinch

Milk - 2 tbsp

Almonds crushed - 3/4 cup

Green onions, chopped - 1/2 cup

Refined flour - 1 tbsp

Egg - 1 no

Salt - 3/4tsp

Pepper - 1/2tsp

Ingredients for Crumbing:

Eggs - 2 no

Refined flour - for rolling

Dry breadcrumbs - for rolling

Method:

Place the mashed potato in a bowl and add almonds, salt, pepper, nutmeg, milk, green onions, flour, and 2 eggs.

Mix them well and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Now roll them into equal-sized koftas.

Place flour, beaten eggs, and breadcrumbs separately in different plates.

Cover each kofta with flour and dunk them in beaten eggs.

After which give them a good roll in the breadcrumbs.

Preheat an oven to 200c and bake the koftas till golden brown. Serve hot.